LION is Hiring an Associate Director of Product

Status: Full-time exempt (not eligible for overtime), with 90-day introductory period (see details below)

Reports to: Director of Data and Evaluation

Location: Remote within USA

Compensation: $110,000 per year, eligible for benefits (see details below)

Job Summary:

If you are a passionate product and systems manager who delights in creative problem solving in pursuit of operational efficiencies, we want to talk with you about our Associate Director of Product role! 

LION Publishers is a professional journalism association that serves more than 550 (and growing!) independent news publishers across the U.S. and Canada. Many of these organizations don’t have access to small business services, which is where we come in: We provide members with resources, training and support as they build and develop sustainable news businesses that serve their communities. 

LION’s Associate Director of Product will succeed in their role by maintaining and improving LION’s central database in Salesforce and connected systems that allow LION staff, our members and our funders to manage and track their work, interact with membership benefits and glean insights about the independent news industry. They will work closely with the Director of Data and Evaluation to iterate and support LION’s internal systems, empowering the rest of the team to do their best work. Our ideal candidate has a proven track record of leadership in Salesforce administration, product management, and cross-team collaboration.

The Associate Director of Product will work closely with colleagues across the organization to help LION achieve its strategic goals focused on revenue generation, program engagement and measuring program outcomes. They will also supervise and project manage the work of external vendors, as needed.

Our team believes that relevant, accurate and culturally competent local news and information helps people fully engage in civic life, make more informed decisions and better understand the world around them. If you’re interested in helping us make this vision a reality and working in a space of optimism and growth, learn more about the job and how to apply below.

Key Responsibilities

• Product Management (55%)
  • Leads discovery sessions across the organization to assess technology needs and develop system implementation or enhancement plans to address those needs
  • Sources new tech solutions to fulfill programmatic and organizational needs and manages implementation
  • Manages technology product workstream, maintaining development pipeline, sourcing and managing technology vendors and managing related budgets
  • Leads internal quality assurance processes 
  • Creates and maintains a library of end user training materials for LION’s tech systems, conduct group and 1:1 user trainings to facilitate internal user adoption 
• Technical Systems Management (35%)
  • Owns in house Salesforce administration including creating new fields, objects, layouts and reports to support the work of the programming and finance teams  
  • Manages tech stack, including integration of external tools with Salesforce database and automation creation to increase operational efficiency
  • Primary point of contact for website hosting and security
• Technical Systems Support (10% )
  • Provides technical expertise and troubleshooting to staff and project teams, including running weekly tech and systems office hours

Other duties as assigned.

LION is an Equal Opportunity Employer

LION believes that a team with diversity of backgrounds and experiences will generate the most innovative ideas and ultimately do the best work in support of our mission. This is why we welcome contractors, vendors, staff and board members who contribute to a diverse, equitable and inclusive work environment. We understand diversity as multi-dimensional and intersectional, encompassing aspects of our identities including race and ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, ability, class, geography, lived experiences and more. We welcome and encourage all qualified candidates to apply to opportunities at LION so that we build a team that reflects the diversity of independent news entrepreneurs we wish to serve.

We know there are great candidates who might not check all the boxes listed below or who possess important skills we haven’t thought of. If that’s you, don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself. 

Skills and Qualifications for The Role

• Database administration: Is technologically savvy, experienced at administrating and iterating on database structure, and seeks to understand the why before jumping to the how. Experience with Salesforce configuration required. Salesforce administrator certification strongly preferred; Salesforce development, familiarity with the Advanced Communities managed package, and SCRUM methodology experience a plus.
• User-focused solution design: Approaches solutions to technical and systems needs with the end user in mind
• Project management: Independently establishes clear project goals, milestones, and procedures, and assigns appropriate roles and responsibilities to team members and vendors. Has demonstrated success in leveraging common project management processes and digital tools.
• Ownership: Takes ownership of complex projects, effectively manages own work and the work of vendors, demonstrates leadership skills, and works autonomously to drive the delivery of high-quality work
• Systems thinking: Proactively identifies emerging trends and changes in contexts and needs, and develops innovative strategies to navigate them
• Problem solving: Effectively senses and solves problems in complex initiatives, providing solutions to organizational problems through a reflective and strategic approach
• Effective communication: Independently develops and delivers multi-mode communications that effectively resonate with diverse audiences and their unique needs

Skills and Expectations for Teamwork at LION

• Work in a way that upholds and reflects our organizational values: Being data-informed, equitable and inclusive, people-centered, systems thinkers, transparent and iterative.
• Use digital tools and platforms to stay organized, communicate transparently, and collaborate with team members remotely. 
• Collaborate strategically with others, clearly defining processes for decision making.
• Give and receive constructive feedback to help the team produce its best work.
• Celebrate our wins and learning moments.
• Take on an experimental mindset and demonstrate flexibility to iterate on our work, systems, and processes. 
• Be willing and able to ask for help when needed, and demonstrate an ability to learn and grow in the role.

Physical Requirements and Environmental Conditions

• Must be able to remain in a stationary position, at a desk or similar, 90% of the time. Time spent in a stationary location includes operating a computer and relevant peripherals and communicating via phone.

Travel Requirements

• Available to travel for staff retreats 1-2 times per year (approx. 2 days per retreat)
• Available to travel for annual LION member event annually (approx. 3 days)

About LION

Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional journalism association for independent news publishers. While most of our 400+ members across the U.S. and Canada run local news businesses, we also have members who serve larger regions and specific identity-based communities across geographies. LION provides teaching, resources and community to independent news entrepreneurs as they build and develop sustainable businesses. One of our core values is being people-centered, and here are some ways we build that culture for our staff. 

90 Day Introductory Period

The first 90 days of employment is an introductory period, during which the new hire has clear goals, criteria for successful work product, and regular feedback from their manager. As a result of the new hire’s 90 day self-reflection and manager’s assessment, the two will discuss whether the new hire will stay on with LION and whether it will be in the role as originally scoped.

Benefits

• Medical PPO, Vision & Dental fully paid by employer; 50% paid for dependents
• Short-term disability, long-term disability, life, and worker’s compensation insurance paid by employer
• Flexible Spending Account and Dependent Care HSA
• Paid Time Off (including sick days) is 20 days per year 
• Paid holidays (including week of July 4 and Christmas Eve through New Years Day) is 20 days in 2024
• Up to 12 weeks fully paid family/caregiver leave
• 401K with employer match up to 3.5%
• Flexible working hours
• No-meeting Fridays
• Annual professional development budget
• Monthly work-from-home stipend
• For new hires: Health insurance stipend until eligible for employer medical coverage to begin
• Eligible for year-end, surplus-dependent bonus

Application Materials

Submit your materials using this form by 11 p.m. Pacific time on Sunday November 17, 2024. 

• Your resume
• Any online links that show your work (a Twitter profile, a portfolio page, etc.)
• Answers to the following questions:
  • This role will be responsible for maintaining our Salesforce database and managing contractors during larger updates. Tell us about a time when you customized Salesforce to better meet the needs of its end users. What was the problem you tried to solve? How did you approach discovery? What features, tools or systems did you use to solve that problem? What were the results?
  • This role will be responsible for managing the full product management lifecycle at LION. Please tell us about a feature for product that you managed from start to finish. Who were the stakeholders involved? How did you approach collaboration/delegation to design, build, and launch? What is an obstacle/roadblock you ran into and how did you solve for it?
  • This role will be responsible for facilitating go-lives for new features for both internal and external users. Give an example of a time that you rolled out a new system or functionality. How did you ensure that you were ready to go live? How did you prepare and support your end users through this change?
  • Please share anything else you’d like us to know about your background, experience or skills that speaks to your ability to do this role.