Director, Product Training 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, tango, karate, yoga, parents, Pilates, pre-natalâ€"we will support you through it all. Give and take. That’s a Return Path career path.

The impact you’ll have at RP

The Director of Product Training is a newly created position based in RP’s Broomfield, CO office. This person will be responsible for facilitating the development of a best-in-class product training function, organization-wide processes, and supporting services that allow RP to capture, manage, distribute and apply information in support of the strategic and operational goals and objectives of the company.  This person has a passion for being a teacher and a student, and has experience developing and delivering training for product launches, updates and new product lines. This role requires a global strategy and vision to champion product knowledge across the company.  In addition, this person will:

• Develop and implement a product training strategy that is scalable and efficient as well as supports the company’s goals and objectives
• Work with Sales Training to develop and implement comprehensive and high-impact product training programs both live and online
• Work directly with the product managers and vendors to acquire the proper materials to develop comprehensive product/category trainings
• Own the delivery of worldwide technical product training while driving continuing education training programs
• Be the leader for all technical product training needs and programs in the organization
• Develop and manage a training budget and calendar to proactively support the overall strategy for approved training activities
• Partner and collaborate with the regions, product marketing, branding and other functions to ensure development and execution of consistent product training
• Identify and use analytic methods to establish/evaluate all training programs, including analysis and recommendation of new training methods/opportunities
• Maintain strong relationships with key internal stakeholders and customers and build outstanding credibility through procedural and product knowledge
• Monitor progress of new hires, conduct testing and assess performance in order to understand where additional training and support is needed
• Measure global and individual effectiveness of training against sales results and support load; build metrics to understand progress toward goals
• Develop organization plan to support product training strategy; recruit, train and manage the product training team
• Ensure all training modules are current and aligned with new product releases
• Act as the content expert and deliver relevant training materials for all levels of training, from new employees to executives
• Deliver product training that is sufficiently technical, but more geared to business benefits and competitive advantages/disadvantages
• Travel to offices, partners, resellers and customers as required

Competencies & Behaviors

• Subject matter expertise: understands adult learning methodologies, how to apply concepts for maximum audience engagement and effectiveness of training delivery, measurement of learning outcomes and business results
• Adaptability: flexes to new pressures from stakeholders and shifting priorities; intellectually and emotionally flexible; adjusts quickly to changing priorities
• Communication: effective oral communication, particularly to small and large groups; demonstrates fluency, clarity of thought and command of language; writes clearly and concisely
• Coaching: coaches and develops employees for rapid onboarding and promotions into appropriate positions; a people builder
• Energy: exhibits energy, strong desire to achieve, and high level of dedication
• Metrics-driven: measures and reports on the effectiveness of sales training programs to ensure the value, integrity and consistency of all training activities
• Quality: is attentive to detail and accuracy, committed to excellence, looks for improvements continuously, monitors quality levels, finds root cause of quality problems, owns/acts on quality problems

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 Guiding level.

What you’ve done

• Knowledge of adult learning concepts to lead and participate in development of on-going training resources
• Experience developing product training strategy and training sessions for global audience
• Experience with online and in-person training programs
• At least five years of experience in a product training role, preferably in a SaaS-based business
• Experience writing training curriculum, facilitating on-site and remote training to new hires and existing sales representatives in multiple locations
• Track record of mentoring, product training or teaching sales organizations
• Experienced in using training metrics to drive continuous improvement
• Proven ability working at a senior level in a fast-moving, client-driven environment
• Experience working with a learning management system

NOTE: Finalist candidates will be required to prepare and deliver a short product training module.

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 believe that our people are our most important assets. And we don’t just pay lip service to that phraseâ€"we incorporate it into our policies, and we live it every day. Yes, that philosophy means we have generous “traditional†benefits, but 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 because people love coming to work here and really feel like they’re part of something special. For more information visit www.returnpath.net.