What are the responsibilities and job description for the Product Development Manager, Content Innovation position at PCMA Greater Midwest Chapter?
Position Summary
The Product Development Manager, Content Innovation is responsible for driving innovation in PCMA's learning portfolio through exploration of emerging formats, technologies, and delivery methods. This role leads new product development initiatives, manages sponsorship and partner-supported learning projects, and pilots innovative approaches to content creation and member engagement.
This position identifies market opportunities, tests new concepts, and builds scalable solutions that advance PCMA's competitive position in events industry education. The manager serves as the innovation catalyst for the learning team, balancing entrepreneurial experimentation with disciplined product development to create new revenue streams and learner and member value.
Essential Duties And Responsibilities
Innovation & New Product Development
Education:
The Product Development Manager, Content Innovation is responsible for driving innovation in PCMA's learning portfolio through exploration of emerging formats, technologies, and delivery methods. This role leads new product development initiatives, manages sponsorship and partner-supported learning projects, and pilots innovative approaches to content creation and member engagement.
This position identifies market opportunities, tests new concepts, and builds scalable solutions that advance PCMA's competitive position in events industry education. The manager serves as the innovation catalyst for the learning team, balancing entrepreneurial experimentation with disciplined product development to create new revenue streams and learner and member value.
Essential Duties And Responsibilities
Innovation & New Product Development
- Lead research and development of new learning products, formats, and delivery methods
- Identify emerging trends in educational technology, content formats, and learning methodologies
- Pilot innovative approaches to content development and member engagement
- Build business cases for new product concepts including market sizing, investment requirements, and revenue projections
- Develop minimum viable products (MVPs) for testing and validation with target audiences
- Scale successful pilots into full product offerings based on performance data
- Lead cross-functional innovation projects involving multiple departments
- Manage development and delivery of sponsored and partner-supported educational content and programs
- Serve as primary liaison between learning team and sponsors/partners for educational initiatives
- Develop partnership frameworks and processes for co-created content and sponsored learning programs
- Ensure sponsored content maintains educational integrity and meets PCMA quality standards
- Create packages and proposals for potential education sponsors and content partners
- Negotiate scope, deliverables, and timelines for sponsored learning projects
- Track and report on performance of sponsored content and partner programs
- Identify opportunities to expand partnership portfolio and revenue through educational offerings
- Explore and test new content formats beyond traditional online courses (interactive simulations, gamification, social learning)
- Develop prototypes of innovative content experiences
- Test different pedagogical approaches and learning modalities
- Create reusable frameworks and templates for new formats that can be scaled
- Measure effectiveness of new formats against traditional approaches
- Collaborate with event education team to test innovative session formats and delivery methods
- Support content repurposing initiatives by identifying new formats for existing content
- Partner with marketing on innovative content promotion and engagement strategies
- Coordinate with regional teams on pilot programs in international markets
- Work closely with Content & Learning Operations to transition successful pilots into scalable programs, ensuring operational readiness, learner experience, and cross-team alignment
- Manage multiple concurrent innovation projects with varying timelines and stakeholders
- Develop project plans, timelines, and resource requirements for innovation initiatives
- Track project budgets and ensure efficient use of innovation resources
- Document processes, learnings, and best practices from innovation projects
- Create success criteria and measurement frameworks for experimental initiatives
- Establish analytics dashboards and reporting mechanisms to evaluate pilot performance, learner engagement, and ROI
Education:
- Bachelor's degree in Education, Business, Marketing, Innovation, or related field required
- Certifications in product management, innovation, or educational technology a plus
- 5 years of experience in product development, innovation, or learning design
- 3 years of experience managing sponsored content, partnerships, or business development initiatives
- Demonstrated portfolio of successful innovation projects or new product launches
- Experience with educational technology evaluation and implementation
- Background in association environment, professional development, or events industry preferred
- Track record of piloting new concepts and scaling successful initiatives
- Experience with learning management systems and educational platforms
- Familiarity with emerging learning technologies (AI, VR/AR, adaptive learning)
- Project management tools (Monday.com or similar)
- Presentation and visualization tools
- Working knowledge of CRM systems (Salesforce preferred)
- Microsoft Office 365 proficiency
- Innovation and creative problem-solving
- New product development and launch
- Partnership and sponsorship management
- Strategic thinking and business acumen
- Project management and execution
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Change management and adoption
- Data-driven decision making