Senior Director, Product Marketing & Engagement

Role Description

The Senior Director, Product Marketing & Engagement leads the strategy, positioning, and go-to-market (GTM) execution for Cengage’s product portfolio for the US K12 market. This role serves as a critical bridge across Product, Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success, ensuring alignment that drives product strategy and roadmap, product adoption and usage, contributes to revenue growth, and differentiated market positioning.

This leader will define how our solutions are built and brought to market, ensure our messaging resonates with educators and institutions, and build a high-performing product marketing and product engagement function that delivers measurable business impact.

What you'll do here:

• Product Strategy, Positioning, and Usage
  • Define and evolve product positioning, messaging, and value propositions that clearly differentiate Cengage’s product offerings in the market.
  • Translate product capabilities into compelling, customer-centric narratives that drive demand and adoption.
  • Lead market research, competitive analysis, and customer segmentation to inform product strategy and investment decisions.
  • Serve as the voice of the customer, ensuring insights shape both product development and marketing strategy.
  • Build and deliver customer and user engagement programs to drive high levels of product usage for student impact.
• Go-to-Market Leadership
  • Own and implement end-to-end GTM strategies for new product launches and feature enhancements, including knowledge transfer and enablement of marketing to integrate into demand and engagement programs.
  • Develop comprehensive launch plans, including segmentation, messaging, pricing, packaging, and channel strategy.
  • Partner closely with Product Management to align market needs with the product roadmap.
  • Act as the central point of coordination across Product, Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success to ensure consistent execution of GTM priorities.
• Sales Enablement & Revenue Partnership
  • Partner with Sales and Sales Enablement to equip the field with impactful messaging, tools, and training.
  • Develop high-quality sales assets, including pitch decks, demos, battle cards, and case studies.
  • Support value-based selling approaches that improve win rates, shorten sales cycles, and accelerate revenue growth.
• Demand Generation & Campaign Alignment
  • Collaborate with Demand Generation to develop integrated campaigns that drive pipeline and revenue.
  • Ensure alignment of product messaging across digital, content, and field marketing channels.
  • Support lifecycle marketing strategies that drive customer retention, expansion, and long-term value.
• Customer & Market Insights
  • Gather and synthesize insights from customers, prospects, analysts, and partners.
  • Monitor industry trends and competitive dynamics, particularly within education and EdTech markets.
  • Use data and insights to continuously refine positioning, messaging, and GTM effectiveness.
• Team Leadership & Development
  • Build, lead, and develop a high-performing team of product marketers across platform and discipline areas.
  • Provide clarity on roles, priorities, and performance expectations while fostering a culture of accountability and growth.
  • Establish team goals, key performance indicators, and development plans aligned to business outcomes.
  • Encourage strong cross-functional collaboration and influence across the organization.
• Performance & Analytics
  • Define and track key success metrics, including product adoption, revenue impact, and market share.
  • Analyze launch and campaign performance to drive continuous improvement.
  • Communicate product marketing impact and insights to executive leadership.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, or related field (MBA or advanced degree preferred).
• Minimum of 12 years of experience in B2B or B2B2C product marketing, brand leadership, or related roles.
• Minimum of 10 years of people leadership experience, with a confirmed ability to build and develop high-performing teams.
• Demonstrated success developing and driving impactful go-to-market strategies and product launches.
• Strong experience working cross-functionally with product, sales, and marketing organizations.
• Exceptional communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to simplify complex concepts into clear, compelling messaging.
• Experience in education, publishing, SaaS, or technology-driven sectors preferred.
• Background in EdTech and/or K–12 markets strongly preferred.

Benefits

• Comprehensive and rewarding Total Rewards package designed to support and empower employees.
• Eligibility to participate in the company’s discretionary incentive bonus program.
• Bonus target amount: 30% Annual: Individual Target.
• Base pay range: $163,000.00 - $212,000.00 USD.

Company Description

Cengage, a global education technology company serving millions of learners, provides affordable, quality digital products and services that equip students with the skills and competencies needed to be job ready. For more than 100 years, we have enabled the power and joy of learning with trusted, engaging content, and now, integrated digital platforms.

We serve the higher education, workforce skills, secondary education, English language teaching and research markets worldwide. Through our scalable technology, including MindTap and Cengage Unlimited, we support all learners who seek to improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.