Director, Product Innovation Initiatives

Risepoint is an education technology company that provides world-class support and trusted expertise to more than 100 universities and colleges. We primarily work with regional universities, helping them develop and grow their high-ROI, workforce-focused online degree programs in critical areas such as nursing, teaching, business, and public service. Risepoint is dedicated to increasing access to affordable education so that more students, especially working adults, can improve their careers and meet employer and community needs.

The Product Innovation team supports the strategy and design of innovative learning solutions at the intersection of higher education, alternative credentials, employer markets and workforce development. This role works across all teams - market research, product marketing and other Risepoint units - to identify, design and grow scalable, skills-based, and career-connected learning solutions. 

Job Summary

 We are seeking a Director, Product Innovation Initiatives to join our Product Innovation team and play a key role in driving growth across our university partner portfolios. This role sits at the intersection of market insight, product strategy, and go-to-market execution, helping shape decisions about what programs we develop next and how we successfully bring them to market.

In this role, you will turn market intelligence, competitive insights, partner goals, and portfolio performance into partner-ready recommendations, including business cases, narratives, and go-to-market and launch plans. Reporting to the Senior Director of Product Marketing and Innovation, you will work closely with cross-functional teams and directly with university and employer partners to bring high-impact, workforce-relevant offerings to life—driving meaningful outcomes for both Risepoint and the partners we serve.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

Portfolio & Program Execution:

• Prepare executive- and partner-ready presentations, reports, and briefs that clearly communicate recommendations, rationale, and expected outcomes for new programs and product innovations to internal stakeholders and external partners using data and a consultative approach.
• Support the design and execution of  trial initiatives (MVPs, pilots) to validate new concepts, applying best practices and defined success criteria. Develop clear partner narratives that support alignment, decision-making, and launch readiness
• Conduct partner-specific portfolio analysis to assess performance, market fit and competitive positioning and identity execution opportunities leveraging market research outputs and/or expertise.
• Translate product design into actionable go-to-market plans, including business cases, revenue projections, and prioritization frameworks.

Market and Product Intelligence

• Build and maintain a systematic approach for monitoring market trends, competitor offerings, and emerging innovations across higher education and workforce development. Leverage insights to recommend programs approaches and adjustments.
• Conduct partner-specific portfolio analyses to assess program performance, market fit and competitive positioning to inform program and portfolio plans.
• Leverage market research outputs and other forms of intelligence and data to surface growth opportunities aligned to the approved portfolio direction.

Go-to-Market Planning & Activation

• Collaborate with internal teams (central marketing, sales, and academic services) to define go-to-market plans and activation for new and optimized portfolios.
• Translate product and portfolio direction into actionable go-to-market materials by providing data, audience insights and positioning analysis for the use in positioning, messaging, and value propositions that resonate with partners and learners.
• Coordinate with cross-functional leaders to ensure  smooth handoff from recommendations to launch to activation.
• Define and monitor KPIs for new launches and PPO-driven initiatives, providing leadership with regular reporting.
• Provide regular reporting on performance, outcomes, and learnings to inform adjustments and future execution efforts.
• Capture insights from pilots, launches, and portfolio performance to improve future program execution and recommendations.

Additional Position Responsibilities

• Perform in accordance with Risepoint Policies
• Perform other duties as assigned

Travel Required

Yes

QUALIFICATIONS

Minimum of 7 years experience in product marketing, strategy consulting, product strategy, or higher education/workforce development.

Experience working with product design and innovation for a particular learning market such as higher edu and in T&D for industry. 

Knowledge higher ed, workforce education, adult learning markets

Skills/Knowledge/Abilities

Demonstrated ability to navigate ambiguity and apply systems thinking, design thinking, and agile methodologies to new product challenges.

Strong consultative, communication, and influence skills across stakeholder groups.

Substantive understanding of a wide range and breadth of the market of higher education, training and development trends, the market of talent, workforce and edtech trends. 

Experience with higher education and/ or skills-based learning markets and/ or workforce development and learning

Experience in GTM strategy, product positioning, cross-functional activation

Highly organized project management skills

Ability to connect academic programming with learning design and talent development needs of the workforce and regional employer partners

 Demonstrated success in consulting style engagements

Risepoint is an equal opportunity employer.  We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an equitable environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable state or federal laws.

Risepoint is an equal-opportunity employer and supports a diverse and inclusive workforce.