Senior Category Manager

Coursera Inc.; United States; On-site; USD 147,000 - 174,000; Full time

Job summary

Coursera Inc. is seeking a Senior Category Manager to own high-priority commercial growth opportunities across our consumer portfolio.

You’ll diagnose business challenges, identify opportunities, set strategy, prioritize investments, and drive execution with cross-functional teams including Product, Marketing, Content, and university/industry partners. You’ll thrive in ambiguity, balance analytical rigor with strong commercial judgment, and be accountable for results.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Economics, Marketing, Engineering, Analytics, or related field.
• 7+ years in category management, product management, business strategy, or related function.
• Ownership of metrics (revenue, conversion, retention, profitability, or CLV).
• Quantitative analysis to diagnose performance and size opportunities.
• Customer- and market-informed growth strategies and priorities.
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives to measurable results.

Responsibilities

• Own high-priority opportunities from problem definition through execution.
• Develop growth strategies grounded in learner needs, market trends, and competitive dynamics.
• Leverage data to diagnose performance, size opportunities, and identify growth.
• Influence senior leaders and cross-functional teams to align priorities and execute.
• Build scalable operating mechanisms and experiments to accelerate learning and growth.

Skills

Category management

Business strategy

Product strategy

Quantitative analysis

Cross-functional leadership

Data-driven decisions

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business / Economics / Marketing / Engineering / Analytics

Job description

Coursera and Udemy are now one company, bringing together two mission-driven brands to create the world’s most powerful platform for turning learning into progress. Together, we help more than 300 million learners and 12,000+ enterprise customers build the skills they need for a world being reshaped by AI. Read more about the combined company by visiting our blog .

AI is transforming how people learn, work, and grow, and the need for new skills has never been greater. Coursera brings trusted content and credentials from leading university and industry partners, while Udemy brings a dynamic skills marketplace and global network of real-world experts. By combining these strengths, we can connect more people and organizations to the skills they need, when they need them.

Shape what comes next

By joining our team, you’ll have the opportunity to reshape how the world learns and applies skills—and help millions of people participate in the new economy. Bring your ideas, expertise, and perspective to meaningful work that can make a difference at global scale.

About this role

The Category Growth team drives commercial performance across Coursera's Consumer portfolio, identifying and capturing the highest-impact opportunities to grow revenue, conversion, retention, and lifetime value. We combine deep business analysis, learner and market insights, and cross-functional execution to accelerate category growth.

As a Senior Category Manager, you will take end-to-end ownership of high-priority commercial growth opportunities, from diagnosing business challenges and identifying opportunities to setting strategy, prioritizing investments, and driving execution through measurable results. You’ll operate as a business owner, independently determining where to focus and mobilizing teams across Product, Marketing, Content, and other functions, as well as our university and industry partners, to deliver outcomes.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives in ambiguity, combines analytical rigor with strong commercial and strategic judgment, and takes accountability for results. You'll navigate complex business challenges, build alignment across stakeholders, and turn strategic priorities into measurable business impact.

• Commercial ownership: You own the commercial outcome, not just the plan. You know your revenue, conversion, and margin numbers, understand what’s driving them, and hold yourself accountable for moving them, even when you don’t directly control the product surfaces or content. You turn plans into results through tight prioritization and consistent follow-through.
• Learner-centered strategy: You start from a deep understanding of what learners need and turn it into a clear point of view on where a category should win, what to offer, and what to prioritize.
• Data analysis: You turn messy data into clear insight, and use it to find and size opportunities, diagnose performance, and make the case for decisions.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Independently own ambiguous, high-priority business opportunities from problem definition through execution and measurable commercial results.
• Develop category growth strategies grounded in learner needs, market trends, and competitive dynamics to define where to compete, what to offer, and where to invest.
• Leverage data to diagnose business performance, uncover root causes, and identify and size high-impact growth opportunities.
• Influence senior leaders and cross-functional teams to align priorities, overcome obstacles, and execute growth strategies.
• Build scalable operating mechanisms and experiments to accelerate learning, optimize performance, and drive sustained growth.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Economics, Marketing, Engineering, Analytics, or a related field.
• 7+ years of experience in category management, product management, business strategy, product strategy, or a related function.
• Demonstrated ownership of business-level performance metrics, including revenue, conversion, retention, profitability, or customer lifetime value.
• Experience using quantitative analysis to diagnose business performance, size opportunities, and translate insights into strategic decisions.
• Demonstrated experience developing customer- and market-informed strategies to identify growth opportunities, define priorities, and guide business investments.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex, cross-functional business initiatives through implementation and measurable results.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience managing the commercial performance of a product category, portfolio, marketplace, or subscription business.
• Experience designing operating mechanisms, business reviews, experiments, or scalable decision-making frameworks to improve business performance.
• Experience operating independently in ambiguous environments with evolving priorities.
• Experience in consumer technology, e-commerce, marketplaces, subscriptions, digital media, or education technology.
• MBA or equivalent experience solving complex business problems across multiple functions.

Compensation

This role is available in the following US Pay Zones:

US Zone 3: $147,475 - $173,500

US Zone 4: $137,275 - $161,500

At Coursera, we offer competitive, zone-based pay aligned to your location, experience, and role level across four U.S. pay zones. Our total rewards package goes beyond salary, with comprehensive health and wellness benefits, bonus and RSU equity programs, and global perks designed to help you grow and thrive wherever you are.

Zone 1 – San Francisco Bay Area only

Zone 2 – New York City Metro and Seattle Metro

Zone 3 – CA (outside of SF Bay Area), CO, CT, DC, GA, IL, MA, MD, NY/NJ (outside of NYC Metro), OR, RI, TX, VA, WA (outside of Seattle Metro)

Zone 4 – All other US locations not listed in Zones 1–3

Posting Date: October 19, 2026

Application Window: October 19 - October 30, 2026

We anticipate the application window will be open until October 30, 2026. Based on business needs, this opportunity may remain posted beyond or closed before the anticipated application window.

Coursera is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to building a welcoming and inclusive workplace. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to legally protected characteristics and provide reasonable accommodations upon request at [e-mail].

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in Coursera’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

The application deadline for this role is October 31, 2026