Category Development Manager

Job description

At Guild, we believe talent is everywhere and that opportunity should be too. We continue to have our home and headquarters in Denver, but we have embraced a distributed model of working to reach the best talent in the United States. While some roles may require proximity to our Denver office, roles based outside of our Denver office can sit in any of the following 32 states: AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, NC, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI and Washington D.C. Please only apply if you are able to live and work full-time in one of the states listed above. State locations and specifics are subject to change as our hiring requirements shift. We typically keep job postings active for 3–5 weeks, though this may vary depending on applicant volume and other factors.

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If you are an Internal Candidate, please apply via our Internal Job Board.

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At Guild, we uphold our Core Values in everything we do. Our team emphasizes our Core Values in the following ways:

• Nurture A Learner’s Mindset-using a combination of feedback and reflection to gain productive insight into personal strengths and development areas
• Build Shared Success- building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives
• Be an Owner- holding self and others accountable to meet commitments
• Create Belonging - recognizing the value that different perspectives and cultures bring to our company

Guild is hiring a Category Development Manager. This role is a core member of Guild’s Strategy & Marketplace  team, responsible for leading the strategy, build/execution, and ongoing improvement, expansion & success of a portfolio of categories (groups of learning programs serving a similar persona & skilling need). The individuals in this role act as subject matter experts, both internally, supporting and enabling teams across the organization, and externally, working directly with current & prospective employers & learning partners. Category Development Managers define the short and long-term vision for how their categories should grow and function within Guild’s Learning Marketplace, and then quarterback cross-functional efforts to improve performance across a number of dimensions, including outcomes, access, coverage & innovation. Through this lens, Category Development Managers will contribute to Guild’s growth, with a particular emphasis on the expansion of new verticals.

As Category Development Manager, you will:

• Act as a “general manager”/product manager and “voice” for your categories. With support from Category Development leadership, help drive key decisions on how your portfolio of programs evolves. Understand what’s in the categories, how they’re performing, growing, and differentiating Guild, to best meet employer and learner needs
• Set the annual and quarterly priorities for how to optimize category value and improve category performance across coverage, outcomes, access, and innovation
• Design & execute analytical projects to clarify strategic questions or validate business cases for category initiatives. Articulate hypotheses, scope work, own analyses and influence partners in Analytics, Learning Partner Services (Account Management), and other cross-functional teams to build perspectives
• Work closely with partners from Pre-sales, Marketing, Product, Employer Partner Services (Acct. Mgmt.), Business Development, Operations, and more, to gather critical market insight, provide subject matter expertise and share guidance on recommended solutions & approaches
• Build processes & collateral to enable quick and effective sharing of insights and support to be consumed across the organization

You are a strong fit for this role if you have:

Required Competencies

• Strategic Thinking - Ability to analyze complex issues, identify root causes, and develop effective plans to achieve meaningful goals with limited resources. This involves considering various perspectives, evaluating options, and creating frameworks to guide decision-making and action. Thinking strategically involves evaluating risks and options, and creating frameworks for decision-making that balance immediate needs with future objectives
• Analytical Thinking - You have demonstrated the ability to analyze and synthesize information, including quantitative and qualitative data. You’ve understood complex issues, identified options, and supported sound decision-making. Strong ability to interpret data, recognize patterns, and draw insights that inform strategic choices
• Impact & Influence - You have built and leveraged relationships to gain support, create positive outcomes, and drive organizational success. Ability to develop trust, demonstrate credibility, and effectively communicate to influence decisions and actions across various levels of the organization & also with external stakeholders/customers
• Adaptability - You are adaptable and can work effectively in ambiguous or changing situations with diverse individuals and groups
• Operational Rigor - You are a careful steward of your investments, always seeking to work smarter and build systems that enable the entire Category Development team to focus on its highest impact work

Preferred Competencies

• Self-starter attitude with an entrepreneurial approach; able to independently identify problems and solutions, and run complex projects from start to finish
• A love for learning; able to rapidly familiarize yourself with new topics and thrive in unfamiliar territories
• Awareness of Guild’s business and deep curiosity about the higher education, skilling and career mobility landscape
• Experience contributing to market expansion efforts, particularly in Healthcare & Manufacturing, Logistics or Transportation
• 3+ years of experience in strategy, consulting, product development or other relevant work

We are committed to equal pay for equal work and believe in compensation transparency. All salary ranges are standardized nationwide and will not vary by region. This role offers a competitive total compensation package, including a base salary range of $95,100 - $122,000 and variable compensation (bonus) eligibility along with stock options. Compensation offered will be based on a combination of factors such as experience, competencies, and internal equity.

At Guild, we unlock the talent and economic potential of America’s workforce for employees and their companies. We partner with the nation’s largest employers—including Walmart, Chipotle, Discover, Hilton, Macy’s, Target, and The Walt Disney Company—to create cultures of opportunity that help them attract and retain top talent, while building the workforce of the future from within. By using our proprietary Career Opportunity Platform to develop education and learning programs that work in the real-world, thousands of employees at those companies have gained the skills, knowledge, and guidance they need to build a brighter future for themselves and their families—all without paying for tuition or career services on their own.

Guild is female-founded and a certified B Corp. The company has been named to the TIME100 Most Influential Companies of 2022 list, CNBC Disruptor50 list three years in a row, Inc. Best Led Companies list, Fast Co. World Changing Ideas list and the B Lab Best for the World list among many others.

Guild is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let your recruiter know. We currently offer the following benefits:

• Access to low-cost, high-quality health care options through Cigna and Kaiser (due to coverage limitations, Kaiser is currently only available in CA & CO)
• Access to a 401k to help save for the future
• Open vacation policy for employees to rest and recharge
• 8 days of fully-paid sick leave, to take the time to heal and or recover
• Family-friendly benefits, including 12 weeks of parental leave for non-birthing parents and 18-20 weeks for birthing parents; 4-week ramp-up period for when employees return from a leave of 6 weeks or more; as well as employer-paid short-term and long-term disability, employer-sponsored life insurance, fertility and caregiving benefits.
• Well-rounded wellness benefits including free and low cost mental health resources and financial wellbeing support services
• Education benefits and tuition assistance to help your future development and growth

PRIVACY NOTICE

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I understand and agree to Guild’s use of my information in accordance with Guild’s Privacy Policy and, for applicants that are residents of the State of California, Guild’s Applicant Privacy Notice and California Notice at Collection.