Founded in 2012 and recently named one of the nation’s fastest-growing private businesses by Inc. Magazine, RedShelf is a Chicago-based EdTech company helping to make education both more affordable for students and increase learning effectiveness through its industry-leading digital platform. Partnering with more than 400 publishers and 1,900 campuses nationwide, we provide leading-edge digital course materials and an end-to-end Content Delivery System for effortless distribution of course content and engagement solutions.

Job Summary:

The Product Manager – Partner & Publishing Operations will work closely with the Product & Engineering directors and executive sponsors to deliver a best-in-class Publishing and Partner content acquisition framework in close partnership with a rock-star engineering team.

We are looking for a teammate who is resourceful, dedicated, and passionate about solving challenging problems and automating workflows. This role is for someone who loves diving into the details while also driving the overall strategy. We are looking for an outside-the-box thinker who can quickly identify market needs/ problems to solve and accelerate the team towards solving them.

The ideal candidate will have at least 6-10 years of work experience including 5 years’ experience in an agile software product management environment. The preferred candidate will have begun as an analyst evolving to a Product owner or product manager and be comfortable working in a fast-paced setting. To be successful in the role, this individual must be able to distill highly technical concepts into clear, concise business-oriented details and be comfortable working directly with Partner organizations and their delegates on a routine basis.

Duties & Responsibilities: 

• Work with existing and new Publishing & General Merchandise partners to acquire product content and attribution thru our proprietary Partner Portal and/or direct integrations.
•  Develop an expert-level understanding of Publishing industry methods and processes including pricing methodologies, rights-management, content formats and data transmission standards like ONIX.
• Own various aspects of the product development lifecycle, including but not limited to, gathering and distilling product feature needs/requirements into Epics, Features & Stories for timely and consistent estimation.
• Read and distill requirement information from 3rd party sources including the BISG.
• Develop an intimate knowledge of the RedShelf product data model, attribution hierarchy and nuance of our publishing partners’ methods of transmitting data and the customer segments they serve.
• Aid leadership in quantifying the business value of feature development efforts (whether customer, operational, or strategic) related to RedShelf’s key business initiatives, and ultimately, the work our technology partners will execute on.
• Assist in shaping the customer experience (CX) of new features and functionality in partnership with the experience design group.
• Must be able to evangelize the value of your products and communicate the current/future roadmap to internal and external audiences.
• Will work under the direction of a Director of Product to create a plan/vision for all Publishing partner integrations with RedShelf and establish and maintain the product roadmap.
• Partners closely with the Director of Engineering and others to ensure alignment to the product objectives and clarity of delivery timelines that inform market delivery dates.
• Comfortable working in ambiguous conditions and able to act with precision and efficiency.
• Provide necessary Level 3 product support for applicable production capabilities.
• Owns the product / feature release communication, both internally and externally.
• Excellent communication, team building, planning, and organization skills.
• Excel at coordinating multiple projects/ development efforts at one time
• Ability to define and translate a vision into detailed and actionable plans

Requirements:

• Minimum of 6-10 years’ experience in a fast-paced technology driven organization (preferably in a SaaS environment)
• 5+ years’ experience working directly with Agile software engineering teams to build software or integration frameworks as an Analyst, Product Owner or Product Manager.
• At least 3 years in a formal product management role is required.
• Keen ability to distill highly technical concepts into easily digestible forms for a non-technical audience.
• Strong understanding of product data model concepts and the role of data attribution to drive user experience.
• An entrepreneurial spirit and excited to work on complex problems at scale
• Motivated by finding ways to use process to produce results (not as an end unto itself)
• An affinity towards workflow automation and seamless data exchanges.
• Ability to work autonomously with a balanced team approach; you don't need to wait for direction but know when buy-in is critical.
• Ability to work remotely in a collaborative team structure to make an impact in a highly visible role.
• Strategic experience within the Publishing, EdTech, or Content Management and Syndication markets is strongly preferred.
• The ability to make quick decisions to solve complex technical and operational challenges
• Proficient in Excel, PowerPoint, Word, or Google-based equivalents.
• Bachelor’s Degree in a technical related field or equivalent experience

Other Desirable Skills/Experience:

• Product Management Certification is highly preferred (e.g. 280 Group, Pragmatic Institute, or others) 
• Knowledge and appreciation of the advances in higher educational software, course materials, and digital publishing or content publication/syndication.

Why RedShelf?

RedShelf prides itself on maintaining an informal but fast-moving, hard-working, entrepreneurial culture. Our team members are smart, innovative, and passionate about improving education through digital technology.

We offer the best of both worlds: the energy and opportunity of a rapidly growing organization, coupled with the stability of an extensive client base, strong financial backing, and proven track record of success. In addition to a forward-thinking environment with ample opportunity for professional and personal growth, our team members enjoy competitive compensation and benefit packages, including company stock options.

RedShelf is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Women, people of color, individuals with a disability, veterans, and others who would enrich the diversity of RedShelf are encouraged to apply.