Position Title: Director, Product Management, Emerging Technologies

Requisition ID: R100722

Location: Dallas, TX

Full/Part-Time: Full time

About Us:

Learfield is the leading media and technology company powering college athletics. Through its digital and physical platforms, Learfield owns and leverages a deep data set and relationships in the industry to drive revenue, growth, brand awareness, and fan engagement for brands, sports, and entertainment properties. With ties to over 1,200 collegiate institutions and over 12,000 local and national brand partners, Learfield’s presence in college sports and live events delivers influence and maximizes reach to target audiences. With data-based solutions for a 365-day, 24/7 fan experience, Learfield enables schools and brands to connect with fans through licensed merchandise, game ticketing, donor identification for athletic programs, exclusive custom content, innovative marketing initiatives, NIL solutions, and advanced digital platforms. Since 2008, it has served as title sponsor for the acclaimed Learfield Directors’ Cup, supporting athletic departments across all divisions.

Our people-first culture is the foundation of our business and is reflective of our approach to building meaningful relationships with our employees, partners, and fans. The company strives each day to deliver the mission statement and embody the core values that make Learfield an exciting place to work.

Our Mission

Powering the connection of fans to the brands and experiences they love.

Our Core Values

Build Trust | Be Fans of One Another | Power Tomorrow | Create & Connect Communities | Have Fun

We are actively accepting applications for an experienced, visionary Director of Product to join our dynamic team. Based in Dallas, Texas, this role will play a pivotal part in defining and shaping the long-term technology strategy and roadmap and will be the Sidearm Subject Matter Expert on emerging technologies that will drive Learfield’s digital footprint power the experience for millions of sports fans across College Athletics. As a Product Leader, you will maintain and have a deep understanding of the market opportunity, competitive landscape, client needs, as it pertains to emerging technologies (AI, ML-Personalization, CMS, Automation, Augmented Reality (AR) to deliver on our vision and company-wide product roadmap to improve the overall fan experience.

The Director of Product will collaborate and maintain strong cross-functional relationships with out executive leadership team, engineers, developers, internal partners, and operations to drive product development from conception to launch.

As a Director of Product at Sidearm sports, you will:

People Development and Management:

• Lead and mentor a team of product managers, who will oversee delivering specific product and/or features.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and customer-centricity among the product team and other cross-functional teams, such as engineering, design, marketing, and partner manager

Lead Product Strategy and Roadmap:

• Define and execute the product strategy in alignment with the business goals, market trends, partner needs, and the voice of the fan.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to develop and communicate a clear product roadmap, considering technical feasibility and market dynamics.
• Conduct market research and competitive analysis to identify new and adjacent opportunities to drive product innovation overall

Drive Product Development and Execution:

• Oversee the end-to-end product development lifecycle, ensuring timely and successful delivery of product releases.
• Collaborate closely with engineering, design, and other cross-functional teams to translate product requirements into actionable development plans.
• Facilitate effective communication and collaboration between teams to manage dependencies, resolve issues, and drive product execution.

Own Stakeholder Management:

• Collaborate with VP of Product, Senior leadership, and broader product team to ensure alignment with overall business objectives.
• Communicate product updates, roadmap, and performance metrics to stakeholders, ensuring transparency and alignment.
• Work closely with engineering, marketing, partner development, customer support to develop and drive go-to-market strategies, product positioning, and partner success

Live Customer Focus and Market Insights:

• Maintain a deep understanding of customer needs (Voice of the Fan) through market research, user feedback, and data analysis.
• Become the resident subject matter expert (SME) on emerging technologies, and the start-up tech landscape for opportunities to partner on solutions
• Advocate for the customer throughout the product development process, ensuring user-centric design and customer satisfaction.
• Analyze market trends, competitive landscape, and industry developments to identify opportunities and make data-driven product decisions.

Responsibilities

• Define and own product strategy and roadmap.
• Drive execution of product roadmaps and project deliverables with internal and external stakeholders.
• Work with external 3rd party companies to assess partnership and/or licensing opportunities
• Partner with our internal engineering and/or 3rd party companies to beta and pilot programs for early-stage product concepts
• Specifying and overseeing the research needed to determine the needs and desires of clients and end users.
• Manage the entire product life cycle from strategic planning to execution
• Proactively Identify and mitigate risks encountered with roadmap initiatives.
• Help coordinate discovery, ideation, and project status meetings with stakeholders to ensure clear and understood paths to success.
• Build relationships with our partners and formulate the integration roadmaps to continually improve and maximize value from our third-party offerings.
• Manage stakeholder expectations and scope.
• Continually provide vision and direction to the Agile product team and stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle.
• Observes and researches new trends within the industry and works with the VP of Product to assess their impact on our strategic roadmap.
• Facilitates team meetings encouraging constructive communication and guidance of topics throughout the meeting.

Our Ideal Candidate

• You are a natural leader. As a Product Leader in a product-led organization, managing and mentoring product professionals is essential to the role. Our ideal candidate has a background in managing people and the ability to help our product organization evolve.
• You are organized. As a Product Leader, managing the process with clients an internal team members can be challenging. Our ideal candidate has the ability to organize their work and efficiently manage their time.
• You are self-assured. Our ideal candidate has self-confidence in their decision-making process and the trust to manage projects directly with clients.
• You are versatile. Our ideal candidate has the ability to manage numerous projects while adhering to the assigned deadlines.
• You are a communicator. Our ideal candidate has strong verbal and written communication skills. As a Product Manager, you need to be able to effectively communicate the scope of a project with clients and team members.
• You are a team player. Our ideal candidate is self-motivated but has the ability to work collaboratively with internal departments to ensure on-time delivery of client needs.

Requirements

• 8+ years as a Product Manager working directly with stakeholders and technical staff in a product/project management capacity
• Experience assigning resources in a highly technical, fast-paced product environment
• Experience in one or many Agile development methodologies
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills (oral, written and group presentations)
• Excellent prioritization skills
• Detail oriented
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, applicable experience
• Proven experience with Outlook, Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint
• Ability to work under pressure while simultaneously managing multiple tasks
• Ability to effectively communicate well with others in accomplishing tasks and problem resolution
• Strong commitment and passion for diversity, equity and inclusion

Learfield offers a full spectrum of benefits for eligible employees including Medical, Dental, Vision, Health Savings Account, Life Insurance and Other Insurance Plans, Flexible Paid Time Off (minimum 10+ days annually), including Parental Leave, 20 Paid Holidays, 401(k) + Match, and Short/Long Term Disability. Leave benefits are consistent with state and local laws, including the Colorado Health Families and Workplaces Act.

Learfield is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We provide equal employment opportunities to applicants and employees without regard to race; color; sex; gender identity; sexual orientation; religious practices and observances; national origin; pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; status as a protected veteran or spouse/family member of a protected veteran; or disability.

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