Certification Program Manager (US Remote friendly)
Confluent, Colombia

Confluent is pioneering a fundamentally new category of data infrastructure focused on data in motion. Have you ever found a new favorite series on Netflix, picked up groceries curbside at Walmart, or paid for something using Square? That’s the power of data in motion in actiongiving organizations instant access to the massive amounts of data that is constantly flowing throughout their business. At Confluent, we’re building the foundational platform for this new paradigm of data infrastructure. Our cloud-native offering is designed to be the intelligent connective tissue enabling real-time data, from multiple sources, to constantly stream across the organization. With Confluent, organizations can create a central nervous system to innovate and win in a digital-first world.
We’re looking for self-motivated team members who crave a challenge and feel energized to roll up their sleeves and help realize Confluent’s enormous potential. Chart your own path and take healthy risks as we solve big problems together. We value having diverse teams and want you to grow as we growwhether you’re just starting out in your career or managing a large team, you’ll be amazed at the magnitude of your impact.
We are seeking a Certification Program Manager to join Confluent's Education Services team, to drive the strategy and execution of our end user certification program. Through formal proctored exams, this certification program serves to verify and acknowledge acquired skills and technical capabilities of Confluent solution users. This individual will be responsible for comprehensive oversight of Confluent's technical professional certification program, using industry leading best practices to build a coveted and defensible certification brand.
The Certification Program Manager will work closely with Confluent's Education leaders to define and continuously evolve the certification program to better support users, Partners, and the Customer Success team at Confluent. You will manage and oversee all exam development activities, working with technical subject matter experts across Confluent in the development of exam questions and other certification assets, and ensure timely publication and rollout of new and revised exams. As the face of Confluent's Certification Program, you will work with Customer Success to ensure certification is a key pillar to customers' Center of Excellence, central to our Partners' enablement, and a sought-after credential by all technical Kafka users.Responsibilities:

• Managing the Technical Certification Program
• Work with Education and Customer Success stakeholders to define and evolve the certification strategy, defining certification paths that become highly desirable for Kafka and Confluent users
• Establish repeatable exam development processes, including subject matter expert recruitment, job task analysis, exam blueprinting, item writing workshops, public alpha/beta testing and technical reviews
• Establish certification as a central component to Partner enablement and our customers' Center of Excellence
• Define, develop and continuously evolve a mature Certifications Reward Program
• Play a central role in creating a community of users, developing advocates/champions of the Certification Program
• Partner with curriculum development to develop a comprehensive training program that supports certification exams
• Driving Adoption of the Confluent's Certification
• Ensure the Certification Program is always promoted through all new training materials, e-learning materials and educational support materials
• Develop integrated marketing communication deliverables to promote Certification (press releases, newsletters, ads, etc) as well as internal awareness initiatives
• Ensure Certification plays a central role at Summits, conferences and meetups
• Build and manage performance and adoption reports that provide insights into the success of the certification program
• Managing creation, administration and maintenance of Certification Assets
• Define exam audiences and blueprints, skills to verify, relative progression, and exam preparation/pre-requisites
• Conduct item writing workshops that maximize SME technical input
• Build and maintain certification assets according to blueprints
• Work closely with vendors that support our exam creation, exam delivery and asset management
• Triage exam escalations, review and revise exams, act on user feedback

Required Qualifications include:

• At least 5 years building and managing technical certification programs, including exam development, production, rollout, promotion, adoption, and bookings growth.
• Experience conducting job-task analyses, item creation workshops, question writing training
• Knowledge of modern proctoring tools, badging systems