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Vice President, Product Management & Marketing - Community Engagement
Blackboard Inc.
Washington, DC, United States
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Vice President, Product Management & Marketing
Community Engagement Solutions
Washington, D.C.
Blackboard helps shape the future of education by delivering technology and services solutions that transform the learning experience. We continually innovate to better enable educators, parents, and learners of all types to teach, learn, connect and communicate whenever they want and wherever they are. We partner with educational institutions globally in the higher education, professional education and K-12 markets to improve the education experience both inside and outside the classroom by facilitating access to information, enabling stronger student engagement and collaboration, enhancing communication, and supporting student safety, success and institutional effectiveness. Most importantly, we help every student achieve their full potential through access to lifelong learning.
Overview
The Vice President of Product Management & Marketing is the business line owner for Blackboard’s Community Engagement (CE) Solutions. The CE business line is a scaled and mature business that offers the Blackboard Community Engagement Suite (which includes website management, mobile communications, mass notification, and social media management products) designed specifically for the K-12 market. Our mass notification capabilities are also sold in the higher education, corporate, and government markets.
Reporting to the Chief Strategy Officer, this position owns a combination of strategic and tactical responsibilities that requires a clear understanding of the K-12 education industry and a keen ability to translate how Blackboard’s current solutions address challenges faced by school districts today. This key leader must have the ability to manage over multiple CE-related products in various stages of their life cycles. It will require innovative thinking on ways to maximize sales, revenue, and client satisfaction and retention including strategies to transition clients from legacy platforms to current offerings and expanding the adoption of current products in the CE Suite.
The successful candidate must possess highly effective communication and influencing skills to convey the value of our solutions to internal stakeholders and to the market. The successful candidate will assess and prioritize product management, product marketing, and product development resources required to support the approved life cycle strategies and business goals for driving growth from sales of current products to new and existing clients. As well, the Vice President will participate in budgeting and planning efforts for the North America Division to align on sales, retention, and professional services goals and to align internal business partners on achieving those goals through comprehensive and integrated operational planning and execution.
Additionally, this leader will own the P&L for the Community Engagement line of business and must possess the business savvy to be able to maximize profitability of products s/he owns but also participate in portfolio and resource balancing efforts across all business lines to achieve overall corporate objectives.
Specifically s/he will be responsible for the following as it relates to leading Product Management & Marketing:
Essential Functions:
• Develop and maintain a deep understanding of market trends that affect the competitor strategies and the buying behaviors of the market.
• Develop and maintain awareness of regulatory requirements that must be met to ensure compliance.
• Continually explore how other Blackboard products/assets can be leveraged in the K-12 market and develop plans for bringing those assets to market.
• Develop strategies and tactics to maximize win rates and customer/revenue retention rates to achieve growth and profitability targets from sales of current products to new and existing customers.
• Identify and execute on both short-term and medium-term product and solutions alternatives/extensions from within Blackboard’s current technology set that meet specific needs and positively impact business objectives, including packaging, bundling, targeted/improved pricing strategies, and sales/marketing enhancements.
• Continue end-of-life planning and execution activities for legacy products no longer sold or maintained.
• Develop, own, and drive an integrated operations plan involving product management/marketing and other stakeholders in sales, product development, professional services, customer support, and business development to achieve committed business results.
• Act as the primary product team liaison to the industry go-to-market team, working closely with that team to understand sales trends/dynamics, team performance, client feedback, and direct and nuanced solution/product imperatives.
• Develop relationships with key clients and client thought leaders to help inform decision making and provide advocacy to Blackboard’s solutions in-market.
• Represent Blackboard in key internal, client, and industry forums to convey product strategy and roadmap, and solicit client and market feedback.
• Analyze potential partner relationships for the Blackboard product suite both integrated to overall product roadmap planning, as well as identified outside the current Blackboard solution but evident within industry trend analysis.
• Assist throughout the product development lifecycle by actively participating in product requirements development, product design specifications, market tests / feedback, pricing and packaging analysis, and go-to-market readiness.
• Represent Blackboard at key industry events and initiatives.
• Own and advocate key leadership initiatives within Blackboard Product Management & Marketing associated with internal planning, annual goals, client-related initiatives, and sales/marketing support.
Required Skills/Experience:
• Bachelor's degree required; Master’s Degree or other advanced degree in a related field preferred.
• At least 10-15 years’ experience driving a business, typically through combined experiences in general management, education technology, and serving the education market.
• Ability and experience necessary to create and communicate, through a variety of channels, our CE strategy relative to what is happening in the market.
• Deep understanding of the strategic view of the relativity of community/parental engagement on student success and the capabilities, technologies, and services that drive and enable them.
• Extensive experience in managing a matured and scaled line of business while maximizing profitability from smart life cycle management planning strategies and methodologies.
• Experience and success aligning and managing heavily matrixed, cross-functional teams including holding them accountable to their commitments and identifying and managing risks across multiple ongoing projects.
• Experience implementing key technology initiatives, either within school/district leadership or as a senior technology partner/vendor.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.Comfortable and effective in small group and large group presentations.Experience and a proven track of participating in industry forums or critical sales cycles.Compelling and accurate writing ability.
• Analytical with strong experience pulling from a variety of data sets.Able to synthesize results for critical strategic-level implications.Effective within business planning and modeling tools to include excel or other financial / CRM solutions. Success in completing market-sizing, documenting business plans, and creating financial models to support plans.
• Collaborative. Proven ability to work cross functionally and informally to achieve overall business objectives, product sales, and go-to-market results.
• Passion for technology and its opportunity to better enable the best outcomes for students, parents, teachers, and administrators.
• Flexible and adaptive. Up to 35% travel.
• Strong influencer, shaping strategic direction, driving leadership councils, being the voice at the table of K-12 communications officers, superintendents, and technology leaders by providing thought-leadership.
This job description is not designed to contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required. Nothing in this job description restricts management's right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities at any time.
Blackboard is an equal employment opportunity/affirmative action employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, gender, age, color, religion, national origin, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, protected military/veteran status, or any other protected factor.
Location/Division: Indianapolis, IN, USA, State College, PA, USA, Washington, DC, USA Job Requisition: BB-1427