Director / VP, Product Development

Description

As Director/VP, Product Development for Bankrate, Inc., you will be charged with developing and executing new product strategies, initiatives and features that yield positive consumer experiences while advancing business goals for the Bankrate network, including Bankrate.com. The ideal candidate has previous Internet experience in product and project management and understands Internet technology, industry trends, editorial and business requirements and can translate them into comprehensive product road maps, business plans and actionable projects that drive best-in-class Web destinations. You will help build and oversee a team of Product Managers, as well as contribute to and lead cross-functional teams comprised of editorial, IT/engineering, design, analytics, sales and business development.

This role requires vision, creativity, leadership, analytical mindset and excellent time management and communication skills.

Responsibilities

-        Author horizontal (e.g. social media, personalization) and vertical (e.g. mortgage, deposits) product strategies by understanding consumer experience goals, business requirements/drivers and editorial objectives

-        Work closely with all aspects of the organization, from design, IT/engineering and business analysis to sales, business development and finance to facilitate development of product initiatives

-        Analyze the marketplace, customers, and competitors to determine the right features to bring to market along with overall feature prioritization

-        Key liaison with IT/engineering to establish an effective product development life cycle mindset/road map and manage the project pipeline to ensure optimal prioritization

-        Development, negotiation and management of innovative content, tools and feature-set partnerships needed to improve consumer experience and achieve business goals

-        Expand site usage monitoring, reporting and analytics for purposes of further driving fact-based product decisions and increasing overall business intelligence

-        Understand industry dynamics for each of Bankrate’s vertical categories

-        Manage a group of product management professionals effectively to achieve product and business targets

Requirements/Qualifications

-        8+ years of Internet product and/or project development experience at mid/large sized companies

-        Deep knowledge of the Internet landscape, including a strong comprehension of display advertising, SEO, online classifieds, lead-oriented/search-oriented (cost per click, cost per lead, cost per call) business models and licensing, distribution and syndication deal structures

-        Comprehensive experience with Internet technologies and languages, including XML, HTML, CSS, content management systems, etc.

-        Proven track record demonstrating a strong ability to author product/business plans (including economic rationale), as well as product/project management skills

-        Good negotiation skills and experience with major partner and vendor negotiations

-        Strong written and verbal communication skills (PowerPoint proficient)

-        Experience and level of comfort presenting ideas and detailed product plans to senior executives

-        Aptitude to work on small/simple projects to large/complex projects, strong prioritization skills

-        Ability to build strong internal and external relationships

-        Data and metric driven, detail-oriented

-        Strong analytical mindset and numbers-oriented (MS Excel proficient)

-        Team-oriented, self-motivated, success-driven, roll-up-your-sleeves attitude

-        Management experience required

-        Occasional travel to various Bankrate offices is required

-        BS/BA required. MBA won’t be held against you

-        References are a must

About Bankrate, Inc.

The Bankrate network of companies includes Bankrate.com, Interest.com, Mortgage-calc.com, Nationwide Card Services, Savingforcollege.com, Fee Disclosure, InsureMe CreditCardGuide.com and Bankaholic.  Each of these businesses helps consumers to make informed decisions about their personal finance matters. The company’s flagship brand, Bankrate.com is a destination site of personal finance channels, including banking, investing, taxes, debt management and college finance. Bankrate.com is the leading aggregator of rates and other information on more than 300 financial products, including mortgages, credit cards, new and used auto loans, money market accounts and CDs, checking and ATM fees, home equity loans and online banking fees. Bankrate.com reviews more than 4,800 financial institutions in 575 markets in 50 states. In 2008, Bankrate.com had nearly 72 million unique visitors. Bankrate.com provides financial applications and information to a network of more than 75 partners, including Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO), America Online (NYSE: TWX), The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times (NYSE: NYT). Bankrate.com’s information is also distributed through more than 500 newspapers.