Product Manager

Summary of the Role
Reporting to the Head of Education, the Product Manager will be responsible for the exploration, identification, research, business analysis, justification and launch of potential new products to augment the global Firebrand training portfolio. The Product Manager will also work with other colleagues in the Education Team to maintain the existing global product portfolio and vendor stacks.
A ‘Product’ is defined as a saleable, accelerated learning package (comprising Lecture, Lab, Review components, supplemented by courseware typically leading to Certification).
The role encompasses the following areas of responsibility:
New Product Research & Assessment
• Working with a Research Analyst to explore and identify potential new products.
• Explore new opportunities by reviewing potential markets, vendors, partners, certification bodies etc.
• Drive research into new markets where the Firebrand methodology can be applied;
• Analyse and score potential opportunities based upon a defined set of criteria.
• Refine criteria as required to reflect changes in markets, business strategy, etc.
• Create product success criteria and test market response.
• Review feedback from students, Instructors, Sales & Marketing and Customer Services teams.
• Seek approval for potential product launch through the Product Justification process in consultation with the Head of Education, Marketing, and Country Managers.
Product Launch
• Project manage the product launch process;
• Liaise with relevant Instructor/Subject Matter Expert to obtain course information to support website launch (public facing course details, sales messages etc.);
• Create Marketing & Sales handover documents in agreement with Marketing as necessary;
• Work with Sales teams to develop and deliver sales enablement programmes;
• Work with Marketing to measure success of launch to determine product development strategy;
Product Delivery
• Where product development is agreed, work with the Product and Curriculum Designer to ensure process is instigated;
• Facilitate further marketing and sales training and requirements for product delivery;
• Maintain close relationship with the Research team to understand what products need to be added to ensure Firebrand offers the complete portfolio;
• Liaise with Country Managers and conduct portfolio reviews on a regular quarterly basis seeking new ideas for their local market;
Product Maintenance – Existing Portfolio
• Liaise with Country Managers, Sales, Marketing & Education manage task delivery and expectations;
• Stay close to the feedback students provide (NPS) on the courses to understand when a product/product maintenance is required;
• Monitor the pass marks associated to products and initiate maintenance if issues are identified;
• Act as the liaison between instructor managers, courseware management and customer service teams to identify issues and report on a bi-weekly basis to management with plan to improve situation;
• Ensure that all maintenance work and outcomes are effectively communicated to each region;
Vendor Liaison
• Understand relevant vendor or partner product portfolio and offerings;
• Become known as the Firebrand product owner, create annual vendor acquaintance sessions;
• Research all forms of vendor/product communications, blogs, forums, social media, seminars etc.
• Collate all forms of information on internal portal and make available to internal teams;
• Project manager for marketing engagement with vendor opportunities to ensure maximum visability and participation on marketing channels;
Bespoke Training
• Understand, log and manage the projects/training courses that are being delivered globally;
• Understand and log all of the bespoke deliveries that are due to take place;
• Log and report the effort that ‘bespoke’ training activity;
• Report the data to the Head of Education to understand how the bespoke activity is affecting the global training schedule;
To maintain appropriate skill set and to own and maintain Personal Development Plan
• In conjunction with manager ensure that adequate skills are developed & maintained to support role;
• To identify in conjunction with Line Manager any development requirements.
To partake in other activities associated with Education identified by your Line Manager
The Person
• Educated to degree level or proven professional experience;
• Ability to develop strong and productive relationships with internal teams and external vendors;
• Relationship management capabilities, managing relationships at senior management level;
• Sales aware and ability to liaise with and create key sales messages for the sales force;
• Highly organised with strong attention to detail;
• The ability to produce high quality documentation to include business cases and product justification proposals for submission for board approval;
• High level of documentation skills & attention to detail, to document & submit proposals for approval;
• Good financial and commercial acumen;
• The ideal candidate for this role will have a clear ability to think commercially and align their technical understanding with the commercial demands of the business;
• Excellent project management skills with project management exposure;
• Microsoft Office (particularly Outlook, Word and Excel) – advanced preferred not essential;
• Flexible in attitude and working hours reflecting demands from a global business;
Typical Key Performance Indicators
• % of portal requests completed within SLA
• % of projects delivered in time
• New Product to Market within agreed timescales
• Development costs appropriately managed