Publisher/Senior Publisher (Product Manager)

We are seeking a talented and experienced Publisher or Senior Publisher (Product Manager / Senior Product Manager) to join our Vocational, Business, Creative and Practical educational publishing team at Pearson, based in either our Oxford or our London office. You will develop and maintain a deep understanding of customers' and learners' current and future needs and transform that understanding into market winning products and services that drive business growth. You will be responsible for commissioning for designated subjects and, according to your experience, may also take a leading role in shaping and evolving the publishing strategy for a whole series (e.g. Apprenticeships) and being accountable for our team's delivery of that strategy. Our ideal candidate will have strong experience in launching and managing digital learning services and be open to taking responsibility for a range of different subjects over time, as required.

The publishing remit of our team is broad and includes:

• Apprenticeships (e.g. Care, Business, IT, Hospitality)
• BTECs (e.g. Sport, STEM, IT, Music, Protective Services, Travel and Tourism)
• Functional Skills (Maths, English)
• GCSEs and A Levels (e.g. Economics, Business, Politics, PE, Music)

Our customers are teachers/tutors and learners in UK schools, further education colleges and private training providers.

MAIN ACCOUNTABILITIES:

Leadership and Management:

• Focus on winning, and on reflection, learning and improvement to drive growth
• Role model leadership behaviours and the Pearson values
• Build and lead teams to ensure a positive working culture, in support of Pearson UK Schools strategy
• Build and facilitate strong relationships with other parts of Pearson UK
• If directly managing people, work with the HR manager to recruit and retain the best people to work at Pearson
• Represent Pearson in area of responsibility as appropriate with internal stakeholders across Pearson

Strategy Development:

• Contribute to the strategy for area of responsibility

Financial planning and management:

• With support, contribute to the financial planning processes for the area of responsibility
• Be accountable and responsible for project P&Ls, working with internal stakeholders to establish sales forecasts and targets and to deliver according to project budgets
• With support, contribute to the development of the three-year publishing plan for area of responsibility

Market knowledge and insight:

• Create and maintain a deep understanding of customer and learner current and future needs through a continuous programme of market research and close tracking of educational policy
• Develop and maintain relationships with key stakeholders in area of responsibility
• Develop and maintain an insight into approaches that help improve learner outcomes in area of responsibility
• Represent Pearson in area of responsibility as appropriate with external stakeholders and through relevant events, forums and associations
• Champion a 'Customer First' culture internally, ensuring decisions are made based on the impact on the customer
• Track, analyse and, with support, create responses to competitor activity

Proposition development and delivery:

• With support, create and deliver market-winning propositions that anticipate customer needs
• Work with teams to ensure timely delivery of products and services to budget and quality
• Work with sales and marketing colleagues to ensure customer segmentation and messaging is clear, sales and marketing tactics are agreed, marketing collateral is produced and that revenue targets are met for allocated projects
• Identify areas for improvement, leading on improving author management and content development processes as required

Author management and commissioning:

• Identify, evaluate, select, commission and retain key authors, consultants and other key stakeholders who will contribute to Pearson's success
• Brief authors, negotiate terms that are to mutual benefit and align with Pearson's contract standards, communicate and agree schedules and expectations
• Ensure feedback to authors/consultants is timely and clear and that content delivered meets the brief and delivers identified learner outcomes

Service Management

• With support, manage allocated learning services through their life-cycles, making well-timed decisions about developments and initiatives at all stages
• Contribute to the road-map for relevant digital platforms
• As appropriate, monitor customer experience and learner data at regular points through an allocated project's life-cycle (from customer satisfaction tracking to regular, in-depth qualitative insight) to make recommendations for continual improvement
• Understand and anticipate the overall customer experience of our services and identify areas for improvement

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have experience in UK educational publishing and also in developing and managing digital educational services, including identifying and testing user requirements for digital products and services. We would, however, consider applicants whose publishing experience is not within the education sector if they can make a convincing case for their skills and experience being relevant and transferable. We are also looking for someone who is adaptable and who would relish the challenge of publishing for a variety of different subject areas and across different areas of education (e.g. schools, F. E. colleges, Private Training Providers).

Required capabilities:

• Collaborative decision-making
• Strategic thinking
• Creative thinking
• Customer empathy
• Communication
• Relationship building and influencing
• Commercial and financial planning
• Organisational and project management skills

About us

At Pearson, we're committed to a world that's always learning and to our talented team who makes it all possible. From bringing lectures vividly to life to turning textbooks into laptop lessons, we are always re-examining the way people learn best, whether it's one child in our own backyard or an education community across the globe. We are bold thinkers and standout innovators who motivate each other to explore new frontiers in an environment that supports and inspires us to always be better. By pushing the boundaries of technology - and each other to surpass these boundaries - we create seeds of learning that become the catalyst for the world's innovations, personal and global, large and small.