Commercial Group Product Manager (Programmatic)
Commercial Group Product Manager (Programmatic)
Department: Digital
Normal location: Kings Place, 90 York Way, Kings Cross, London N1 9GU
Responsible to (Job title): Director of Product
The Guardian is one of the world's biggest liberal news organisations. We are renowned for our groundbreaking independent journalism, our award-winning digital products and excellent engineering team
What your role will be
As Group Product Manager, you will be critical to guiding the company through one of the most difficult periods in the history of media to successfully support our mission in delivering award-winning liberal, fact-based journalism to the world in perpetuity
You will be the product lead within the Commercial group - responsible for providing direction and support to a cross functional team within the ad revenue space and managing one product manager.
What your mission will be
The Guardian was an early-mover on the programmatic opportunity almost a decade-ago, and we quickly followed our entrance on the sell-side with a corresponding position on the buy-side of the market. In doing so, we developed an understanding of the full programmatic supply-chain; a view which few other buyers or sellers have, and which we believe creates a position of significant advantage.
Through continued investment between then and now, we have successfully established a market-leadership position which is evidenced by our scale, growth and rate of innovation - and our growing influence as a respected, credible voice in the marketplace. Today, over 80% of our digital advertising revenue is transacted programmatically.
Beyond our immediate business-interests, we pursue broader 'purpose' through our values, and specifically our "duty to the community". These values frame a bold vision for the digital advertising ecosystem, and shape our appetite to catalyse market-change to that effect. This has a significant influence over our strategy, and our actions; for example, it drives our spirit of collaboration with our peers, and our commitment to vocal participation in dialogue around market evolution.
Your team will be focusing on continuous improvement of the existing ad revenue products as well as identifying and exploiting new opportunities in the market.
What you'll be doing
- Understanding our users' needs, the company's broader strategy and what is happening in this fast paced industry
- Collaborating with a tight knit group of key stakeholders to develop a product vision and devise a winning strategy
- Coordinating quarterly planning for the product group - ensuring the team has clear direction and focus
- Lead a cross functional team and product manager to achieve their goals
- Applying Lean product discovery and optimisation methods to deliver impactful improvements to our users' experience and business metrics.
- Embracing a "buck stops here" and honest attitude: be proactive in removing blockers and contribute in raising team performance and implement best practices
- Being recognised as an expert in your area and partner with stakeholders to inspire your team to deliver world-class user experiences that generate value for the Guardian
- Sharing insights and expert knowledge with your team, as well as across the wider business
- Mentoring and coaching a product manager
We are looking for someone who:
- Has at least 4 years of programmatic experience at an SSP, DSP or inside a publisher's programmatic team (product or operations). Prior experience as a product manager or sales engineer preferable.
- Has a strong understanding of publisher-programmatic, through direct experience or engagement with programmatic publishers.
- Demonstrates exceptional understanding of programmatic business: formats, integration methods, deal types, creative management, compensation models, adserver integrations, RTB protocol and auction-dynamics.
- Can demonstrate experience in delivering on the key responsibilities and characteristics (outlined above).
- Experienced line manager.
- Loves great problems. You know how to uncover the jobs users have and how to go about finding the right solution. You encourage your teams to think differently
- Builds partnerships. You are effective at creating relationships across a wide range of stakeholders across the organisation and uncovering the outcomes they're hoping to achieves
- Provides clear product direction. You can utilise a cross disciplinary team to create and maintain an environment of high performance with a clear focus on measurable outcomes
- Lives and breathe evidence-based product development. You advocate for your teams to utilise insights from market research, data and user research to build a clear picture
- Obsesses about how to drive greater positive impact, and maintaining clear performance metrics and dashboards. You can show how you set targets and tracked progress against them in transparent, measurable ways
- Practices lean product discovery methods. You have used a range of lean testing methods to identify and validate the best solutions
- Orchestrates a cross-functional product team. You know how to balance the need to maintain product health with the need to drive towards transformative goals
- Articulates the voice of the user. The "why" behind your product and strategy underpins all work you do
- Previous line management or mentoring experience
What we offer you
- Flexible working
- Generous pension scheme
- Health insurance and dental scheme
- Up to 18 weeks of parental leave at full pay
- Child care assistance vouchers
- Cycle to work scheme
- Paid volunteering days
- Subsidised gym membership
- Annual season ticket loan
We value diversity
Here at the Guardian we welcome applicants from all backgrounds. As a global news organisation we need to reflect the world around us and we can't do this without a diverse workforce. We know that having a range of backgrounds, lived experience and perspectives leads to a more enriching and satisfying workplace. We also want our employees to look forward to coming to work and fostering a culture of inclusion is one of the ways we do this.
This role will remain open until a suitable candidate is found.