We Impact Lives Through Purpose-Driven Work in A People First Culture 

Ascend Learning is the connection between a powerful portfolio of brands serving students, educators, and employers with outcomes-based, data driven solutions across the lifecycle of learning. 

Our values-driven culture unifies our teams and inspires a mindset of action, innovation, and collaboration, with a relentless focus on customers. 

We're always looking for talented, passionate professionals to join us in our mission to help change lives. If this sounds like an environment where you'd thrive, read on to learn more. 

Ascend Learning leads the way in innovation and solution creation to improve outcomes and deliver results for students, educators, and healthcare workers in the ever-changing field of healthcare. We offer advanced resources that drive nursing success, empower front-line certified allied health workers, help physicians pass boards and stay current, and provide education management tools for medical education programs. 

WHAT YOU'LL DO  

Ascend Learning is hiring for a Director Product Marketing to join our team as we build our marketing organization for the future.

As the Director of Product Marketing you will lead a team of customer-centered product marketers in the development of marketing strategies and campaigns to support the successful in-market launch, adoption, and retention of Ascend Learning’s Nursing Solutions. Your responsibilities will include leading go-to-market planning and execution, contributing to new product launches, developing category positioning and messaging, developing user personas and collaborating with product and sales to deliver superior client experiences.

The ideal candidate has extensive product marketing experience, including building customer personas and understanding customer and market insights to develop impactful and measurable marketing plans and effective, compelling, and differentiated messaging. A willingness to roll up their sleeves to get the job done and experience collaborating in a matrix organization is a must. This person needs to be strategic, a creative and critical thinker, a transformer, a curious self-starter, an innovator, a leader, and a collaborator.

WHERE YOU’LL WORK  

This position will work a hybrid schedule from our Burlington, MA or Leawood, KS office location. Remote will be considered within the United States.

HOW YOU’LL SPEND YOUR TIME 

• Collaborate with product, technology and sales as a key member of the Nursing Category team, to develop the category strategy, go-to-market plans, lean business case creation and project prioritization.
• Own the development of Category marketing strategy and oversee execution of marketing plans based on a deep understanding of unique customer needs.
• Translate customer needs and product differentiation into compelling category and product positioning, messaging, and impactful value propositions for product solutions in the Nursing Category.
• Collaborate with the Growth Marketing and Marketing Communications team on the execution of the marketing plans.
• Contribute to the development of cross-Category product positioning and competitively differentiated messaging based on customer insights, market research and product knowledge.
• Define target audiences and segmentation.
• Establish KPIs, reports and readouts for marketing campaigns and product launches to measure progress, success and opportunities.
• Maintain thorough understanding of marketplace, competitors, and customers and leverage to drive Category and marketing strategy.
• Collaborate in the creation of customer journeys and persona, needs and pain points to be leveraged.
• Develop and manage external partnerships to reach and engage target audiences, increase brand awareness and drive demand.
•  Manage a team of Product Marketing Managers.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED 

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, advertising, or a related field
• 10 years of product marketing experience, preferably in a B2B category 
• Experience leading high performing individuals, teams, partners and agencies 
• Experience in healthcare, educational content or education technology preferred 
• Exceptional leadership and collaboration skills, and ability to build strong cross-functional partnerships
• Superior project management skills and ability to prioritize
• Demonstrated experience in building and executing go-to-market strategies, messaging and segmentation 
• Passionate about understanding customer needs and behaviors and translating them into actionable insights 
• Strategic and critical thinker with strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Exceptional written and verbal skills with the ability to tailor messaging to diverse audiences
• Functions autonomously with a sense of urgency; you can roll up your sleeves and do what is necessary to produce results and can balance hands-on involvement with team empowerment and delegation
•  Pragmatic Marketing certification / experience a plus 

BENEFITS 

• Flexible and generous paid time off
• Competitive medical, dental, vision and life insurance
• 401(k) employer matching program 
• Parental leave 
• Wellness resources 
• Charitable matching program 
• Hybrid work
• On-site workout facilities (Leawood, Gilbert, Burlington) 
• Community outreach groups 
•  Tuition reimbursement 

Fostering A Sense of Belonging 

We seek out and celebrate all people and perspectives and cultivate an inclusive culture where everyone can thrive, feel valued and be their authentic selves. Our culture is firmly rooted in the belief that by embracing our differences and drawing on diverse perspectives, we are a stronger, more innovative, and more successful organization where employees experience a sense of belonging.

About Ascend Learning 

As a tech-enabled services company, Ascend Learning is a national leader in developing and delivering data-driven online educational content, software, assessments, analytics, and simulations serving institutions, students and employers across healthcare, fitness and wellness, public and workplace safety, skilled trades, insurance, financial services, cybersecurity, and higher education. We're committed to accelerating the learning pathways that can move people into careers where they have the knowledge and skills to have an impact and help change lives in the communities they serve. Headquartered in Burlington, MA with additional office locations and hybrid and remote workers in cities across the U.S., Ascend Learning was recognized by Newsweek and Plant-A Insights Group as one of America's 2023 Greatest Workplaces for Diversity. 

Ascend Learning, LLC is proud to be an equal opportunity employer (M/F/Vets/Disabled). No agency or search firm submissions will be accepted. Applications for U.S. based positions with Ascend Learning, LLC must be legally authorized to work in the United States and verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire. 

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