Vice President, Product Strategy

American Press Institute; Washington, Baltimore (District of Columbia, MD); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 185,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Vice President of Product Strategy to lead innovative initiatives that enhance journalism's impact. This pivotal role involves setting organizational strategies, managing a diverse team, and collaborating with key partners to develop tools and training that empower journalists. The ideal candidate will possess extensive experience in the news environment, strong management skills, and a passion for fostering sustainable public-interest journalism. Join a forward-thinking organization dedicated to supporting local media and driving meaningful change in the industry.

Benefits

20 days paid time off

Medical, dental and vision benefits

401(k) plan with matching policy

Paid parental leave

Employer-paid life insurance

Professional development opportunities

Qualifications

• At least seven years of management experience in a news environment.
• Experience with strategic project management and UX design.
• Proficient in change management and adapting to change.

Responsibilities

• Manage budget and financial planning for the Product Strategy division.
• Develop and execute marketing strategies for API products.
• Identify strategic opportunities for new products and tools.

Skills

Management in News Environment

Sales Marketing

Strategic Project Management

UX Design

Agile Software Development

CRM Software Maximization

Change Management

Communication Skills

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Tools

Hubspot

Laravel PHP Framework

Job description

Summary

The Vice President, Product Strategy, has a direct role in setting organizational strategy at the American Press Institute; managing the staff in concert with the CEO/Executive Director, and other members of the executive team; and being a thought leader for API and its partners in developing original news products, tools and training that help journalists serve communities more effectively.

The candidate must be able to lead with authority amid an evolving journalism and nonprofit landscape and to coach others, both internal staff and external partners, to navigate change. The candidate must have a deep knowledge of digital media and rapidly shifting technology. They must be able to recognize trends, identify news industry needs and articulate a vision for how the American Press Institute can collaborate with news organizations, philanthropy, and other nonprofits to fill gaps in strategic news product thinking and development.

The Vice President, Product Strategy, must be willing to assess risks, identify promising opportunities and develop initiatives for the American Press Institute that will have an impact in the industry beyond incremental benchmarks. Intellectual curiosity, deep knowledge of technology, and the ability to manage a growing team and client base are requirements. The candidate must be a team player who promotes collaboration while fostering a creative work environment.

This change agent will manage the existing American Press Institute product portfolio, which includes Metrics for News, API’s analytics tool that aligns journalism metrics with an organization’s editorial values and business model, and Source Matters, API’s tool that allows publishers to track and improve the diversity of their organizations. The successful candidate will build a coherent product road map that builds on the API’s vision and mission.

The Vice President, Product Strategy, will be a member of API’s executive team, and they must work with other executive staff and managers to nurture an inclusive workplace that encourages team members to thrive.

This position reports to the CEO/Executive Director.

Key responsibilities include

• Attend board meetings and brief board members, in conjunction with other members of the executive team, on major program activities and developments in the field.
• Manage budget and financial planning for the Product Strategy division and help manage the organization’s finances.
• Work with the CEO/Executive Director to set and achieve annual benchmarks for earned and contributed Product Strategy revenue.
• Set and revise the overall organizational strategy in conjunction with the CEO/Executive Director and other members of the executive team.
• Develop and execute marketing strategies for growing the reach of API products in conjunction with other members of the API team.
• Develop and maintain a high standard of service for API clients.
• Identify strategic opportunities for new products, tools and training that will help the Institute continue to grow and adapt to the most urgent needs in journalism.
• Collaborate effectively and collegially with other API senior staff, including the Vice President, Journalism Strategy and the CEO/Executive Director, and the API team in general.
• Represent the Institute to external partners, clients, funders, and others at conferences and in meetings and in negotiations.
• Facilitate learning sessions in person and virtually in one or more of API’s four areas of focus: civic discourse and democracy; culture and inclusion; community engagement and trust; and revenue and resilience.
• Write and edit cleanly and effectively to communicate ideas through noteworthy thought leadership.
• Partner with the Director of Human Resources in recruiting for open Product Strategy job positions and interviewing and assessing candidates.

Requirements and qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree preferred, but significant professional or military experience may substitute for educational credentials, especially where the credentials may pose a barrier to candidates from traditionally underrepresented groups.
• At least seven years of management or supervisory experience in a news environment.
• At least five years of experience in sales marketing or working with business units to market news products.
• Experience working with a team to apply for grants and manage grant relationships.
• Extensive background working in media or technology, or fields where they intersect.
• Experience with strategic project management, UX design and Agile software development philosophies.
• Experience with maximizing the benefits of CRM software, such as Hubspot, within a complex organization.
• Knowledge of some common software programming languages and familiarity with the Laravel PHP framework.
• Experience working with different content management systems.
• Proficient in change management and adapting to change, with a track record of creating new programs and ways of doing things.
• Must have a passion for helping America’s public-interest news organizations achieve sustainability.
• Experience and comfort in written and spoken thought leadership.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Additional skills required involve knowing how to ask the right questions, active listening, evidence-based determination of what works, connecting disparate ideas, identifying new tactics to test, managing partner relationships, and more. The right candidate must be able to engage with internal and external partners fluently but must be open-minded to many different approaches.

Employment details

We believe that diversity in lived experiences, perspectives, knowledge, and ideas strengthens journalism, its business and our own organization. The American Press Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer, where we encourage applications from candidates from communities traditionally underrepresented in journalism and from people of every age, race, ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, disability status, medical condition, veteran status, and familial status.

This is a full-time position with a salary between $150,000 and $185,000 commensurate with skills and experience, and the following benefits:

• 20 days of paid time off, plus major holidays (12 per year) and one floating holiday
• Medical, dental and vision benefits
• 401(k) plan with a generous matching policy
• Medical and/or dependent flexible spending plan
• Paid parental leave is available
• Employer- paid life insurance, and short-term and long-term insurance policies
• Pre-tax mass transit plan
• Professional development opportunities (for example, conference attendance and stipends for course enrollment)

API’s main office is located in Arlington, Virginia, but API has flexible expectations about working from the office. Much of the staff is distributed across the United States. Remote candidates should be willing to travel to the API main office for occasional meetings — typically trips of two to three days four times a year. The job also includes occasional travel to conferences to represent API, to meet with clients or to deliver programming, or to facilitate sessions at API events.

How to apply

Pleaseemail a resume and a letter explaining your qualifications and your thinking on how product strategy aligns with the needs of news organizations to [e-mail]. We also invite candidates to fill out our affirmative action form here. Please include this form with your application. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States. Please mention “VP, Product Strategy” in the subject line so we can direct your application to the right people. Please be prepared to provide three professional references upon request.The deadline for application submissions is May 19, 2025.

About the American Press Institute

The American Press Institute supports local and community-based media through research, programs, and products that foster healthy, responsive, and resilient news organizations. API envisions an inclusive democracy and society, where communities have the news and information they need to thrive. API is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization affiliated with the News/Media Alliance.