Director, Product Marketing, Email Engagement Return Path

The Return Path Experience

Don’t get us wrong, it’s not easy to land a gig at RP. You’re going to have to learn the ins and outs of our business before you even get here. Here’s the good news: only the best and brightest minds in email work here. So, once you’re in, this is a place where you’ll be challenged, inspired, rewarded and transformed. Really you ask? Yes, really. The Return Path experience is a two-way exchange. We ask you to give us your very best every day. We expect a lot from you. We challenge you with interesting work, stretch assignments, a collaborative work environment and a ton of learning and growth. The pace is fast and furious. In exchange, we give you everything you need to live a happy, balanced life. This includes great pay, open vacation (yup, you heard that right!), great benefits, flexibility and, well, whatever else you need. Everyone is unique and we pride ourselves on not having one-size-fits-all solutions. At Return Path you’re a person, not a title. What’s important in your life right now? Kids, pets, triathlons, church, tango, karate, yoga, parents, Pilates, pre-natal â€" we will support you through it all. Give and take. That’s a Return Path career path.

The Impact You’ll Have at RP

As a Director, Product Marketing, Email Engagement at Return Path, you will be responsible for global go-to-market planning and execution, marketplace analysis, competitive analysis, positioning and messaging, product training, global sales team enablement and partner marketing for our user engagement products and services. Working closely with Product Management, Sales and Marketing, you will be responsible for driving new products and expanding existing product in the marketplace. Strong communication skills are a must as well as previous experience in product marketing for email, web analytics or business intelligence technology products. This person will have senior management visibility and the ability to impact a new, dedicated role.

The position will be located in our California office reporting to the SVP, Marketing and will be working closely with Clients, as well as Client Services, Sales, Marketing, and Product Management groups. Detailed responsibilities include:

• Product Strategy & Launch
  
  • Plan and execute global go-to-market strategies for major user engagement / deliverability releases for our direct and channel markets.
  • Co-develop market requirements document for new product initiatives, vendor partnerships and possible acquisitions, working in conjunction with Product Management.
  • Communicate plans and activities effectively to internal leadership and to global field sales organization.
  • Price and position new offers to market.

• Marketplace Analysis
  
  • Analyze the customer and the marketplace to understand customer needs, pain points and marketplace trends.
  • Analyze competitors' products/activities, determine differentiation, and create competitive sales tools.

• Positioning & Messaging
  
  • Create product positioning and messaging for target markets.
  • Develop customer profiles and buyer personas.
  • Create collateral, sales decks and other collateral to support product positioning.
  • Work with corporate marketing to imbed messaging into materials.
  • Develop product training and support materials for sales force, and help train sales and services organization.
  • Support press and analyst activities.

• Sales & Marketing Support, Focus and Contribution
  
  • Lead the development of Product-level Selling Presentations, Collateral and Content â€" delivering both thought leadership and tactical sales messaging and content to an eager, hungry sales force and channel partners. Assist Sales in driving new client wins for the product line â€" achieving revenue growth targets & success.
  • Develop go-to-market marketing plan for the product line â€" capable of driving rapid growth in market share, market awareness, sales lead generation and industry thought leadership.
  • Play a significant role in helping to achieve revenue, direct customer and channels bookings growth objectives & targets.

What does it take to be successful in this role?

• 5-7+ year’s B2B software product marketing experience required; preference in email technology, web analytics or business intelligence software; past company experience / success from the following B2B email or web analytics companies is considered highly desirable: Exact Target, Responsys, Omniture, CoreMetrics, WebTrends, or similar.
• Proven experience in launching new products into the marketplace.
• Proven experience in developing marketing strategies, positioning and messaging for technology products; previous experience working with Email Service Providers or email deliverability software a plus.
• Rock star in creating and executing successful worldwide go-to-market strategies.
• Proven experience in growing international markets.
• Proven knowledge in market and competitive analysis.
• Experienced in creating collateral, presentations and sales tools to support a worldwide Sales organization.
• Excellent analytical and presentation skills including demonstration skills to handle many assignments simultaneously.
• Strong global knowledge, leadership, sales support, and communications skills.
• Ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams, develop effective relationships and interact with senior leadership.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Bachelors degree in Marketing or Business preferred; MBA a plus.
• Travel required â€" 20%

 Role Specific Competencies:

• Sales/Channel Focus - Committed to increasing sales pipeline, bookings and revenue targets for product line , takes a proactive approach to relationships with Direct Sales and Channels; assumes responsibility for solving gaps in all product-level selling materials, messages and support, highly responsive to all Sales / Channel product requests associated with product-level bookings and revenue.
• Customer Focus - Builds customer confidence, is committed to increasing customer satisfaction, sets achievable customer expectations, takes a proactive approach to customer service; assumes responsibility for solving customer problems, ensures commitments to customers are met, solicits opinions and ideas from customers, responds to internal customers.
• Global Perspective - Has a global view and is comfortable and effective working with global partners, understands global markets and international considerations.
• Project Management - Establishes project goals, milestones, and procedures, defines roles and responsibilities, acquires project resources, coordinates projects throughout company, monitors project progress, manages multiple projects and communicates effectively with key stakeholders.
• Communication - Communicates well both verbally and in writing; utilizes appropriate medium for communication based on the situation, delivers effective presentations, shares information and ideas with others, has good listening skills. Has ability to explain abstract / complex concepts to middle & upper management, both verbally and in writing, and influence behavior.
• Technical Knowledge & Skills - Adapts to new technologies; demonstrates required technical skills; keeps technical skills up-to-date; troubleshoots technological problems; uses technology to increase productivity.

In addition to the above, you must be a good fit at Return Path. To be successful here, you must demonstrate Personal/Professional Growth, Professionalism, Flawless Execution, and Strategic Thinking; have a Positive Impact and a great sense of humor. Visit our website to read detailed descriptions of expectations at each of the 4 levels at RP: (1) Learning, (2) Applying, (3) Guiding and (4) Shaping. This position is categorized at the Applying level.

What it's like to work here

It's great! From the CEO and senior management team to the newest entry-level employee, we are a company that cares a lot about fostering a great work environment and a fun, energetic, success-oriented culture. We have a strong philosophical belief that our people are our most important assets. And we don't just pay lip service to that phrase -- we incorporate it into our policies, and we live it every day. Yes, that philosophy means we have generous 'traditional' benefits, and it also means we take a lot of time to focus on high quality management and leadership, and time to make sure everyone in the company is in the right job, knows how his or her job contributes to the overall company mission, and has a clear sense of learning and career growth. We have great employee retention over the years because people love coming to work here and really feel like they're part of something special. For more information visit www.returnpath.net