We are seeking a seasoned product manager to assume the role of Head of Digital Product Management within MDPI. The ideal candidate will bring a wealth of industry experience within academic publishing and expertise to lead a dynamic team of Product Managers and related roles. 

This position offers a compelling opportunity to spearhead impactful initiatives that intersect digital product development and scholarly publishing with customer journeys, user experience, and data science. 

As the Head of Digital Products, you will work directly alongside and report to the Head of IT, collaborating closely with our leadership team. The position is full-time (100%) and permanent position based in our city center office in Basel, Switzerland.

Tasks & Responsibilities

• Leadership: Develop a comprehensive vision and roadmap for our digital product and service portfolio to align with MDPI's business goals.
• Strategic Initiatives: Drive cross-departmental initiatives that support our strategic goals and KPIs, from launching innovative product features to enhancing customer service experiences.
• Team Empowerment: Set up and oversee product teams led by dedicated product managers to execute strategic objectives efficiently. Provide leadership and guidance to your team of product managers, ensuring alignment among team members and the company's overall goals.
• Team Building: Recruit talented team members and establish effective team structures to facilitate the swift execution of your team's roadmaps and initiatives.
• Performance Management: Take ownership of key performance metrics influenced by your teams and proactively identify new opportunities through digital products.
• Advocate of Collaboration: Collaborate closely with Product Managers, Designers, Engineers, and Publishers to ensure the successful execution of impactful initiatives.
• Data-Driven Insights: Analyze data generated by our products to gain insights into the successes and failures of the department's initiatives for better decision-making.
• Resource Management: Manage resource allocations at the portfolio level and prioritize and execute projects based on data-driven insights.
• Reporting: Deliver quarterly product portfolio reports to the leadership team to provide transparency and inform strategic decisions.

Requirements

• 8 years of experience in the development and management of digital products, with 6 years in a related position.
• Previous experience coaching teams on product discovery techniques, and customer-centricity.
• Proven experience (with examples) establishing strategic initiatives that delivered substantial growth in business KPIs.
• Great leadership skills, ability to drive forward courageous initiatives with a strong vision.
• Previous experience managing a large team with mixed seniority profiles.
• Data savviness and capability to comfortably engage in discussions with data analysts and experienced engineers.
• Ability to deep dive into raw datasets to find key information that will enable you to make decisions for your product.
• Strong analytical skills and independent, entrepreneurial approach.
• Proficient professional communication skills in English, both written and verbal are an absolute must.
• Knowledge of the Publishing Industry is strongly preferred.

What we offer

• The opportunity to contribute to the academic/scientific community;
• Flexible working hours;
• Support for a healthy lifestyle;
• Team bond strengthening through team-building events;
• Professional growth opportunities with our global training system;
• Working in a collaborative, diverse, and socially responsible team;
• Company retreat facility;
• Full-coverage insurance for accidents/daily sickness;
• Prime location near Basel train station and city center;
• And more

If you are interested in this position, we look forward to receiving your complete application. Please submit your cover letter and CV.

About MDPI

A pioneer in scholarly open access publishing, MDPI has supported academic communities since 1996. Our mission is to foster open scientific exchange in all forms, across all disciplines. We operate more than 400 diverse, peer-reviewed, open access journals supported by over 66,000 academic editors. We serve scholars from around the world to ensure the latest research is openly and broadly available.

MDPI is headquartered in Switzerland with additional offices in Europe, Asia and North America. We are committed to ensuring that high quality research is made available as quickly as possible. We also support sustainability projects, with sustainability as a key theme in many journals and through the MDPI Sustainability Foundation.

Initiatives

At MDPI, we develop and maintain various platforms in order to better serve the scientific community. Please find here-below a list of our main platforms:

https://www.mdpi.com/
https://sciprofiles.com/
https://sciforum.net/
https://www.scilit.net/
https://www.preprints.org/
https://encyclopedia.pub/