Product Readiness Manager

Does shaping the future by helping launch a brand-new innovative product excite you? Do you have a passion for tackling challenges and finding creative ways to solve them? Are you looking to work with an amazing group of product and business leaders and have a little bit of fun along the way? If you answered yes to all of these, then read on!

Cox Automotive is currently looking for a Product Readiness Manager to join our dynamic Product Operations team working on a new large-scale product launch. The Product Readiness Manager will partner closely with the Product Readiness Sr. Manager to assist with the development and execution of the go-to-market, launch, and post-launch plans for the product. This role will work with the Product and Business teams as well as the broader Cox Automotive organizational boundary partners, to ensure all team members are equipped and working in alignment towards a successful product launch.

To be successful in this role, the candidate must have a combination of knowledge in product management, change management, operational execution, stakeholder engagement and consultation, user experience, and project management skills.  They must also be a strong people influencer and driver for a shared future vision, collaborating and guiding the work of teams of product managers, professional services and project teams, and implementation teams to ensure a successful launch occurs for our clients.

PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITES

Product Launch Leadership: Assist in development, communication, and execution of comprehensive product launch strategy; including go-to-market and post-launch plans.
Product Launch Tracking and Communication: Responsible for tracking and managing communication of business outcomes related to the product launch including launch announcements and release notes across the entire product portfolio. This includes integrations from other Cox Automotive solutions, as well as 3rd party APIs. Will also be responsible for tracking and communicating any ongoing product enhancements impacting the product.
Product Readiness: Work across organizational boundaries to ensure that all go-to-market goals and critical milestones are met. Participate in commercialization stakeholder meetings and communicate status, drive accountability and decision making. Manage program risk by identifying and communicating issues as well as mitigation plans and recommending solutions.
Define and Measure Success: Work with Business and Operational Leadership, Product Management, and Product Marketing to ensure success of product launches can be measured and achieve business goals.  Define and build processes to track product performance using KPI’s, metrics, analytics, dashboards etc. Suggest ideas for improvement.
Voice of Client:  Keeps the voice and perspective of the customer present throughout the entire lifecycle of the product. Facilitate, capture and use of team member and client feedback. Promote client-centric value propositions and positioning to inform commercialization strategy. Tie product launches back to impacts to client journey in partnership with UX research team.
Change Management: Leverage change management principles to drive change with our internal stakeholders and clients. Sees the connection point across initiatives and calculates the impact to adoption. Demonstrates flexibility and adaptability to ongoing changes.
Communication: Synthesizes information quickly and composes concise and tailored messaging to audiences. Effectively uses persuasion and negotiation techniques with boundary partners. Builds networks of support for ideas and/or initiatives.
Training and Support Alignment : Ensures that marketing, sales, client care, internal comms, public relations and operations have all necessary information to effectively plan for, train and support new products and solutions being delivered.
Process Improvement: Drives processes that elevate our go-to-marketing planning and ensuring operational readiness for product launches. Champion continuous improvement using innovative ideas to increase effectiveness.
Travel required up to 10%.
QUALIFICATIONS:

Bachelor’s degree with 5 years of related experience
Experience in project and/or change management.
Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of product development lifecycle and product launch practices and processes.
Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, to engage supporting departments and obtain buy-in.
Demonstrated success running projects that cross multiple departments, business units, processes and technologies.
Demonstrated planning, analytical and organization skills with an ability to manage competing demands.
Strong collaborating and influencing skills with the ability to lead without authority.
Comfort and ability communicating with higher-level management.
Comfort communicating complex business and product ideas into language that is understood by all supporting departments.
Ability to gather and analyze information and data from multiple sources, prepare professional presentations, charts, graphs and tables of information for launch preparation.
Excellent presentation skills.

Drug Testing:

To be employed in this role, you’ll need to clear a pre-employment drug test. Cox Automotive does not currently administer a pre-employment drug test for marijuana for this position. However, we are a drug-free workplace, so the possession, use or being under the influence of drugs illegal under federal or state law during work hours, on company property and/or in company vehicles is prohibited.

About Cox Automotive
At Cox Automotive, people of every background are driven by their passion for mobility, innovation and community. We transform the way the world buys, sells, owns and uses cars, accelerating the industry with global powerhouse brands like Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book, Manheim and more. What’s more, we do it all with an emphasis on employee growth and happiness. Drive your future forward and join Cox Automotive today!

About Cox
Cox empowers employees to build a better future and has been doing so for over 120 years. With exciting investments and innovations across transportation, communications, cleantech and healthcare, our family of businesses – which includes Cox Automotive and Cox Communications – is forging a better future for us all. Ready to make your mark? Join us today!

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Benefits of working at Cox may include health care insurance (medical, dental, vision), retirement planning (401(k)), and paid days off (sick leave, parental leave, flexible vacation/wellness days, and/or PTO). For more details on what benefits you may be offered, visit our benefits page.

Cox is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer – All qualified applicants/employees will receive consideration for employment without regard to that individual’s age, race, color, religion or creed, national origin or ancestry, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, physical or mental disability, veteran status, genetic information, ethnicity, citizenship, or any other characteristic protected by law. Cox provides reasonable accommodations when requested by a qualified applicant or employee with disability, unless such accommodations would cause an undue hardship.

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