Vice President, Product Marketing

Product Marketing Lead

Leads the product marketing function for Paychex with accountability for the commercial strategy of every product set: the ideal customer profile, the positioning and value narrative, the pricing and packaging architecture, the go-to-market strategy, and the market intelligence that helps inform the product roadmap. Serves as the voice of the market inside Paychex, translating industry, buyer, competitive, and regulatory signal into evidence-based recommendations on what we build, who we build it for, what we charge, and how we win. Partners with Product to influence roadmap direction, owns the pricing and bundling recommendation brought to governance, and supplies the points of view and messaging strategy that Content, Design, Demand Generation, and Enablement execute against. Transforms product marketing from a request-driven execution function into a market-facing strategic partner to Product, Sales, Finance, and the broader organization — and builds the team, standards, decision rights, and operating cadence required to sustain it.

Responsibilities include:

• Market intelligence and roadmap partnership. Own continuous sensing of the HCM market — industry and technology trends, regulatory and compliance change, competitive movement, win/loss findings, analyst and channel influencer input, and market sizing. Bring a written, evidence-based point of view to every product roadmap review to influence prioritization and investment decisions, while Product Management retains the prioritization decision.
• Ideal customer profile and buyer insight. Own the definition, maintenance, publication, and organizational adoption of the ICP, buyer and user personas, buying committee dynamics, and journey maps for every product set. Establish the voice-of-customer research program — primary interviews, advisory boards, and survey research — and hold the organization accountable to targeting, building for, and serving the profiles defined.
• Pricing, packaging, and bundling strategy. Own the monetization strategy, analysis, and recommendation for each product set: pricing model and metric, tiering, packaging fences, bundle architecture, willingness-to-pay research, competitive price positioning, price change programs, and discount guardrails. Partner with Finance, Product, and Sales for input and modeling, and secure approval through the pricing governance forum.
• Positioning, messaging, and value narrative. Own portfolio-level and product-level positioning and the messaging architecture that cascades across every channel. Translate product capability into customer benefits and quantified business outcomes, deliver points of view and messaging briefs to Content, Design, Demand Generation, Brand, and Enablement, and govern message consistency across the enterprise.
• Launch and go-to-market orchestration. Own the launch tiering model, go-to-market plans, and cross-functional launch readiness across Product, Sales, Enablement, Service, Compliance, and the partner channel. Hold go/no-go authority on go-to-market readiness, accountability for 30/60/90-day post-launch performance, and ownership of end-of-life and migration go-to-market.
• Lifecycle, adoption, and expansion. Own the post-sale commercial narrative: activation and time-to-value messaging, feature adoption strategy, cross-sell and attach strategy by ICP, the retention and renewal narrative, and the customer proof and reference agenda.
• Talent, structure, and capability building. Build and lead a team organized by product set, including Directors and Principal or Senior Product Marketing Managers. Define the job architecture and competency model, assess and develop existing talent, recruit scarce capabilities in pricing and monetization, competitive intelligence, and primary research, and coach the team to author and defend points of view.
• Executive influence, governance, and measurement. Represent the market point of view to executive leadership. Establish and operate the interlocks the function depends on — roadmap review participation, the pricing governance forum, and messaging governance — and define and report the business outcome metrics that replace activity-based measures of the function.

Qualifications include:

• Bachelor's Degree in Marketing, Business Administration, Economics, Communications, or related field - Required
• Master's Degree in MBA or related advanced degree - Preferred
• 12 years + Product marketing, product management, or commercial strategy in a B2B technology, SaaS, or business services environment, including responsibility for a multi-product portfolio.
• 5 years of experience in Leading a product marketing team, including leading other people leaders, with accountability for hiring, developing, and organizing the function.
• 3 years of experience in Direct ownership of pricing, packaging, or monetization strategy with measurable accountability for revenue, margin, or attach outcomes. - Preferred
• 3 years of experience in Influencing product roadmap decisions through market, buyer, and competitive evidence in a matrixed organization, without direct authority over the roadmap.
• 3 years of experience in HCM, payroll, HR technology, benefits, insurance, or financial services experience serving small and mid-sized business customers. - Preferred
• Transforming a product marketing function from a request-driven, execution-oriented model to a strategic, market-facing one. - Preferred
• Market sensing and synthesis Expert
• Customer and buyer insight Expert
• Commercial and monetization acumen Expert
• Narrative and message craft Expert
• Go-to-market orchestration Expert
• Influence without authority Expert
• Executive communication Expert
• Analytical rigor and measurement Advanced
• Organizational leadership and talent development Advanced
• Decisiveness under ambiguity Expert

Compensation:

In the spirit of pay transparency, we are excited to share that the starting base pay range for this position is $240,000 - $290,000 annually. Please keep in mind that this range is the base pay only and does not consider other components that make up the total rewards package for the position. If you are hired at Paychex, your overall compensation will be determined based on factors such as geographic location, skills, education, and/or experience which may result in total compensation outside of this range.

Live the Paychex Values:

• Act with uncompromising integrity.
• Provide outstanding service and build trusted relationships.
• Drive innovation in our products and services and continually improve our processes.
• Work in partnership and support each other.
• Be personally accountable and deliver on commitments.
• Treat each other with respect and dignity.

What's in it for you?

• We value your well-being: We provide over 21 comprehensive rewards, including medical coverage, virtual wellness classes, tuition reimbursement, 401(k) + employer match, adoption assistance, financial assistance, and much more.
• We value your time: From paid time off to company holidays, culture days, and comprehensive work-life balance programs, we will ensure you have the flexibility you need to be your best.
• We value your development: Our award-winning training and development programs empower our employees with ongoing learning opportunities to give you the building blocks to grow your career.
• We value your perspective: Our company culture reflects the diversity of our employees. We want you to be you and your voice to be heard.
• We value our communities: We offer paid time off for volunteerism and promote many company-wide and local initiatives that benefit organizations you care about.

Note: The benefits described apply to full-time employees. Benefits for part-time, contract, and intern roles may vary.

Not sure if you meet every requirement?

At Paychex, we know that great talent comes in many forms. If you're passionate about the role but don't check every box, we still encourage you to apply. You might be the right fit - either for this position or another opportunity with us. Paychex is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to fostering a respectful and inclusive workplace where all individuals are treated fairly and evaluated based on their qualifications, experience, and merit. We comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws prohibiting discrimination in employment.