Ah, to have been part of the origin story of Netflix, say, or of HBO Now. . . . Well, guess what, Product Manager Extraordinaire? No need to sit back and wish, for another major media company is even now building out its direct-to-consumer product, and you’re even now reading the job description that could very well make you an integral part of its story. If you’re a product natural who’s data-driven and bristling with creative insights, this could be your ticket to an extremely exciting ride.
Nitty Gritty
What you’ll be doing, in short, is creating kickass video experiences with a strong customer focus, across a plethora of platforms, from web and mobile to TV apps and game consoles, straight on through to in-car and other unconventionals. Ecommerce and analytics will be central to your rollout of a subscription-based model, as you build a strong acquisition funnel, seeking to increase conversion rates, grow revenue and drive new feature development.
As you might expect, there’ll be a nice helping of planning, testing and reporting. As in, gathering specs, authoring product requirements, writing user stories, leading ideation sessions. As in, defining the product vision and developing the product roadmap and backlog plan. As in, establishing key metric indicators. Developing market plans. Ensuring measurability. A/B testing, learning, iterating. Conducting market research. Course-correcting, as needed.
What else? Well, you’ll be reviewing product requests and participating in the green-light process. Managing the app stores. Handling the support process (authoring FAQs and answering customers’ questions). And managing relationships! Relationships with vendors, with such teams as tech, editorial and marketing, and relationships with partners and potential partners.
Hired Gun Profile
To thrive in this role, you’ll need a solid background in computer science, and you’ll be right in that sweet spot between someone who’s too junior and someone who’s too set in their ways. That probably translates to something like four years of managing tech projects and about five years of Agile/Lean experience with plenty of exposure to software engineering practices. In fact, best-case scenario: you’re a certified Scrum Master with PMP certification and have actually managed products in responsive web and mobile for a media company. You’re a regular user of product management software like Jira and Confluence.
But guess what? All of the above will get a candidate only so far. Luckily for you, it’s absolutely critical that you possess a couple more attributes that separate the true rising stars such as yourself from the merely competent. Those two attributes are leadership ability — the ability to really guide people, motivate them to deliver their best, establish an enduring sense of teamwork — and communication skill. Thank goodness, then, that you’re so good at presenting information clearly and compellingly, and at forming fruitful partnerships with all kinds of colleagues, from software developers to executives. Those are the things that are going to push you over the top.
Inside Skinny
Come prepared to demonstrate that you’re up to speed on the competitive space and trends within the entertainment industry.
Net Net
You’re going to love being intimately involved with the creation of a product that’s posed to change the media landscape.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, creed, age, sexual orientation, veteran status, marital status, disability, or any other status protected by applicable law.
