We believe in the power and joy of learning

At Cengage, our employees have a direct impact in helping students around the world discover the power and joy of learning. We are bonded by our shared purpose – driving innovation that helps millions of learners improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.
 

Focusing on college and career readiness, Cengage School equips students with the skills and confidence to succeed beyond the classroom. Through exclusive access to National Geographic Learning, Big Ideas Learning, Gale, Thorndike Press and Cengage curriculum and technology, it engages learners in core subjects and career pathways—empowering educators and inspiring student success.
 

Our culture values inclusion, engagement, and discovery

Our business is driven by our strong culture, and we know that creating an inclusive workplace is absolutely essential to the success of our company and our learners, as well as our individual well-being. We recognize the value of diverse perspectives in everything we do, and strive to ensure employees of all levels and backgrounds feel empowered to voice their ideas and bring their authentic selves to work. We achieve these priorities through programs, benefits, and initiatives that are integrated into the fabric of how we work every day. To learn more, please see https://www.cengagegroup.com/about/inclusion-and-belonging/.
 

As the Senior Director of Portfolio Management you will define and drive the end-to-end portfolio vision, strategy, and performance for our global K-12 curriculum business. This includes a highly complex, multi-discipline portfolio spanning Social Studies, Science, Advanced Placement, English Language Learning, Math, and Australia Primary & Secondary.
 

Operating at the intersection of product leadership, portfolio management, and operational strategy, you will be accountable for translating customer needs and market opportunities into high-impact product investments that deliver measurable business outcomes. You will lead a team of Portfolio Directors and Managers while acting as an enterprise integrator across product, academic design, operations, finance, and go-to-market teams.
 

Success in this role requires balancing strategic vision, customer value, operational excellence, and financial performance across a broad and diverse product ecosystem.

What you'll do here:

• Develop and lead portfolio strategy and performance: Create and refine a clear, insightful portfolio strategy that matches corporate priorities. Be responsible for meeting growth, revenue, and profitability goals while ensuring offerings deliver unique and meaningful value to customers.

• Lead a hypothesis-driven, evidence-based product approach: Guide teams in developing and testing strategic hypotheses using customer insights, market data, and rapid validation techniques to inform investment decisions and continuously refine direction.

• Drive end-to-end portfolio lifecycle decisions: Oversee decisions from concept through launch and iteration, balancing speed, quality, customer impact, and business outcomes across multiple product lines and markets.

• Act as an enterprise integrator: Align cross-functional teams—including Product, Academic Design, Operations, Finance, and Go-To-Market—around shared priorities, resolving tradeoffs and ensuring execution against a unified strategy.

• Build and develop a high-performing leadership team: Coach and elevate Portfolio Directors and Managers, strengthening critical thinking, decision-making rigor, and accountability across the organization.

• Own and evolve Portfolio Operations as a strategic capability: Ensure that product, financial, and licensing infrastructure—including royalties, product setup, and system workflows—scales effectively to support portfolio growth, compliance, and operational excellence.

Skills you will need here:

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree or equivalent experience preferred

• 12–15+ years of experience in product management, portfolio management, strategy, or related leadership roles

• 10+ years of leadership experience including leading people managers

• Strong product leadership capabilities, including building and developing high-performing teams

• Experience influencing and aligning cross-functional stakeholders

• Exceptional ability to navigate ambiguity, prioritize across competing demands, and drive organizational alignment

• Strong financial skills, including business case development and performance analysis

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to influence senior audiences

• Willingness to travel up to 20%

Cengage is committed to working with broad talent pools to attract and hire strong and most qualified individuals. Our job applicants are considered regardless any classification protected by applicable federal, state, provincial or local laws.
 

Cengage is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities including during our job application process. If you are an applicant with a disability and require reasonable accommodation in our job application process, please contact us at accommodations.ta@cengage.com.
 

About Cengage

Cengage, a global education technology company serving millions of learners, provides 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, and now, integrated digital platforms. We serve the higher education, workforce skills, secondary education, English language teaching and research markets worldwide. Through our 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 take great pride in our commitment to providing a comprehensive and rewarding Total Rewards package designed to support and empower our employees. Click here to learn more about our Total Rewards Philosophy.

The full base pay range has been provided for this position. Individual base pay will vary based on work schedule, qualifications, experience, internal equity, and geographic location.  Sales roles often incorporate a significant incentive compensation program beyond this base pay range.

In this position,  you will be eligible to participate in the company’s discretionary incentive bonus program.  This position's bonus target amount, which is not guaranteed and is dependent on individual performance and overall company results among other factors, is provided below.