Director of Publications Product Strategy

A. General Description:

The purpose of the position is to advance the visibility, value, and utility of ASHA’s publications to its members and users and to advance ASHA’s business needs and strategic priorities. Responsibilities include analyzing audience and market needs, aligning publications program and portfolio strategies with ASHA’s overall goals, and managing publications product development from conceptualization through launch and refinement.  

B. Responsibilities:

1. Develop and execute publishing product strategies that are aligned with ASHA’s objectives and responsive to publishing trends, market conditions, and audience/user needs. 
2. Work closely with cross-functional teams to manage the product development process, including market research, product design, product launch, and iterative improvement.
3. Develop and maintain the product roadmap and fully communicate existing, new, and planned features, capabilities, and initiatives delivering value for ASHA.
4. Collect user and key stakeholder needs, ideas, and feedback and draw insights from analytics to develop product requirements and prioritize development effort.
5. Cultivate and strengthen relationships with vendors, volunteers, and publishing contacts to foster business development opportunities.

C. Contacts:

The incumbent reports to the Senior Director of Serial Publications and Editorial Services and closely collaborates with content development and product management teams across the association.

To accomplish responsibilities listed above, the incumbent has contact with:

1. ASHA staff both within and outside the Publications cluster, including the professional practices units for understanding needs and priorities, ASHA Professional Development for coordinating development and awareness of continuing education activities, and Creative Media Services, Digital Communications, Public Relations, and Marketing and Sales 
2. Boards, committees, and other professional groups

D. Freedom to Act:

The incumbent performs the position with guidance from the Senior Director of Serial Publications and Editorial Services and the Chief Staff Officer for Science and Research. The incumbent works closely with leadership and program staff from multiple business units, and closely collaborates with Publications staff focused on content development, production, dissemination, and promotion/communications. The incumbent has freedom to propose innovative and creative projects and to implement and direct work plans to achieve project goals. Further, latitude is given to determine the approaches, procedures, and methodologies for accomplishing work.

E. Qualifications – Education, Experience, Knowledge, Skills:

Knowledge and skills typically acquired through:

• Obtaining a bachelor’s degree in business administration, media and communications, or a related field
• 8–10 years of experience in a fast-paced publishing environment, with 3–5 years of product management and development experience
• Demonstrated success in publication development and launch, and in development of collections, special editions, and/or other forms of derivative content.
• Responsibility for strategic planning, product/program road mapping, and iterative product improvement
• Routine, reliable, and effective liaising with users, volunteers, and key stakeholders
• Preparation and delivery of high-quality, professional presentations
• Product documentation, feature demonstrations, and training for internal and external audiences
• Proven ability to develop business plans and write reports and proposals.

Scope and depth of technical skills/knowledge:

• Intermediate experience in online publishing product mockups and wireframing for effective capture and relating of product vision and strategic fit.
• Proficiency with applying usage analytics and data from user behavior insights to inform iterative product design and development.
• Intermediate-to-advanced knowledge of online publishing processes, components, and publishing platform features
• Intermediate knowledge of Microsoft Office applications (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel), Adobe Acrobat/PDF, and image and diagramming applications such as Canva, Lucid, and Miro
• Intermediate knowledge of project tracking and product/program road mapping applications.

Scope and depth of nontechnical skills/knowledge:

• Strong organizational skills, independent problem-solving abilities, a proactive approach to performing job responsibilities, and an entrepreneurial, creative spirit for developing solutions. 
• Exceptional written communication skills
• Excellent resource management skil