VP, Product Management at NWEA in Portland, OR

Company Description

NWEA™ is a research-based, not-for-profit organization that supports students and educators worldwide by creating assessment solutions that precisely measure growth and proficiency—and provide insights to help tailor instruction. For 40 years, NWEA has developed innovative Pre-K–12 assessments, including our flagship interim assessment, MAP® Growth™; our progress monitoring and skills mastery tool, MAP® Skills™; and the OECD Test for Schools (based on PISA). Educators trust our professional learning offerings to accelerate student learning and our research to support assessment validity and data interpretation. Our tools are trusted by educators in 140 countries and more than half the schools in the U.S.

Job Description

Position summary

Reporting to the Sr. Vice President, Product Management and Publishing, the Vice President of Product Management is a key member of senior leadership. This position is responsible for providing leadership and management for Product Management in the creation of multi-year, integrated, and enterprise level product and solution vision and strategies (NWEA’s product portfolio). This position requires a strong and current understanding of the educational ecosystem and related markets. Additionally, this position is responsible for transforming organizational strategies into product and business planning requirements, artifacts and initiatives used by the enterprise to tactically execute and deliver compelling products and services into a complex and multi-faceted marketplace. Working across the organization, the Vice President of Product Management ensures that the product vision and results align with the organizational mission and meets internal and external goals for revenue generation, profitability, and partner satisfaction.

The VP and Product Management team will be product evangelists (internally & externally). This includes responsibility for collaborating with others, communicating and clarifying strategies, articulating roadmaps and priorities, and creating the necessary artifacts and deliverables that move the vision and strategies from concept to reality within the organization. This position and the group of directors managed by this role will translate partner needs and innovative ideas into great products, solutions and services while managing complex product and business decisions and related trade-offs at the enterprise level.

This position provides leadership for a team of highly skilled product management leaders and their staff and enables the team to be effective collaborators across the organization. The Product Management team designs, develops and manages product/services/business line strategy and plan and execute the product lifecycle including the definition of market and product opportunities, market requirements, product roadmap and release, market and competitive positioning, feature definition, and feature development priorities. This position works closely with, Marketing, Product Engineering, Research, Publishing, Professional Learning, and Partner Accounts on go-to-market strategy and execution including release readiness.

The ideal candidate is a leader of leaders and brings a background in educational assessment that demonstrates vision, leadership, collaboration, and an entrepreneurial spirit in the educational assessment arena.

Current Areas of Emphasis (2017-2018)

• Clearly, consistently, and frequently articulate and evolve the product vision, strategy, and related roadmap(s) across the organization, demonstrating solution flexibility and configurability across multiple products and markets.
• Engage stakeholders to drive alignment on clear, actionable product and business strategies and priorities to deliver optimal results for partners and the business. Recommend and champion the most effective use of product investment funds.
• Anticipate, coordinate, and leverage emergent technologies, functionalities, and capabilities as they evolve and are delivered (internally and in the market).
• In partnership with enterprise architects, Product Management leadership, and key internal stakeholders, proactively evolve and increase clarity for solutions design to ensure successful epic definition and all levels of necessary requirements elicitation.

Responsibilities Product Strategy:

• Lead the creation of product portfolio vision and strategy in support of NWEA’s vision. Drive and facilitate the planning process to provide focus and alignment on critical strategies and resultant products and services that delight our partners. Aggressively identify opportunities for improvement, and incorporate new business and product features on an ongoing basis.

• Evangelize and socialize product or services strategy, vision and value proposition with internal and external stakeholders.

• Work closely with our alliance partners to ensure that the common services and offerings we jointly provide remain aligned and are delivered to the market without interruption.

  Business and Planning:

• Provide leadership, mentoring, and management to assigned directors and staff dedicated to the growth of the organization, product management process, and metrics that demonstrate improved performance.

• Lead the team to proactively meet with partners (customers) and prospects to assess needs, identify opportunities, and build relationships for dynamic product enhancement dialogue.

• Regularly interact with product user groups, industry leaders, and the learning community to stay abreast of industry changes and to influence policy.

• Identify opportunities to optimize product line profitability through value-based pricing, production efficiency recommendations, and competitive and market intelligence to improve partner retention rates and partner satisfaction.

• Work with staff to routinely review and report out P&L at product, bundle, and portfolio levels for all products and services.

• Identify and build cross-functional team collaboration experiences on a real-time and strategic basis within NWEA.

• Attend key industry conferences, capture strategic takeaways and socialize this information within the Product Management team.

  Execution

• Develop and direct a high-performance product management team of directors and their staff charged with optimizing the organization’s portfolio of products and services.

• Drive toward clarity of purpose and role for all functions and activity

Qualifications

S****kills and Abilities

• Ability to lead and drive toward NWEA’s vision and in support of NWEA’s mission by developing world class products and refinements to existing products without being confined to traditional market-driven analysis
• Ability to effectively lead high performing teams and create an environment in which talent is nurtured and developed
• Ability to lead in a dynamic, fast changing environment is essential, while demonstrating strong drive for results and execution
• Exceptional skills in partnering with clients and staff and in developing and maintaining long term supportive and collaborative relationships
• Ability to establish priorities and results within the team and within the cross-functional teams at NWEA while concurrently managing unrelated, multiple, and complex technical requirements on a timely basis
• Ability to make timely decisions and produce results through the effective implementation of products, programs, and scalable processes
• Capable of establishing a business case for all products, processes, metrics, and margins that justify resource requirements and anticipated results
• Strong written and oral communication is a must as is tremendous creativity, flexibility, and comfort leading through ambiguity
• Consistent, proactive, and healthy cross-functional communication skills that set a leadership standard that motivates the team and all business relationships
• Demonstrated ability to drive results and to work effectively across multiple groups
• Strong ability to influence, persuade and negotiate in support of the product roadmap and organizational initiatives
• Ability to identify, maximize, and leverage internal and external resources to meet objectives
• Sound business judgment and knowledge of financial issues impacting product profitability including the ability to read a financial statement, manage the P&L of the product line, and deliver forecasted margins and market performance
• Solid understanding of technology including Business Intelligence and analytics
• Ability to travel as required, up to 25%
• Must be able to perform the physical and intellectual requirements of the role, with or without accommodation

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in education, technical, or business discipline or equivalent experience; advanced degree (e.g., MBA, Ph.D.), or equivalent experience preferred
• Minimum ten years’ experience in product management, product development, product marketing or related discipline associated within the education industry, with at least five years in progressive product management leadership
• Solid knowledge of/experience with the Product Lifecycle Management processes including product requirements definition, product business plan development, new product introduction, etc.
• Domain knowledge and demonstrated understanding of the assessment and related services marketplace as well as the educational marketplace in general
• Experience with all aspects of go-to-market planning and launch
• Demonstrated success in developing and launching complex technology products and software offered in a SaaS model
• Certified and Proficient with Pragmatic or 280 group Product Management frameworks or similar
• Investment and budget optimization and P&L management associated with new and existing products and professional staff

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Additional Information

Benefits

NWEA’s generous benefits package includes: 100% employer paid medical, dental and vision insurance premiums for eligible employees; company-paid public transportation, indoor bicycle racks, and free on-site parking; convenient location near public transportation near the Pearl District in downtown Portland; additional monthly compensation in the form of Benefit pay; and a 15% annual employer contribution toward our 403b retirement plan. In addition, NWEA’s culture promotes work-life balance. Accordingly, we offer 4 weeks’ PTO in the first year, 5 weeks’ PTO after the first-year anniversary, and 6 weeks’ PTO after the second-year anniversary and in subsequent years. Our employees also enjoy flexible work schedules.

Interested in this job?

Please apply directly on out website at: https://nwea.hodesiq.com/jobs/default.aspx?JobID=5500568

NWEA endeavors to make www.nwea.org accessible to all users. If you would like to contact us regarding the accessibility of our website or need assistance completing the application process, please call us at (503) 624-1951 and let us know the nature of your request, your location and your contact information. This is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.

NWEA™ is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. For our EEO Policy Statement, please visit our website. If you’d like more information on your EEO rights under the law, please visit thefollowing EEOC website.