Portfolio Manager, Milady

Cengage; Kentucky; Hybrid; USD 77,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Cengage is seeking a Portfolio Manager for the Milady Content and Learning Team to lead the portfolio and content strategy from concept to launch. You will analyze market trends, develop hypotheses, and test ideas to drive high-quality learning experiences across beauty education programs in For Profit, Higher Education, and K12 spaces.

The role emphasizes collaboration with cross-functional teams, delivering on-time product delivery, and communicating portfolio value to internal and external

Qualifications

• BA or BS Degree required.
• Minimum 3 years in portfolio/product management or related leadership roles.
• Travel approximately 20% of the time.
• Strong skills with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Responsibilities

• Lead a profitable line of content offerings and develop strategic business plans.
• Provide leadership, representing the portfolio and customers across audiences.
• Use data to make market-informed business proposals and guide strategic decisions.
• Develop deep market mastery to identify trends, needs, and competition.
• Translate priorities into end-to-end development plans with budgets and goals.
• Direct project teams to ensure timely delivery within scope and budget.
• Maintain relations with authors, content creators, and adoption decision makers.
• Analyze portfolio plans to align forecasting and progress measurement.
• Collaborate with Marketing and Sales to seed and secure adoptions.
• Work with Learning Design, Content Production, Marketing, Sales, and Product Technology teams.

Skills

Strategic planning

Cross-functional leadership

Data analysis

Communication

Financial modeling

Stakeholder management

Travel willingness

Office suite

Education

BA or BS Degree

Tools

PowerPoint

Excel

Word

Job description

About the Role

We believe in the power and joy of learning At Cengage, our employees have a direct impact in helping learners around the world discover the power and joy of learning. We are bonded by our shared purpose – driving innovation that helps millions of learners improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education. The Portfolio Manager, on the Milady Content and Learning Team, creates the portfolio and content strategy by understanding the audience, analyzing the market and competitive trends, developing hypotheses, testing ideas in the market, processing data, and ultimately making content design decisions based on these insights and evidence. The PM leads the portfolio development process, collaborating with cross functional team members to ensure on-time delivery of high-quality learning experiences. The PM clearly articulates the features and benefits of their portfolio to the market, enabling the creation and delivery of compelling messaging for target audiences through measurable campaigns and programs. A Portfolio Manager s the specialist in their market, the problem solver for the learner, and advocate for the customer. You are accountable for the lifecycle of your products. To achieve these goals, you are an integrator, leading a cross-functional team by encouraging a creative and collaborative environment aligned toward a collective mission. You are consistently problem solving, and actively considering the expertise of all team members! You build your product strategy by developing hypotheses, evaluating data, analyzing market and competitive trends, testing ideas in the market, iterating, and ultimately making curriculum product decisions based on evidence and insights. While keeping in alignment with business priorities, you take customer needs from concept to launch, focusing on timely delivery, holistic product quality, and an effective learning experience. This position will be handling curriculum products that serve beauty education programs in the For Profit, Higher Education and K12 spaces.

Responsibilities

• Lead a profitable line of content offerings and develop strategic business plans.
• Provide leadership, representing the portfolio and customers across audiences.
• Use data to make market-informed business proposals, take mitigated risks, and guide strategic decisions.
• Develops deep market mastery - identifies trends, customer needs and challenges, and competitive landscape - to develop strong business plans aligned with overall corporate strategic direction that deliver desired business metrics
• Translate priorities into organized end-to-end development plans with budgets, resources, performance goals, and key checkpoints.
• Provide project team direction, facilitating effective communication, and ensuring timely delivery of multiple content offerings simultaneously within scope and budget.
• Cultivate an environment of creativity and collaboration.
• Deliver quality learning experiences to students and instructors.
• Establish and maintain relationships with key authors, content creators, and adoption decision makers to gain customer insights, strengthen adoptions, and identify new talent.
• Develop a deep understanding of competitors and an ability to anticipate competitor activity.
• Identify and test portfolio content ideas within segments, including the administration of focus groups, advisory boards, reviews, and customer meetings as appropriate.
• Regularly analyze portfolio plans to align forecasting and measurement of progress towards goals.
• Partner closely with Marketing and Sales teams to seed and secure adoptions.
• Work closely with colleagues in other functional areas (Learning Design, Content Production, Marketing, Sales, Product Technology, etc.).
• Create compelling needs-based discipline, course, and content positioning and customer segments as inputs for campaign and sales enablement efforts.
• Make presentations at internal and external meetings, campus visits, and academic conventions in support of sales efforts and to drive sales.

Skills

• Ability to develop strategies and compelling business cases
• Creative and curious problem solving and collaboration
• Ability to clearly articulate vision and strategy and help team members understand how their work impacts business success
• Customer focus; understanding of how customer needs and challenges translate into opportunities
• Demonstration of strong communication skills with keen ability to facilitate team meetings, presentations, focus groups, and interviews.
• Cross-functional team leadership experience
• Ability to inspire change through influence; honed interpersonal skills
• Self-discipline with a high degree of accountability
• Strong financial analysis and modeling skills and an understanding of business metrics
• Natural curiosity and willingness to learn paired with a desire for continuous improvement
• Proven written and verbal abilities enabling the preparation and presentation of information and recommendations to a diverse and senior level audience
• BA or BS Degree
• Minimum 3 years in portfolio/product management, product development, sales, marketing, or other relevant management role
• Expected travel ~20% of time
• Proficiency with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Cengage is committed to working with broad talent pools to attract and hire strong and most qualified individuals. Our job applicants are considered regardless of any classification protected by applicable federal, state, provincial or local laws. Cengage is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities including during our job application process. If you are an applicant with a disability and require reasonable accommodation in our job application process, please contact us at [e-mail].

About Cengage

Cengage, a global education technology company serving millions of learners, provides affordable, quality digital products and services that equip students with the skills and competencies needed to be job ready. For more than 100 years, we have enabled the power and joy of learning with trusted, engaging content, and now, integrated digital platforms. We serve the higher education, workforce skills, secondary education, English language teaching and research markets worldwide. Through our scalable technology, including MindTap and Cengage Unlimited, we support all learners who seek to improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.

Compensation

At Cengage Group, we take great pride in our commitment to providing a comprehensive and rewarding Total Rewards package designed to support and empower our employees. Click here to learn more about our Total Rewards Philosophy. The full base pay range has been provided for this position. Individual base pay will vary based on work schedule, qualifications, experience, internal equity, and geographic location. Sales roles often incorporate a significant incentive compensation program beyond this base pay range. In this position, you will be eligible to participate in the company’s discretionary incentive bonus program. This position's bonus target amount, which is not guaranteed and is dependent on individual performance and overall company results among other factors, is provided below.

• 5% Annual: Individual Target $77,100.00 - $100,200.00 USD

Cengage, a global edtech company, supports learners, educators and institutions across more than 100 countries. With products serving nearly 16 million digital users across the Higher Education, School, Work and English Language Learning markets, we’ve built a learning ecosystem that connects education to employment. We combine trusted content, AI-powered insights and scalable digital platforms to power learning for every future and drive meaningful outcomes at every stage of the learning journey.