Product Director - ScienceFair

ScienceFair is a Indigo Research affiliate program that helps ambitious STEM students produce publication-ready research while competing for top honors at leading science fairs, including Regeneron ISEF, Thermo Fisher Junior Innovators Challenge, National JSHS, 3M Young Scientist Challenge, Regeneron STS, and other prestigious regional and national competitions that follow ISEF format such as Genius Olympiad.
ScienceFair combines Indigo's research mentorship with coaching from recent science fair champions and subject-matter experts, supporting students not only to conduct rigorous research but to strategically position that research for competitive submission, presentation, and judging to win awards and qualify for national and international level fairs. We are building ScienceFair into a high-quality, scalable offering for students who want to combine research excellence with competition success.
Role Overview The Product Director will own ScienceFair end-to-end - growing the business, ensuring exceptional student outcomes, building a scalable operating model, and acting as product owner for the program. This is a true GM / business-owner role rather than a program operations role: you will hold the full ScienceFair P&L and growth engine, student outcomes, operating model, and the Indigo/Crimson Education relationship.
This is a highly entrepreneurial role that requires moving comfortably between strategy, sales, product, operations, student experience, and execution - working closely with Crimson Education, Indigo Research, country sales teams, mentors, and internal operations. You are accountable not simply for running the program, but for making it work and sellable.
Key Responsibilities
Revenue Growth
Own the commercial growth strategy for ScienceFair across global markets
Partner with country teams and sales leadership to increase ScienceFair penetration among eligible students, and build clear sales processes and enablement so country teams can execute consistently
Identify opportunities to increase attach rates to Indigo Researcher and Innovator, and grow the higher-value ScienceFair International and LevelUp offerings
Monitor pipeline, conversion, revenue, attach rates, and market-level performance, intervening where performance falls below target
Own the ScienceFair P&L, including budget, unit economics, and cost management, ensuring sustainable margins as the program scales
Identify new commercial opportunities, markets, partnerships, and product extensions
Student Outcomes
Own the quality and outcomes of the ScienceFair student experience, including research quality, Indigo handoff, competition submissions, advancement, and awards won by students
Build systems to identify students falling behind and ensure appropriate intervention
Own the handoff between ScienceFair and Indigo so the two mentorship experiences operate as one integrated student journey
Establish feedback loops from students, mentors, judges, and competition outcomes to continuously improve the program
Build a culture of accountability around student outcomes, rather than hours delivered or sessions completed
Operations
Build and manage the operational infrastructure required to deliver ScienceFair at scale, including mentor allocation, scheduling, student progression, and submission processes
Lead the ScienceFair operations team, establishing clear ownership, workflows, SLAs, and escalation processes
Build processes for managing compliance requirements, including IRB, consent, and competition eligibility
Create dashboards and reporting for visibility into student progress, commercial performance, and operational health
Anticipate operational bottlenecks and build systems to prevent them, ensuring the program can scale without compromising quality
People Leadership (as the role grows)
This role is an individual-contributor position today, working through mentors, sales teams, and cross-functional partners rather than direct reports. The person in this role will be expected to manage the contractors who deliver the service.
As ScienceFair scales, this role is expected to grow into building and leading a dedicated ScienceFair team, with responsibility for hiring, coaching, and performance management of full timers
Early decisions about workflows, ownership, and operating rhythm should be made with a future team in mind, so the program is ready to absorb headcount as it grows
Product Ownership
Act as product owner for ScienceFair, with end-to-end responsibility for what is sold and how it works
Continuously evaluate and improve the ScienceFair Regional, ScienceFair International/ISEF, and LevelUp offerings
Define the ideal student profile, positioning, and program structure for each offering, ensuring ScienceFair remains the clear pathway for students pursuing major science competitions
Use student outcomes, mentor and sales feedback, and competition results to drive product iteration and roadmap decisions
Maintain a high bar for what constitutes an ISEF-ready research project, ensuring the program does not over-promise outcomes
Qualifications
4+ years of experience owning a business, product, program, or significant revenue line end-to-end
Demonstrated ability to grow revenue through sales teams and cross-functional execution
Experience building and scaling operational systems and processes
Experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder projects (e.g. students, mentors, sales teams, internal operations)
Background in education, academic programs, research, STEM, competitions, or youth programming is a plus
Familiarity with ISEF, Regeneron STS, JSHS, Thermo Fisher, or other science competitions is a plus
Experience taking a relatively new product or business line from early-stage execution to scalable growth is a plus
Skills
Commercial &
Revenue Ownership
Owns revenue growth end-to-end, not just delivery - thinks like a business owner
Uses pipeline, conversion, and attach-rate data to diagnose performance and prioritize interventions
Builds sales enablement that country teams can execute consistently
Outcomes &
Quality Orientation
Strong instinct for what a genuinely competitive, ISEF-ready student outcome looks like
Able to spot risks to student outcomes early and intervene appropriately
Maintains a high bar while balancing scalability and operational constraints
Operational &
Product Thinking
Identifies inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and points of failure in systems
Moves beyond surface-level fixes to implement scalable, repeatable solutions
Acts as a true product owner - uses evidence to drive roadmap and iteration decisions
Analytical &
Data-Driven
Uses data to track performance, identify trends, and inform decisions across revenue, outcomes, and operations
Diagnoses issues in student outcomes, mentor performance, or commercial workflows
Strong attention to detail without losing sight of the bigger picture
Stakeholder Management &
Communication
Works effectively across Indigo Research, country sales teams, mentors, and internal operations
Communicates clearly and proactively, especially in high-stakes or time-sensitive situations
Manages expectations and resolves issues with both internal and external stakeholders
Ownership, Resilience &
Adaptability
Takes complete ownership of a complex business and figures out how to make it work
Performs well under pressure and in fast-moving, ambiguous environments
Open to feedback and continuously looking to improve systems and outcomes