Role Purpose

The Strategy and Growth Manager is a problem solver who plays a critical role in defining and enabling business change. Workforce Skills is a relatively new Pearson division that is extending the range of solutions that the company offers around the world. This role will help define where and how the Division invests to maximize value and opportunity.

The role will provide information and insights to support Workforce Skills’ strategic investment decisions. These may include where-to-play and how-to-win strategies; build, buy and partner decisions; analyzing potential acquisition targets; identification of unmet customer needs where Pearson can win; and how we partner across Pearson.

The role will be fast-paced and offer a wide variety of experiences. We need someone who has strong analytical and modelling skills, is able to conceptualize and solve problems, is a self-starter, can work independently and in teams and is able to turn data into presentable insight to support decisions. The role will report to the Director of Strategy and Growth and will not have any direct reports.

As required by the Colorado Equal Pay Transparency Act, Pearson provides a reasonable range of minimum compensation for roles that may be hired in Colorado. Actual compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, and specific office location. For the state of Colorado only, the starting pay for the salary range for this role is $100,000. This position is eligible to participate in an annual incentive program and employee benefits.

Key Responsibilities

Define strategy

• Identify markets where WFS needs to play, size and scope opportunities, and conduct build-buy-partner analysis to guide entry investments

• Track and articulate market dynamics and strategies

• Create and maintain market segmentation and a value chain backed by data

• Contribute to Board reporting

• Support defining offer pricing from a portfolio point of view

• Network with industry groups to stay on top of trends and key players

Champion new business initiatives

• Discover customer needs

• Collect and analyze research data to inform strategic decision-making

• Innovate and test potential solutions to identified needs

• Create business cases and clarify value propositions

• Move early-stage opportunities through governance stages and gates

Support businesses with their strategic initiatives

• Conduct initial market opportunity and viability assessments

• Assist with business case development, especially market opportunity estimates, competitive analysis, business model design, and financial modeling (with Finance)

• Coordinate/evaluate market testing of product concept to find product-solution fit

Champion strategic investments to fill gaps in the offering

• Identify need for an acquisition based on market opportunity and fit with Pearson

• Identify short list of targets, working closely with Corporate Development and Strategy

• Qualify targets by conducting due diligence

Champion product partnerships to fill gaps in the offering

• Identify and screen potential supplier-partners to fill gaps in our offering

• Create criteria and evaluate companies against them

• Work closely with Product Management and senior managers

Manage Projects and Stakeholders

• Work directly with and serve as a liaison between business units, technology teams and support functions including HR, Finance, Legal, operations, data, CISO

• Identify and implement opportunities for innovation and continuous improvement in business analysis methods and tools

• Create repeatable systems and processes to support decision making

• Manage projects with transparent processes and reporting while delivering to time, cost and quality metrics

• Work effectively in a matrixed-management environment

• Work across multiple projects simultaneously

Essential Skills and Experience

• Demonstrated experience managing complex analytical projects and analysts doing the work

• Leadership skills, including the ability to persuade and convince skeptical audiences of the merit of business ideas and recommendations

• Analytical and research abilities taking data, information, concepts and ideas to produce credible insights and proposals

• Insight presentation skills – can turn data into insights and present it in such a way that is easy to interpret and assists decision making

• Problem-solving skills - the ability to break down problems by asking the right questions, gathering and analyzing data and presenting back insightful recommendations

• Business process mapping and reengineering experience

• Facility with financial statements, financial analysis and modeling

• Business acumen to drive value to stakeholders

• Communication and interpersonal skills used to cultivate strong working relationships and support to internal and external decision makers

• Strong customer service ethic and experience balancing the ability to respond nimbly to stakeholder needs while keeping costs in check

• Experience with managing by influence and without direct authority

• Management consulting experience preferred

• Master’s degree preferred

To learn more about Pearson’s commitment to a diverse and inclusive workforce, please click here:  

http://www.pearson.com/careers/diversity-and-inclusion.html  

Pearson is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer and a member of E-Verify. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. All employment is decided based on qualifications, merit, and business need. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other group protected by law.

Job: STRATEGY

Organization: Workforce Skills

Schedule: FULL_TIME

Req ID: 6991

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