Product Director - Early Careers

Product Director – Early Careers Platform

Location:

US Hoboken (Hybrid)

As the Product Director, you will serve as the functional leader responsible for defining, delivering, and scaling our Early Careers Platform. You will demonstrate high accountability for product outcomes, making decisive choices about feature prioritization and risk tradeoffs to maximize impact for learners and partners. Your leadership will set the standard for cross-functional collaboration, strategic vision, and operational excellence.

• Define Product Vision & Strategy

  Develop and champion the product vision and multi-year roadmap for Pearson’s Early Careers Platform, ensuring alignment with business objectives and market needs.

• Take ownership of prioritizing product features

  Take ownership of prioritizing product features, balancing innovation with feasibility, and making clear, accountable decisions about which initiatives to advance or defer.

• Identify and evaluate opportunities to connect learning to employment outcomes

  Identify and evaluate opportunities to connect learning to employment outcomes through skills mapping, credentials, and career guidance, weighing potential risks and benefits.

• Lead Product Lifecycle

  Manage the entire product lifecycle, from discovery and design through launch and scale, with a focus on disciplined execution and measurable results.

• Own KPIs around learner engagement, skill acquisition, employability outcomes, and partner adoption

  Own KPIs around learner engagement, skill acquisition, employability outcomes, and partner adoption, holding yourself and your teams accountable for achieving ambitious targets.

• Lead Product Execution and Delivery

  Define and own the product roadmap, making transparent and well-communicated decisions about feature prioritization and resource allocation.

• Write user stories and JIRA tickets for engineering teams

  Write user stories and JIRA tickets for engineering teams, ensuring clarity of requirements and alignment with strategic priorities.

• Proactively assess and manage risks throughout the delivery process

  Proactively assess and manage risks throughout the delivery process, making tradeoffs as needed to ensure timely and high-quality product releases.

• Drive AI-Powered Innovation

  Collaborate with AI research, data science, and engineering teams to embed personalization, recommendations, and skills‑matching capabilities into the platform.

• Ensure ethical and transparent use of AI

  Ensure ethical and transparent use of AI to support learners in their career journeys, taking responsibility for risk mitigation and compliance.

• Market & User Research

  Conduct competitive analysis, user research, and stakeholder interviews with students, educators, and employers.

• Translate insights into actionable product requirements

  Translate insights into actionable product requirements and feature priorities, demonstrating leadership in synthesizing diverse perspectives and making tough prioritization decisions.

• Go-to-Market & Partnerships

  Partner with marketing, sales, and strategy teams to design GTM plans, including integration with Pearson’s existing ecosystem and external partners (schools, universities, employers).

• Support corporate and institutional partnerships

  Support corporate and institutional partnerships that drive platform adoption, taking accountability for partnership outcomes and risk management.

• Cross-Functional Leadership

  Lead and inspire cross-functional teams across product, engineering, design, marketing, and business development.

• Serve as a visible leader and evangelist for Pearson’s Early Careers vision

  Serve as a visible leader and evangelist for Pearson’s Early Careers vision, internally and externally, modeling accountability and decisive leadership in all interactions.

• 10+ years of product management experience, with at least 3 years in platform products, career readiness, or EdTech. K12 market knowledge would be a plus; learning platforms experience is recommended.

• Experience in delivering learning platform solutions in any of the following markets:

  • K12 career education
  • Higher Education non‑degree programs and/or vocational‑based…