Director of Product, Foreign Affairs

Overview

Founded in 1922, Foreign Affairs is the preeminent publication on international affairs and U.S. foreign policy. It is published by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), which is a leading independent, nonprofit membership organization and think tank dedicated to producing and disseminating foreign policy ideas.

The Director of Product will oversee digital product strategy for Foreign Affairs. This person will be responsible for maintaining the product roadmap and helping to drive product strategy for editorial, business, and engineering departments through discovery and kickoff with stakeholders, brainstorming sessions, research, data analysis, and design. The role will report directly into the Chief Revenue Officer with a dotted line to the Editorial team.

The major responsibilities of this position will include (but are not limited to):

• Direct the digital product vision and roadmap, helping define the overall strategic direction and evolution of ForeignAffairs.com, the Foreign Affairs App, and presentation on 3rd party platforms.
• Drive both editorial and business goals through innovations on the website including ecommerce, editorial presentation, website performance, and reader experience.
• Develop, manage, and execute a robust product roadmap that balances business and editorial goals with reasonable timelines.
• Drive product discovery by keeping up with current trends and best practices.
• Daily management of developer tickets using Jira.
• Manage freelancer budget.
• Define product requirements and communicate to development team.
• Use data to identify opportunities and prioritize features that will have a measurable impact for customers and the business.
• Influence and implement consistent overall design ethos for Foreign Affairs online and in the App.
• Troubleshoot performance issues as needed and ensure best in class customer experience across all digital platforms.
• Handle design to developer handoff to ensure flawless front end and back end production for content on the website, in app, and on 3rd party platforms.

Qualifications

• 10+ years working in web product management for a publisher or news organization, preferred.
• Deep understanding of mechanics of a consumer subscription business and content driven organization.
• Hands on experience with Drupal CMS, gated content (paywalls), SEO, Google analytics and DFP.
• Depth of experience creating consumer facing products, driving them from ideation to delivery; ability to gain stakeholder and leadership buy-in; ability to facilitate prioritization decisions.
• Experience leading a team of developers, guiding a roadmap and providing clear, consistent communication to set them up for success.
• A strong bias toward action and can break down sophisticated problems into steps that drive product development.
• Excellent people skills and a proven collaborator; ability to work successfully with both direct and indirect teams across the organization, gaining consensus, stakeholder, and executive buy-in.
• Strong analytical and quantitative skills; be able to use hard data and metrics to back up assumptions and feature concepts.
• Experience with site optimization and using A/B multivariate testing.
• Deep understanding of technology and latest trends in the digital space.
• Understanding of design principles, usability, UX design.

About CFR

Founded in 1921, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is a leading nonprofit membership organization, research center, and publisher, with headquarters in New York, an office in Washington, DC, and programs nationwide. It is dedicated to increasing America's understanding of the world and contributing ideas to U.S. foreign policy. CFR's 5,000+ members are leaders in international affairs and foreign policy. CFR also publishes Foreign Affairs, the preeminent magazine on global issues, and provides up-to-date information about the world and U.S. foreign policy on its award-winning website, CFR.org.

The Council on Foreign Relations offers a benefits package that is among the best offered by nonprofit institutions today, including an award-winning health and wellness program, an on-site fitness center, and generous leave policies and health insurance programs.

The Council on Foreign Relations is an equal opportunity employer and actively seeks candidates from a diverse background.