CRM Product Lead

The Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association (WFAA) – the private fundraising and alumni relations organization for the University of Wisconsin–Madison – is seeking a CRM Product Lead to join the Advancement Business Solutions team. The CRM Product Lead provides strategic and functional leadership for WFAA’s Salesforce CRM ecosystem in close partnership with business and technical leaders. This role is accountable for maximizing business value and user impact by defining, prioritizing, and delivering CRM capabilities that advance organizational goals, align with the digital roadmap, and address enterprise‑wide needs through user‑centered, scalable, and outcome‑driven solutions.

Serving as the primary bridge between business stakeholders and technical teams, the CRM Product Lead translates organizational priorities into clear product requirements and user stories. Working closely with Salesforce Admins, cross‑functional technology teams, and vendor partners in an Agile environment, this role owns functional direction and stakeholder alignment while ensuring solutions are feasible, maintainable, and aligned with platform standards and governance.

We are open to hiring this position to work remotely, with periodic travel to Madison expected throughout the year. Remote candidates must reside in one of the following states:
Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, Texas, or Wisconsin.

We value inclusion and diversity, and create an environment in which all staff members and constituents feel respected and have opportunities to thrive.

Functional Product Leadership

• Align CRM product capabilities with advancement and alumni engagement priorities, while identifying and recommending solutions that address challenges, support growth, and advance WFAA’s strategic goals.
• Serve as a strategic advisor on Salesforce capabilities and impact by monitoring vendor roadmaps, industry best practices, and emerging technologies to drive innovative, future‑ready solutions.
• Apply data‑driven and analytical thinking to inform strategic decisions, justify investments and measure success.
• Maintain awareness of how Salesforce data, reporting, and solutions impact donors, alumni, partners, and other constituents.
• Demonstrate compassion and cultural responsiveness when designing and supporting solutions for diverse audiences.

Product Design and Delivery

• Collaborate with product leadership, technical teams, vendors, business partners, and the PMO to design and deliver initiatives aligned with organizational priorities.
• Ensure timely, effective implementations that follow best practices and organizational and industry standards, supporting scalable and sustainable platform growth.
• Conduct gap analyses of current processes to identify optimization and expansion opportunities, balancing quick wins with long‑term value.
• Gather and translate business needs into user stories, functional requirements, and success criteria; own the product backlog and support implementation planning in an Agile environment.
• Perform solution validation, system testing, and user experience health checks; design and support quality assurance and user acceptance testing (UAT) strategies to ensure reliability and usability.
• Own functional documentation of product solutions.
• Support accessibility compliance, security requirements, and data governance standards across the platform.
• Enable successful adoption through change management, training, and ongoing user support in partnership with the Technical Training Manager and business leads.

Required Qualifications:

• 2‑ or 4‑year degree in a related technical or business field.
• 5+ years of experience in product ownership, product management, business systems, or CRM leadership.
• Demonstrated experience working in enterprise or complex Salesforce environments (multiple clouds, integrations, regulated data, or large user bases).
• 5+ years of experience in higher education advancement, development, or related field OR any equivalent combination of experience and/or education from which comparable knowledge, skills, and abilities have been achieved.
• Strong…