Manager, Product Operations - Military Veterans

Job Title: Manager, Product Operations
Location: NYC (Hybrid, minimum 3 days in office)
Years of Experience: 4-7
Join Hearst Newspapers' Product Development Team!

Are you a strategic thinker with a passion for driving operational excellence and fostering collaboration? Hearst Newspapers is seeking a Manager, Product Operations to enhance our product development processes, empower our teams, and deliver greater value to our readers and business.
About Hearst Newspapers

With more than 3,000 employees across the nation, Hearst Newspapers publishes 24 dailies and 52 weeklies, including the Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News, Albany Times Union, and CT Insider.

It is our singular mission to be the most trusted, most respected and most accurate source of news and information in the Hearst Newspapers communities that we serve.

We place our readers' interests above all others, and dedicate ourselves to the principles of truthfulness, fairness and independence. We understand that the free flow of accurate information is vital to our system of government and the foundations of our economy.
About the Product Development Team
The Hearst Newspapers Product Development team delivers exceptional product experiences that balance editorial and business needs while serving our readers. Our team includes engineers, DevOps, QA, product managers, UX researchers, designers, and product operations specialists. We are organized into six cross-functional pods supporting end users, internal users, and revenue goals.

The Product Operations team exists to accelerate our product development teams' ability to deliver more meaningful value to our customers and business. We focus on driving innovation, optimizing workflows, and ensuring the seamless operation of people, processes, and tools.

About the Role
As a Manager, Product Operations, you will enhance team culture, streamline processes, and improve performance metrics like time-to-market, product outcomes, and stakeholder satisfaction. You'll collaborate across teams to implement and refine modes of operating, ensuring the product development teams are empowered to deliver greater value.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Initiative Management: Lead the execution of high-priority, cross-functional initiatives that align with organizational goals and deliver measurable impact.
• Operational Excellence: Oversee planning cadences, including quarterly roadmapping, resource allocation, and governance processes, to ensure alignment and efficiency across teams.
• Data-Driven Visibility: Develop and maintain dashboards, reports, and satisfaction benchmarks to improve data accessibility and enable informed decision-making.
• Process Improvement: Identify opportunities for optimization, implement best practices, and ensure adoption to enhance team efficiency and operational consistency.
• Productivity Tools Management: Act as the primary administrator and evangelist for productivity tools. Come up with easy-to-use playbooks and monitor team adoption, iterating based on feedback and the needs of the team.
• Team Culture and Collaboration: Foster a positive and inclusive team environment by addressing logistical, operational, and morale-related needs, promoting collaboration and engagement.
• Continuous Improvement: Proactively identify bottlenecks, propose solutions, and implement improvements using clear feedback loops and iterative processes.
• Innovation Workshop Leadership: Plan and conduct design sprints and one-off innovation workshops.

About You

• Strategic Problem-Solver: You excel at diagnosing challenges and implementing scalable, efficient solutions.
• Organized and Detail-Oriented: You have exceptional organizational skills and the ability to manage complex initiatives.
• Outcome-Driven: You prioritize results and are adept at using data and analytics to measure success.
• Collaborative Leader: You communicate effectively, facilitate team discussions, and inspire trust across functions.
• Experienced in Product Development: Your background in product management, project management, operations, or a similar field prepares you to thrive in this role.
• Proactive and Resourceful: You anticipate issues, propose solutions, and continuously improve processes.
• Accountable: You ensure adoption of new processes and tools, collecting feedback and iterating as necessary. You take responsibility for your work and recognize areas for improvement.
• Trusted Partner: You are trusted by your colleagues and manager to follow through on your commitments and always leave things in a better place than you found them (whether that be relationships, documentation, operations etc).
• Expert Facilitator: You easily thread conversation and align groups around a shared goal.
• Curious and Quick Learner: You're not afraid to tackle a new problem or learn a new tool and quickly get up to speed. You can easily read a room and understand group dynamics. You ask great questions.

Skills & Tools
Core Competencies:

• Agile methodologies and project management expertise.
• Strong communication and facilitation skills for cross-team collaboration.
• Proficiency in analyzing data to inform decisions and measure outcomes.
• Experience driving change management initiatives.

Technical Tools: Note that it's not a requirement that you have this expertise, however you should have examples of tools you picked up and learned quickly.

• Jira for agile development, issue tracking, workflow management, and reporting on metrics like velocity.
• Confluence for documentation and team collaboration.
• Airtable for managing workflows and operational visibility.
• Google Suite + Microsoft Suite
• PowerBI, Google Analytics, Looker for reporting.

Why Join Us?

• Impactful Work: Drive meaningful change and optimize processes that directly enhance our product development capabilities.
• Collaborative Culture: Work with passionate professionals dedicated to innovation and excellence.
• Career Growth: Expand your skills while contributing to one of the nation's leading media organizations.
• Competitive Benefits: Enjoy a comprehensive compensation package, including hybrid flexibility and opportunities for professional development.

Our Benefits: At Hearst Newspapers we not only support our employees through personal and professional development, but we also believe in promoting each individual's physical, financial and emotional wellbeing (and that of their family). Our industry-leading benefits include:

• Physical Wellbeing: Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage to keep you and your family healthy.
• Invest for the Future: Competitive retirement plan with matching program in most markets.
• Generous Paid Time Off: Recharge with ample time off, including holidays and vacation.
• Paid Parental Leave: Support for growing families, with paid leave for new parents.
• Monthly Child & Dependent Care Reimbursement: Financial support for the care of your loved ones.
• Emotional Wellbeing: Be your best self with our mental wellness benefits.
• LGBTQ+ & Inclusive Health Services: Inclusive healthcare designed for every individual's unique needs.
• Fertility Coverage & Menopause Support: Helping you along every step of your family journey.
• Pet Wellness Reimbursement & Rover Credits: We care about your pets, too - helping you keep them happy and healthy.
• And more, click here for additional benefits and details.

If you're ready to lead with strategy, foster collaboration, and optimize operations, apply now to join Hearst Newspapers as our Manager, Product Operations. Let's innovate together!

In accordance with applicable law, Hearst is required to include a reasonable estimate of the compensation for this role if hired in New York State. The reasonable estimate, if hired in New York State, is $100,000 - $130,000. Please note this information is specific to those hired in New York State. If this role is open to candidates outside of New York State, the salary range would be aligned to that specific location. A final decision on the successful candidate's starting salary will be based on a number of permissible, non-discriminatory factors, including but not limited to skills and experience, training, certifications, and education.