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.

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
Additional Information

collaboration experiences on a real-time and strategic basis within NWEA.

• Attend key industry conferences, captur

requirements and anticipated results

• Strong written and oral communication i

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 managementto 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
Skills 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