Job Details

Overview

Milady, a Cengage Group Company, is transforming trades education for the next generation of professionals. As the Director of Product, you will lead the charge in evolving our products into intuitive, impactful digital experiences that support students, educators, and schools nationwide.

You'll bring teams together, set ambitious strategies, and create products that are easy to use, easy to love, and built for scale. This is a big opportunity to make a real difference in the way trade school students learn and grow.

What You'll Do

Drive Digital Transformation

• Evolve our digital learning platform from a single static course to a personalized, outcomes-driven learning ecosystem that meets customer needs.
• Lead our shift from print to digital learning experiences through data driven decision making and deep customer knowledge.
• Lead experimentation to apply innovative tools that make learning more accessible and engaging.
• Identify new digital revenue streams by developing products that result in owning more of the customer experience and increasing the lifetime value of a customer.

Set Product Vision and Strategy

• Define a clear roadmap aligned with business goals and customer needs.
• Stay close to our users—students, instructors, and school leaders—to shape products they truly value.

Lead Cross-Functional Teams

• Inspire organizational change, creating a digital first product culture across the business.
• Partner with engineering, content, AI/ML teams, regulatory departments, customer experience, marketing and sales to drive alignment and a unified vision.
• Develop rationale to secure required investments to meet customer needs.
• Create an empowered team where everyone feels ownership and pride in what we build.

Understand the Market and Our Users

• Through a systems based approach, apply customer centric methodology to identify customer problems and validate potential solutions.
• Use research, data, and direct feedback through rapid prototyping, user testing and iterative feedback loops to shape decisions.
• Keep an eye on industry trends and competitor moves to stay ahead.

Deliver Products that Matter

• Lead product development from idea to launch.
• Support ongoing improvements that keep our products fresh and effective.

Data Analytics and Insight

• Leverage data analytics to make informed decisions, see opportunities for improvement and measure the performance of our digital products.

Engage with Stakeholders

• Keep internal teams in the loop—from sales and marketing to leadership.
• Build lasting partnerships with schools, educators, and industry experts.

Measure and Improve Performance

• Define success metrics and use them to guide decisions.
• Celebrate what works, and quickly learn from what doesn't.

Manage Resources Thoughtfully

• Develop budgets and allocate resources where they'll have the most impact.
• Keep projects on track and aligned with priorities.

What You'll Bring

• 10+ years of experience leading product teams; experience in tech is a must.
• Experience building digital products and driving organizational change.
• Experience with the Product Operating Model is preferred.
• Proof of making decisions based on data analysis
• Proven approach to capturing regular customer input
• Strong critical thinking and planning skills.
• Curiosity, experiment oriented and a strong sense of purpose.
• Outcomes oriented with an ability to deliver
• Clear communication skills—you know how to bring people along with your vision.
• Expected travel ~20%

Who you are: An ambitious, passionate leader who thrives in ambiguity and sees opportunity in change. You're customer-obsessed, data-informed, and unafraid to challenge the status quo. You love experimentation and building what's next—and bringing others along for the ride.

Why Milady?

We believe education changes lives—and we're on a mission to make it more effective, more inclusive, and more inspiring. You'll join a passionate team that values innovation, connection, and real-world impact. At Milady, your work will help empower future beauty professionals to thrive in their careers.

Milady, a Cengage Group Company, is the leading provider of beauty and wellness learning solutions for schools worldwide. We have been influencing the beauty education industry ever since our founder started his own one-man barbering supply business nearly a century ago. Today, we are proud to redefine the standards of being a professional and explore the endless possibilities of beauty's impact on individuals, communities, and the world. Join Milady and be part of a team that is transforming the education industry. To learn more about Milady and our vision, visit milady.com/about.

Company and Equal Opportunity

Cengage Group is committed to working with broad talent pools to attract and hire strong and most qualified individuals. Our job applicants are considered regardless of race, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, disability, age, veteran status, and any other classification protected by applicable federal, state, provincial or local laws. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities during the job application process. If you are an applicant with a disability and require accommodations, please contact us at ...@cengage.com or +1 (617) ###-####.

About Cengage Group

Cengage Group is a global education technology company serving millions of learners, providing affordable, quality digital products and services that equip students with the skills and competencies needed to be job ready. For more than 100 years, we have enabled the power and joy of learning with trusted, engaging content, now integrated digital platforms. We serve the higher education, workforce skills, secondary education, English language teaching and research markets worldwide. Through scalable technology, including MindTap and Cengage Unlimited, we support all learners who seek to improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.

Compensation: At Cengage Group, we offer a comprehensive Total Rewards package. The full base pay range for this position is $163,000.00 - $175,000.00 USD. Individual base pay will vary based on work schedule, qualifications, experience, internal equity, and geographic location. Sales roles often include incentive compensation beyond base pay.

Additionally, note warning: there has been an increase of targeted recruitment scams misrepresenting job offers on behalf of Cengage Group. Cengage will always interview candidates via live in-person meetings, phone calls and video calls before an offer is extended. Ensure communications come from an @cengage.com email address.