Senior Product Strategist

The Hearst Newspapers Product Development team builds exceptional product experiences that balance editorial, business, and end-user considerations in service of our mission. Our team includes engineers, QA, product managers, UX researchers, designers, and product operations specialists. We are organized into cross-functional pods supporting end users, internal users, and revenue goals.  We work collaboratively and diligently.  We are creative and disciplined.  We are respectful, fun, and supportive of one another.

As a Senior Product Strategist, you'll lead the research, development and execution of strategic product initiatives that align with Hearst Newspapers' mission, goals and key initiatives.

Your role involves identifying market opportunities and unserved user needs to inform our product roadmap, while fostering collaboration with newsrooms, business units and third-party vendors to ensure cross-functional buy-in and effective execution.

Key Responsibilities Market Analysis: Maintain a deep understanding of the news and media industry competitive landscape and technology; conduct thorough market/customer research to identify new opportunities, customer needs, and competitive positioning. Strategic Definition: Plan, prioritize and advocate innovative products and iterations that are based on clear hypotheses and measurable results to quickly move toward product/market fit and user adoption. Product Lifecycle Management: Oversee the complete product lifecycle for concurrent projects, from ideation to launch, ensuring successful product adoption and product market fit. Financial Modeling: Create financial models to assess the potential viability, profitability, and ROI of potential products and initiatives  Cross-Functional Collaboration: Lead cross-functional teams (potentially including design, engineering, QA, marketing, editorial, advertising and executive stakeholders) throughout the product development cycle. Reporting and Metrics: Establish KPIs to measure product success and alignment with business goals, providing data-driven insights for continuous improvement. About You Strategic Foresight: You demonstrate foresight in identifying opportunities and risks, with the ability to translate ideas into actionable strategies. Entrepreneurial Thinker: You consider the full lifecycle of a product, exhibiting a scrappy, resourceful mindset to get proof of concepts out the door, with the future of fully developed products always top of mind. Customer-Centric: You possess a deep desire to understand customer needs and market forces to drive product opportunities and success. Collaborative Communicator: You communicate clearly to teams, peers, stakeholders and senior executives in a way that simplifies complexity and generates excitement. You are able to translate technical challenges to non-technical colleagues clearly and simply, encouraging critical thinking all around with transparency and understanding. You are also able to translate to communicate business and user needs to technical colleagues in a compelling and clear way.  Experienced in Product Development: You have experience gathering and drafting requirements, launching products and features, iterating them over time, and being unafraid to pivot if necessary. Proactive Problem-Solver: You are capable of maneuvering roadblocks, anticipating issues, breaking down complex problems into digestible proposed solutions, and continuously moving product lifecycles forward. Analytically Driven: You have strong analytical and quantitative skills with the ability to use hard data and metrics to back up assumptions and concepts. You are willing to get your hands dirty and self-serve data analytics through tools like Looker, Google Analytics and PowerBI. Documentation-Oriented: You are adept at producing clear and concise documentation to ensure that projects and objectives are easily understood by cross-functional teams. Results-Oriented: You are agile in managing projects and initiatives with a clear focus on achieving measurable business outcomes. Trusted Partner: You are trusted by your colleagues and leadership to take things to the finish line. You are able to wrestle with big ideas while also evoking pragmatism and being a respected voice of reason.   Don’t worry if you don’t have all these qualities - a desire to learn and grow is just as important Skills & Tools Core Competencies:  Strong analytical and quantitative expertise Managing vendor relationships  Strategic planning, market analysis Excellent written and verbal communication and influencing skills Experience working cross-functionally Nice to have: Experience in the news and/or media industries Experience working with product design and/or engineering teams Project management experience Research experience  Tools:  Proficiency in data analysis tools such as PowerBI, Google Analytics, and Looker to support strategic decision-making Familiarity with tools such as Google Suite, Microsoft Suite, Jira, Airtable, Confluence, and prototyping/wireframing programs like Miro.

In accordance with applicable law, Hearst is required to include a reasonable estimate of the compensation for this role if hired in New York.  The reasonable estimate, if hired in New York, is $130,000 - $150,000 + bonus. Please note this information is specific to those hired in New York.  If this role is open to candidates outside of New York, the salary range would be aligned to that specific location.  A final decision on the successful candidate’s starting salary will be based on a number of permissible, non-discriminatory factors, including but not limited to skills and experience, training, certifications, and education.

About Hearst Newspapers

With more than 3,000 employees across the nation, Hearst Newspapers publishes 24 dailies and 52 weeklies, including the Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News, Albany Times Union, and CT Insider.  It is our singular mission to be the most trusted, most respected and most accurate source of news and information in the Hearst Newspapers communities that we serve.We place our readers' interests above all others, and dedicate ourselves to the principles of truthfulness, fairness and independence. We understand that the free flow of accurate information is vital to our system of government and the foundations of our economy.

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