Product Manager, Web & Apps

About this role

About the California Academy of Sciences

Founded in 1853, the California Academy of Sciences is a globally renowned, AZA-accredited non-profit scientific and cultural institution located in the heart of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Home to a world-class planetarium, aquarium, rainforest, research institute, and natural history museum—all under one living roof—our mission is to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration.

Our living collection reflects Earth’s vast biodiversity, consisting of nearly 60,000 animals representing over 800 species. Our research collections are the largest west of the Mississippi, spanning nearly 46 million plants, animals, fossils, and cultural artifacts from across the globe and throughout history. Our diverse team includes leading biodiversity scientists, educators, storytellers, designers, and communicators who are passionate about advancing knowledge and catalyzing action through science and storytelling.

Whether you're conducting research behind the scenes or engaging the public on the museum floor, your work will help connect people to the natural world and empower them to protect it.

About the Opportunity

The Product Manager for Web & Apps is the central owner of the Academy’s public-facing website and select digital surfaces. The website is both a global science communication platform and one of the institution’s most important revenue engines — driving ticket sales, membership enrollment and renewal, donations, event attendance, program registrations, retail purchases, and digital product engagement.

This role blends product strategy, content platform leadership, UX rigor, experimentation, insight-driven decision-making, and complex cross-functional orchestration. You will shape how global audiences discover our science, plan their visit, support our mission, and return again and again, while managing a team of 4 to 6 direct reports who support the work.

You will bring structure, clarity, and momentum to a large ecosystem of stakeholders — Science, Creative Studio, Marketing, Membership, Philanthropy, Education, Guest Experience, Sales, Operations, Business Applications, and Retail.

What You Will Lead

1. Ownership of the Website as a Revenue & Growth Engine

You will drive measurable improvements across all revenue-critical flows, including:

• Ticketing and attendance growth

• Membership join and renewal paths

• Donor and philanthropic giving journeys

• Event attendance and ticket sales

• Educational program bookings

• Retail and e-commerce (digital + physical)

• Digital product engagement and monetization

You will own the multi-year vision and roadmap to improve funnel efficiency, reduce friction between user and purchasing experience, and increase conversion across channels.

2. Stewardship of the Digital Science & Storytelling Platform

You will ensure the Academy’s online presence:

• Makes scientific content accessible, engaging, and emotionally resonant

• Translates research, exhibits, and conservation work into intuitive digital formats

• Supports exhibitions, events, and programs through dynamic content

• Maintains scientific accuracy, representational integrity, and public trust

• Strengthens the Academy’s voice in biodiversity, climate, and conservation

3. Product Strategy & Multi-Year Roadmap

You will:

• Define the long-term product vision across web and digital experiences

• Maintain a sequenced roadmap for UX improvements, content evolution, revenue growth, and platform modernization

• Align roadmap priorities with institutional goals and executive direction

• Connect digital experiences to the Academy’s Museum 3.0 transformation

• Build structured processes for prioritization, resourcing, and trade-offs.

4. Platform Modernization & Technical Excellence

You will strengthen the Academy’s digital foundation through:

• CMS improvements, structured content models, modular templates, and workflow upgrades

• Performance, accessibility, and mobile-first optimization

• SEO health, discoverability, and technical search improvements

• Responsible use of AI tools for content creation, translation, optimization, and personalization

• Close collaboration with Business Applications, Ops, and Sales to align digital flows with back-end ticketing, POS, CRM, and membership systems

• Familiarity with Tessitura, Shopify, Stripe, Salesforce Commerce, WooCommerce, or similar tools (experience a plus, not required).

5. Cross-Functional Alignment & Leadership

You will unify and streamline collaboration across:

• Marketing & Communications: Audience growth, campaigns, acquisition, landing pages

• Creative Studio: Design systems, visual identity, storytelling, component libraries

• Science & Research: Accuracy, content translation, scientific integrity

• Membership: Conversion, retention, segmentation, benefits communication

• Philanthropy & Development: Donor journeys, fundraising pathways, impact storytelling

• Guest Experience: Visit planning, wayfinding, operational clarity

• Education & Events: School programs, family events, community learning

• Retail & E-Commerce: Product sales, order flows, merchandise storytelling

• Sales: Group sales, institutional offerings, partnerships

• Operations & Business Applications: Ticketing, POS, identity systems, CRM, backend integrations

You will define processes, establish decision-making frameworks, and ensure the website serves as a unified gateway to everything the Academy offers.

Organizational Culture

When you join the California Academy of Sciences, you become part of a mission-driven community that values curiosity, collaboration, and innovation, and celebrates its accomplishments together. Staff share a commitment to executing a new strategic plan that will strengthen the organization's financial foundations, cultivate a vibrant internal culture, and foster smart growth to secure the Academy’s future.

We hope you are inspired…