Company Overview

Academia.edu is a venture-backed, for-profit business based in San Francisco whose mission is to accelerate the world’s research. Our platform enables researchers worldwide to effortlessly find and access academic papers, stay current with peers and relevant research areas, and enhance their ability to publish and distribute their work. With over 100 million academic papers, a vast user base of over 250 million and adoption by over half of the academic community, we're at the forefront of transforming the $25 billion academic publishing industry.

The Role

We are seeking a high-performing Senior Product Manager (Sr PM) to lead our SEO team. This crucial role revolves around expanding our SEO channel and pinpointing strategies throughout the SEO funnel to enhance traffic flow to Academia. Responsibilities include optimizing search engine traffic, identifying and acquiring impactful papers that boost traffic, enhancing crawl and indexation rates through technical means, and refining our ranking initiatives. A significant part of the role involves formulating a strategy to adapt to the dynamic SEO landscape, especially in light of the emerging influence of Large Language Models (LLMs) in search.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategize, define, and prioritize the product roadmap for the SEO team
• Lead and coordinate cross-functional teams across engineering, design, and data.
• Ideate and oversee the development, planning, and design of new features and techniques from concept to market
• Utilize product metrics to guide decision-making and evaluate success
• Craft product requirements for MVPs and feature enhancements
• Contribute to the overarching product strategy
• Drive business impact

• Minimum 5 years of B2C online product management experience
• Minimum 1 year of SEO experience
• Proven expertise in scaling products to millions of users
• Exceptional communication skills, both written and oral
• Technical understanding and ability to engage in high-level technical discussions
• Demonstrated ability to make a significant business impact
• Customer-centric approach with a knack for data-driven validation
• Extensive experience with A/B testing
• Startup experience is essential

• A data or engineering-oriented background, spiking in a more ‘analytical’ skill-set
• Background of working in search companies/orgs or with Large Language Models (LLMs)

• Mission-Driven Company: Join a company that is mission-driven but that is also financially secure and stable. 
• Leadership: Lead the definition and implementation of entire product lines.
• Impact: Make a significant contribution to the user experience, driving growth and enhancing user satisfaction.
• Career Growth: Explore opportunities for career advancement
• Kind Company Culture: Work for an organization that values kindness, fostering a supportive and inclusive work culture.
• Competitive Compensation: Enjoy a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package.

Diversity and Inclusion

Academia is a proud equal-opportunity employer and we are committed to hiring and supporting a diverse workforce. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.