Analysis Skills, Asset Management, Blueprints, Business Case, Business Growth, Business Writing, Business-to-Business (B2B), C-Level Management, Chemistry, College Level Faculty, Computer Security, Contract Creation, Email Campaign, Geology, Help Desk, Higher Education, Leadership, Management Consulting, Marketing Metrics, Marketing Strategy, Marketing/Sales Collateral, Microsoft PowerPoint, Physics, Problem Solving Skills, Product Management, Product Marketing, Product Planning, Product Strategy, Programming Tools, Resource Management, Return on Investment (ROI), Sales, Startup, Team Lead/Manager, United States Department of Energy (DOE), User Groups
Title: Strategic Product Marketing Manager (Upstream & Product Strategy)
Department: Product
Reports To: Chief Product Officer
Location: Remote/USA
Type: Full-Time
About Us
Strategic Product Marketing Manager (Upstream & Product Strategy) - Empowering Educators who inspire students to become the next generation of instructors, scientists, and problem-solvers.
Do you believe in the power of digital education? Are you driven by the idea of shaping the future of learning? Dive in, and let's craft the education of tomorrow, today!
Role Overview:
If you are a Product Marketing Manager, you already know the trap: you accept a role promising "high-level strategy," only to spend 80% of your week acting as a helpdesk for sales, fixing typos on PowerPoint slides, and chasing down marketing collateral.
This role is different. You will report directly to our Chief Product Officer (CPO).
We have a dedicated Product Engagement team that owns downstream sales training, asset management, and deck creation. Because they own the execution, the CPO needs you to own the upstream strategy.
Sitting inside the Product organization, you will function as an internal management consultant and product strategist. Your job is to analyze brand-new academic disciplines (like expanding from Chemistry into Physics or Geology), find our competitive "wedge" against entrenched legacy publishers, and build the business cases that dictate exactly where our content and engineering teams invest resources next.
Core Responsibilities:
- Build the Case for the C-Suite: Write the definitive business cases for new market entry. You will pitch the CPO and Executive Leadership Team on market sizes (TAM/SAM), projected ROI, and strategic entry points.
- Shape the Product Roadmap: Work hand-in-hand with product management to translate market data into product requirements. You'll help the CPO make high-stakes decisions on whether we build new features natively, partner with existing tech, or license content to crack a new market.
- Expose Legacy Vulnerabilities: Tear down the courseware platforms of major publishing giants. Figure out where their tech is failing students and professors, and map out exactly how our platform can displace them.
- Engineer Academic Trust: Higher education runs on peer recommendation. You will design, recruit, and manage discipline-specific Faculty Advisory Boards, turning influential professors into active co-designers and advocates before our product hits the market.
- Define the Source of Truth: Write the foundational positioning blueprints and messaging architecture that define our voice in a new discipline, creating a clean handoff for our engagement and sales teams.
Competencies:
- The Strategic Operator: You have 4+ years of experience in Product Marketing, Product Strategy, Management Consulting, or Product Management. You excel at looking at ambiguous markets, running the numbers, and synthesizing an ironclad strategy.
- An Executive-Level Communicator: You are comfortable presenting data-heavy strategies to C-level executives. You know how to talk about product trade-offs, resource allocation, and business growth as opposed to top-of-funnel marketing metrics.
- The EdTech or Specialized B2B Vet: You understand the unique challenge of selling to a gatekeeper (a skeptical professor) who chooses software for an end-user (the student).
- A Builder of Communities: You don’t just launch email campaigns. Instead, you know how to build human networks. You have a proven track record of managing user groups, beta cohorts, or customer advisory councils.
- Pedagogical Empathy: You respect academic rigor. You can speak to a university department head with peer-level credibility, understanding their anxieties about classroom workflow and student success.
- Experience working at a publisher, EdTech startup, or in a high-skepticism B2B industry (like Developer Tools or HealthTech) is a massive plus and highly desired.
Why You’ll Love Working Here:
- True Upstream Scope: No deck-monkeying or chasing sales reps. Your brain is valued for macro product strategy, market insights, and business growth.
- Direct Access & Impact: You report directly to the CPO, giving your insights immediate visibility and influence over where our capital and engineering resources go.
Financial Attributes:
- Annual Base Compensation: $110,000 - $115,000 (DOE)
- Benefits:
- Health/dental/vision insurance
- Retirement (401k) plan with Company match
- Unlimited PTO
- And more!
Important Notes: In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.
This description is for reference only. It is not meant to provide an exhaustive description of the duties that may be required of an employee in this position. It does not create a contract between the Company and any employee.
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