Product Manager, AI

Company Description

VERSANT is a leading force in news, sports and entertainment - home to iconic and trusted brands that inspire, inform, and delight audiences. Our unique combination of content, technology and services enriches the cultural fabric, igniting passions, sparking conversations, and connecting people to what they love most.

As an independent, publicly traded company, VERSANT brings together powerhouse cable networks - including USA Network, CNBC, MS NOW (formerly MSNBC), Oxygen, E!, SYFY, and Golf Channel - with dynamic digital and direct-to-consumer brands such as Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow, GolfPass, and SportsEngine. Together, these businesses reflect our commitment to delivering exceptional experiences across every screen and service.

VERSANT is an industry-changing media company fueled by innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit. With a strong foundation and a forward-looking vision, VERSANT empowers creativity, embraces change, and drives connection in an ever-evolving world.

Job Description

The AI Product Manager will lead the vision, strategy, and execution of artificial intelligence initiatives that transform how audiences discover, consume, and engage across CNBC, MS NOW and E!. This role bridges technology, editorial, and business priorities—leveraging machine learning, natural language processing, and generative AI to power personalization, recommendations, tagging, summarization, and content creation tools.

The AI Product Manager will identify opportunities to enhance newsroom efficiency, deliver more relevant experiences to users, and drive measurable impact across audience growth and engagement. This leader will partner closely with data science, engineering, design, and editorial teams to translate complex AI capabilities into intuitive, ethical, and scalable product experiences. They will define success metrics, oversee experimentation, and ensure all AI applications align with journalistic standards, brand voice, and data governance frameworks.

The ideal candidate combines a passion for innovation with a deep understanding of digital publishing and a commitment to responsible AI that supports both newsroom creativity and audience trust.

• Collaborate with product and tech leadership to define and execute the AI product strategy, enhancing news discovery, personalization, and content creation experiences.
• Identify opportunities to leverage machine learning, NLP, and generative AI to improve editorial workflows and audience engagement.
• Partner with newsroom, design, and engineering teams to translate journalistic needs into scalable AI solutions.
• Own the roadmap for AI-driven features such as recommendations, summarization, tagging, transcription, and semantic search.
• Evaluate and integrate third-party AI tools while ensuring alignment with brand standards, data privacy, and ethics policies.
• Collaborate with data scientists to design and validate models that improve user retention and content relevance.
• Establish success metrics and analyze the performance of AI initiatives using A/B testing and analytics.
• Communicate complex AI concepts to non-technical stakeholders in clear, actionable terms.
• Ensure AI systems support editorial integrity, bias mitigation, and responsible use of automation.
• Partner with data governance and legal teams to maintain compliance with evolving AI regulations.
• Drive continuous learning within the organization by sharing insights, prototypes, and emerging trends.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of 3 years of product management experience, including at least 2 years leading AI, data, or machine learning initiatives.
• Deep understanding of generative AI, NLP, recommendation systems, and content personalization.
• Experience in digital publishing, newsroom workflows, or large-scale media platforms.
• Proven ability to translate technical AI concepts into user-centric features and measurable outcomes.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills across editorial, design, engineering, and data science teams.
• Commitment to ethical AI use, data privacy, transparency, and bias mitigation in media applications.

Desired Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Product Management, or a related field.
• Experience with AI content tools (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic, Vertex AI) and MLOps frameworks.
• Familiarity with CMS systems, metadata frameworks, and audience data pipelines.
• Track record of launching AI-powered products that improved engagement, efficiency, or monetization.
• Knowledge of emerging AI regulations, copyright implications, and media compliance standards.
• Passion for innovation at the intersection of journalism, technology, and audie