Advanced Specialist, Commercial Portfolio Manager

📋 Description

• Take ownership of the commercial performance for a specified portfolio, utilizing data-driven investment strategies to enhance profitability, market share, and return on investment.

• Guide long-term portfolio planning, ensuring a balance between short-term results and long-term growth through careful prioritization, lifecycle management, and performance assessment.

• Formulate and implement portfolio strategies based on customer requirements, market trends, competitive positioning, and business goals, which includes launching new products, testing innovative models, and phasing out underperforming offerings.

• Oversee title- or product-level P&L responsibilities, developing and managing business cases with clear ROI expectations while adjusting investments based on performance outcomes.

• Act as the voice of the customer and market by engaging continuously with instructors, students, sales partners, authors, and thought leaders in the discipline.

• Execute qualitative and quantitative market research through various methods, including virtual and in-person faculty interviews, campus visits, conferences, product demonstrations, focus groups, advisory boards, and field engagement with sales teams.

• Conduct comprehensive market analysis by integrating customer insights, competitive intelligence, and market data to uncover growth opportunities, identify potential risks, and evaluate portfolio implications.

• Monitor and evaluate trends such as digital adoption, competition in platforms, OER/low-cost alternatives, expectations for learning efficacy, and experiences enabled by GenAI, converting insights into actionable portfolio recommendations.

• Leverage business acumen, analytics, and financial modeling to inform portfolio decisions, optimize investment distribution, and manage profitability efficiently.

• Utilize data to assess options, test hypotheses, solve complex challenges, and propose practical, value-driven solutions.

• Establish and track KPIs to evaluate portfolio health, learner outcomes, and commercial performance, adjusting strategies and tactics as necessary.

• Shape and bolster integrated go-to-market strategies in collaboration with Sales, Marketing, Product Management, Content Strategy, UX, Efficacy & Learning Research, Demand Planning, and Customer Support.

• Collaborate with Sales to enhance enablement, focus on pipeline, engage in impactful customer interactions, and drive adoption efforts.

• Clearly and effectively communicate portfolio strategy, market insights, and recommendations to a diverse range of stakeholders, including senior leadership.

• Provide direction during development and production phases when scope, schedule, or budget risks are identified, ensuring alignment with approved business cases and portfolio priorities.

• Integrate emerging technologies, digital platforms, and generative AI into portfolio considerations to shape strategy, enhance analysis, and support decision-making processes.

• Partner with product and technology teams to assess, pilot, and expand innovative offerings and business models that cater to future portfolio needs.

• Adapt plans and priorities in response to market changes, organizational shifts, or new technological advancements.

• Cultivate and sustain productive relationships with authors, subject-matter experts, institutions, thought leaders, and external partners to enhance portfolio differentiation and value creation.

• Manage contracts in collaboration with legal, including author agreements, royalties, and partnership terms.

• Provide support and mentorship to team members, fostering a collaborative, learning-focused, and improvement-driven culture.

⛳️ Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.

• Background in commercial portfolio, product, or business management, particularly with digital and platform-based products.

• Strong business acumen and data-informed decision-making capabilities, including financial analysis, performance measurement, and ROI-focused investment planning.

• Proven experience in conducting market analysis and customer research, translating insights into actionable portfolio and go-to-market strategies.

• Experience in contributing to or leading go-to-market strategies in collaboration with Sales and Marketing.

• Ability to function efficiently in ambiguous, rapidly changing environments and adjust plans as required.

• Familiarity with digital learning technologies and emerging AI capabilities, with the competence to evaluate portfolio and commercial impacts.

• Excellent communication, influencing, and stakeholder management abilities.

• Experience in managing relationships with authors, SMEs, institutions, or external partners, including oversight of contracts and negotiations.

• Preference for candidates with higher education or education-market experience; prior college sales or field-facing experience is a plus.

• Willingness and capacity to travel approximately 10–25% of the time.

🏝️ Benefits

• This position is eligible for Pearson’s annual incentive program.

• Information on benefits can be found here.