Director Product Operations, Platform

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is seeking a Director of Product Operations, Platform, to lead cross-functional initiatives across Product, Marketing, Operations, Engineering and Design. The role will develop internal processes, enable PMs with data, and ensure customers derive value from our connected teaching platform.

The right candidate will bring B2B operations experience, use data to answer complex business questions, and measure success across adoption and product health metrics.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent relevant work experience.
• 4+ years of experience in Product Management, Product Operations, Strategy, or related roles.
• Experience influencing stakeholders with data.
• Experience presenting complex information to senior leadership in writing and verbally.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Cross-functional collaboration and negotiation skills.
• Ability to work with ambiguity and be nimble.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Product leadership across functions to ensure teams run smoothly and have resources to succeed as we grow.
• Develop programs that support the customer experience from initial evaluation through full adoption.
• Define and improve processes for product planning (including OKRs), release/launch planning, and cross-team communication.
• Partner with Platform Product Owners to prioritize improvements in operational processes and customer experiences.
• Be the primary contact for customer-facing teams as the roadmap SME, collecting feedback and updating the roadmap.
• Set up frameworks and best practices for product teams to increase autonomy and accountability.
• Develop a consistent method to track product health metrics and customer adoption.
• Initiate and drive internal initiatives to improve Platform Team processes, tech, and customer experience.
• Communicate upcoming features and UX changes to Operations and Marketing stakeholders.

Skills

Product management

Product operations

Strategy

Program management

Stakeholder influence

Data-driven decision making

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

MBA

Tools

SQL

R

Job description

Title: Director Product Operations, Platform

Location Designation:

Location: Boston, MA, US, 02110

Job Requisition ID:17608

Additional Locations:

HMH is a learning technology company committed to delivering connected solutions that engage learners, empower educators, and improve student outcomes. As a leading provider of K–12 core curriculum, supplemental and intervention solutions and professional learning services, HMH partners with educators and school districts to uncover solutions that unlock students' potential and extend teachers' capabilities. HMH serves more than 50 million students and 4 million educators in 150 countries.

About the role:

HMH’s Ed platform in a connected teaching and learning system that provides teachers the ability to organize classes, students, and educational content to maximize the impact on student outcomes. We are looking for a data driven Product Operations leader to join the Platform team.
Reporting to the SVP of Platform and working within the Platform team this position leads initiatives across Product, Marketing, Operations, Engineering and Design to develop internal processes, empower PMs and product with data and efficient processes, and ensure our customers find value in our connected teaching system.

The right candidate will bring Operations experience from the B2B domain toanswer complex business questions using data, identify strategic opportunities to improve how we plan and organize ourselves, and measure success.

The Director Product Operations will be responsible for the following primary duties:

• Partner with the Product leadership across functions (PM, Design, Engineering, and GTM groups) to ensure that our various teams run smoothly and have the resources they need to succeed as we grow
• Develop programs that support the customer experience from initial evaluation through to full adoption
• Define and improve processes for product planning (including OKRs), release/launch planning, and cross-team communication
• Partner with Platform Product Owners to prioritize improvements in support of operational processes and improved customer experiences
• Be the primary point of contact for various customer facing teams (support leadership, strategy & operations, launch readiness teams) as the product roadmap SME, participating in support model design, collecting stakeholder feedback, and bringing it back to Product, and providing regular updates on the evolving roadmap.
• Set up frameworks and best practices for product teams to increase autonomy with accountability and alignment toward company goals
• Develop a consistent method to track product health metrics and customer adoption metrics to drive our planning
• Initiate and drive internal initiatives/results that up-level the Platform Team processes, technology, and ability to deliver a best-in-class customer experience.
• Understand and communicate all upcoming product features and user experience changes to key stakeholders like Operations and Marketing.

Skills & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent relevant work experience.
• 4+ years’ experience in one or more of the following areas: Product Management, Product Operations Management, Management Consulting, Strategy, Program Management, Customer Experience, or equivalent Voice of Customer role.
• Experience influencing stakeholders with data.
• Experience synthesizing and presenting complex information to senior leadership in writing and verbally.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Cross functional collaboration and negotiation skills.
• Ability to work with ambiguity and be flexible/nimble.

Preferred Qualifications:

• MBA
• Experience with SQL, R or an equivalent data analytical language.
• Experience driving complex projects or programs with several competing stakeholders, ideally in a software development and/or software launch readiness role.
• Experience in gathering business insights and identifying trends from data, including combination of data from multiple sources.

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About us:

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is a global learning company dedicated to changing people’s lives by fostering passionate, curious learners. As a leading provider of pre‑K–12 education content, services, and cutting‑edge technology solutions across a variety of media, HMH enables learning in a changing landscape. HMH is uniquely positioned to create engaging and effective educational content and experiences from early childhood to beyond the classroom. HMH serves more than 50 million students in over 150 countries worldwide, while its award‑winning children’s books, novels, non‑fiction, and reference titles are enjoyed by readers throughout the world.

For more information, visit http://careers.hmhco.com

PLEASE NOTE:

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is an equal employment opportunity employer and participates in E-Verify. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of gender, race/ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, or other protected group status.

Nearest Major Market: Boston
Job Segment: Program Manager, Management Consulting, Education, Publishing, Management, Marketing