Product Manager

Sage; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 145,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision benefits

401(k) matching up to 5%

Tuition support for degree programs

Hybrid or remote work

Job summary

Sage Publishing is seeking a Product Manager on the US College Product Management team within Digital Learning Solutions. You will lead initiatives to accelerate, experiment, and deliver new digital solutions for the US College space, partnering with PMs, Engineers, and stakeholders from idea conception to launch and ongoing maintenance.

You will gather requirements, write user stories, drive backlogs, perform UAT, and collaborate on roadmaps.

Qualifications

• Experience working within a product management / product owner role (preferably using Scrum or other Agile framework)
• Experience developing online products, including eBooks and courseware
• Familiarity with college products and business models
• Experience leading on major projects within a publishing organization

Responsibilities

• Lead the business decisions required to drive new product development, coordinating market research and cross-functional consultation within Sage.
• Lead all aspects of the project management for new product development with business units across Sage to keep projects on schedule and budget.
• Collaborate with other PMs on product roadmap strategy and prioritizing the product backlog.
• Perform User Acceptance Testing on new functionality before each live release and sign off on completed work by the development team.
• Engage with market research and customer feedback to refine product concepts and requirements.
• Establish reporting and communicate product updates, usage analyses, and competitive information to stakeholders.

Skills

Scrum Master Certification

Product Owner

Project management

Data-driven decision making

Tools

JIRA

Confluence

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

As a Product Manager on the US College Product Management team within Digital Learning Solutions, you will lead on initiatives that support Sage’s strategy to accelerate, experiment, and deliver new digital solutions within the US College space. You have a keen eye for detail and are a data-driven, evidence-based problem solver. You listen closely to what our customers are telling us about our products and work with internal team members, including other Product Managers, Engineers, and stakeholders, to research and develop new features from idea conception to launch, and ongoing management and maintenance beyond.

Your leadership skills shine when leading discussions to gather requirements, write user stories, and drive the development of the product. You are constantly seeking ways to improve customer experience and find additional efficiencies within our internal ways of working. You embrace a customer-first mentality and look for ways to innovate at the nexus of content and technology. You are curious, positive, and creative, you enjoy engaging in healthy debate with your colleagues, and you thrive when working within a collaborative team environment.

Your New Role:

Manage product development

• Lead the business decisions required to drive new product development, coordinating market research and cross-functional consultation within Sage.
• Lead all aspects of the project management for new product development with business units across Sage to keep projects on schedule and budget.
• Collaborate with other PMs on product roadmap strategy and prioritizing the product backlog.
• Perform User Acceptance Testing on new functionality before each live release and sign off on completed work by the development team.

Lead the assessment of new product ideas to develop business plans

• Drive the initial assessment process for new product ideas, participating in market research, developing product business requirements, and recommending an approach that is appropriate to the risk involved with and the level of investment required for each product.

Engage with market research

• While maintaining close communication and alignment with the College Marketing, Sales, Acquisitions, and Content Development teams, interact regularly with customers and the wider market, to ensure you are immersed in their wants, needs, and perspectives and to be an effective voice within Sage advocating their viewpoint. This includes collecting and testing new product and enhancement ideas, conducting usability testing, and researching our competitors.
• Establish new routines to keep a keen eye on market trends and to assess and refine products on a product-by-product basis. Products with major investment should be developed by engaging with end users and buyers, market research, and usability testing.

Lead on technical requirements

• Lead the definition of technical requirements for product development, establishing wire frames when needed, developing prototypes where appropriate, performing user testing with editorial teams, technology teams, and external partners to define product requirements.

Support content development and execution

• Work closely with editorial colleagues to define and refine content requirements for digital products and supervise execution of Sage College’s digital content. Help to streamline workflows, standardize content, and automate time-consuming tasks to promote a true digital-first workflow.

Lead on project management

• Establish and lead meetings, owning agendas, framing discussions, and following up on agreed actions.
• Lead on technical project management in gathering of requirements and creation of user-stories and acceptance criteria for work to be completed by the development team.
• Regularly collaborate with project teams and review meeting structure, with a focus on efficient use of time. Maintain project plans and all project documentation, including requirements gathered, user-stories created, and prototypes developed.
• Provide clear accountability for results.

Participate with implementation

• Help to refine workflow and processes for implementation of digital products focused on 1) training of internal users and support staff, 2) registration and activation with customers/students, and 3) LMS integration.
• Normalize procedures to business-as-usual with sales and technical support to focus on improvements and changes to implementation required over time and based on user feedback and data analysis.

Establish reporting

• Regularly provide relevant product updates, presentations, and reports to relevant teams and partners, including product updates, usage analysis, competitive information, and enhancement plans.

Could you become our next Product Manager?

Any Combination Equivalent To, But Not Limited To:

• Scrum Master and/or Scrum Product Owner Certification
• Project Management expertise
• Microsoft Office Knowledge: Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint (required)
• Experience with JIRA and Confluence

Previous Experience

Any Combination Equivalent To, But Not Limited To:

• Experience working within a product management / product owner role (preferably using Scrum or other Agile framework)
• Experience developing online products, including eBooks and courseware
• Familiarity with college products and business models
• Experience leading on major projects within a publishing organization

If you have a disability and you need any support during the application process, please contact [e-mail]. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply.

Pay Transparency & Benefits Package:

Sage Publishing is committed to being an inclusive employer where all individuals are treated with fairness and respect. Sage is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer.

Compensation at Sage is influenced by several factors, including but not limited to skill set, nature and level of experience, qualifications, and other relevant considerations. Please note that the compensation details listed in U.S. role postings reflect the base salary only and do not include bonuses or benefits. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range and additional aspects of the compensation/benefits package for this position during the hiring process. If your desired salary falls outside of this range, we hope you'll still apply as there may be other positions that better align.

• In addition to compensation, Sage offers a highly competitive and comprehensive PPO medical, dental, and vision care benefits package with SAGE covering most of the premium costs.
• Unique program benefits that support a healthy life, a company-sponsored anniversary trip every 5 years, a 401(k)-matching program of 100% up to 5% of pay, and other significant meaningful benefits.
• In alignment with our value for education, Sage offers financial support for bachelor's and graduate-level degree programs as well as learning for personal interest.
• Sage offers freedom and autonomy in your day-to-day with hybrid or remote work, depending on the role.

Sage offers freedom and autonomy in your day-to-day with hybrid or remote work, depending on the role. Join the nearly 2,000 Sage employees worldwide who deliver products and services that serve to fulfill our noble goal of education and dissemination of knowledge globally. We’d love to meet you!

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Sage Publishing is committed to being an inclusive employer where all individuals are treated with fairness and respect, regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marriage and partnership status, pregnancy and parental responsibilities, race, religion and belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

We believe that diversity is a cornerstone of a vibrant culture. We want Sage to be an organization where the most talented staff and high-potential staff are recruited, have the opportunity to grow, and want to work. We strive to achieve a better representation of diverse talent at all levels, including leadership, across our workforce.

Sage is a global academic publisher of books, journals, and library resources with a growing range of technologies to enable discovery, access, and engagement. Our mission is building bridges to knowledge — supporting the development of ideas through the research process to scholarship that is certified, taught, and applied.

Sage is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified applicants. Accommodations will be made for any part of the interview process.