Associate Product Manager of College Success

Cengage Learning is a leading educational content, technology, and services company for the higher education and K–12, professional and library markets worldwide. The company provides superior content, personalized services and course-driven digital solutions that accelerate student engagement and transform the learning experience.

As a an Associate Product Manager on our College Success team, you are accountable for the performance of your assigned portfolios, including the development the strategic vision and plans for your portfolios and overseeing the execution of those plans, from the conceptualization to the delivery of highly valuable products for that portfolio. Achieving success and exceeding strategic goals for market share, top-line, and profit growth are priorities.

You'll also be tasked with the responsibility for maximizing the value of your product lines and are accountable for the overall performance your portfolio. You'll be responsible for a discipline/product cluster P&L and for leading an aligned product team to meet or exceed business targets. You will manage authors, content development, production, manufacturing, marketing, and sales staff to ensure successful launch and positioning of your product line to the marketplace. Through market analysis, you'll develop the product strategy for a defined portfolio, identifying growth opportunities, performing segmentation, and determining business objectives. As part of our Product Management team, you're expected to be the market expert in your assigned product line, the competitive landscape, and how the product line can evolve to fully meet the needs of end users. * Be a visionary project leader, and advocate for the portfolio within the company and for customers. * Partner with colleagues in Development, Production, Marketing, Sales, Technology, etc. to convey the strategic vision for your product cluster, to supports the vision and execution that will lead to goal achievement. * Manage a profitable P&L and develop a strategic business plan for assigned portfolio, including making tough choices about investment prioritization for the good of the overall organization. * Analyze, identify, define, and size market segments and sub-segments associated with the assigned portfolio. * Bring customer-focused solutions that have strong value propositions, meet demonstrated market needs, and provide unique competitive advantage. * Anticipate discipline and industry trends, with a focus on digital learning solutions grounded in a market knowledge gained through data-driven market research. * Manage product lifecycle of multiple products simultaneously within scope and budget. * Initiate, advocate, and negotiate profitable products and services for new or strategically expanded course offerings, alternative markets and channels, strategic partnerships, all in response to new teaching/learning and business models. Delivers arrangements that are both equitable and profitable for the company and partners and that add measurable value to the company’s offerings. * Fully understand and track all product activity that affects assigned portfolio, including any product launches/enhancements and competitor movement. Develop a keen understanding of all competitors; develop an ability to anticipate competitor activity as it pertains to product medium or subject area. * Identify and test product ideas within segments, including the administration of focus groups, advisory boards, reviews, customer meetings and sensing as appropriate. * Regularly analyze product and portfolio plans to align forecasting and measurement of progress towards goals; provide business case for investment decisions. Suggest and monitor production budgets and schedules. * Makes presentations at company sales meetings, campus visits, and academic conventions in support of sales efforts and to drive sales. Consults with colleagues in manufacturing, inventory, and customer service to assist in reaching customer service goals. * Provide thought leadership on pricing, business model strategies, and setting business goals.

**Qualifications:** * Bachelor’s Degree * 3+ years relevant and successful product management, marketing, sales, or development experience. * Excellence at developing and articulating vision and strategy that meet business goals; outstanding presentation and communication skills. * Demonstrated strategic agility. Proven record with strategy creation and execution. * Strong understanding of digital functionality and how content is best utilized to communicate information, etc. * Customer-focused; has a track record of creating successful products by determining customer needs and challenges and translating those to product and value story for the market. * Knowledge of learning design with emphasis on digital learning solutions that address customer workflow and learning challenges. * Ability to bring winning customer driven solutions to market in an effective and efficient manner that integrate associated dimensions. * Interpersonal Savvy and Creativity, with the ability to champion and execute market-oriented new and innovative approaches, ideas, methods, processes, products and services. * Deep understanding of financial and business metrics, including P&L statements, conversion rates, sell-through, market share, attrition, gross margin, customer satisfaction, and retention rates with an ability to analyze and synthesize data. Possess the same understanding of digital metrics including attach rates, digital penetration, and enrollment statistics. * Must have ability to travel as much as 50% during the selling seasons **Preferred Skills/Knowledge/Experience:** * MBA or other advanced degree in discipline or primary skills like project management. * People management experience. * Experience bringing content-based learning solutions to market. * Experience with agile development processes and recurring release cycles.