Chief Product Officer

Chief Product Officer

Company:

Kgl

Department:

Publishing Services

Reports To:

President, Publisher Services Group

Date Approved:

October 8, 2025

Job Summary

The Chief Product Officer (CPO) will serve as a key member of the executive leadership team, responsible for defining, leading, and executing the product vision and strategy across the organization’s portfolio of publishing products and services. This role requires a deep understanding of the academic publishing ecosystem, researcher and librarian needs, open science and open access trends, digital publishing platforms, evolving landscape of scholarly communication, and education & digital learning markets.

The CPO will lead cross-functional product management teams, drive innovation in digital products, ensure strong market alignment, and deliver sustainable growth while upholding the organization’s mission to advance knowledge dissemination in the scholarly, academic, and education communities. A central focus will be on seamless integration across business units, customer experience journeys, and cross-sector innovation.

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Define and own the product strategy and roadmap across all publishing and platform offerings, ensuring alignment with business goals, community needs and customer/user journeys.
• Partner with the executive team to shape overall organizational strategy, especially regarding digital transformation, and global expansion.
• Monitor industry trends (e.g., open access and open data mandates, AI in research workflows) to anticipate market shifts and position the organization at the forefront of scholarly communication.
• Shape the organization’s digital product strategy across both scholarly communication and education ecosystems, ensuring cohesive growth and future vision in both sectors.
• Align product strategy to ensure seamless interoperability across business units (publishing, education, technology, sales, marketing) for cohesive customer-facing solutions.

Product Innovation & Development

• Drive the development of digital-first products, platforms, and services that improve researcher, author, librarian, educator, and learner experiences (e.g., submission systems, peer review tools, discovery platforms, analytics dashboards).
• Lead initiatives in metadata management, interoperability, research data services, AI/ML integration, and workflow automation.
• Champion customer-centric design and data-driven decision making in all product initiatives.
• Lead innovation in digital learning products, adaptive education technologies, and content delivery platforms to support education and learning markets.

Operational Excellence

• Oversee product lifecycle management, from ideation to launch to ongoing optimization.
• Establish frameworks for product governance, performance measurement, and portfolio prioritization.
• Ensure compliance with industry standards (e.g., Crossref, ORCID, DOIs, COUNTER, COPE), global data privacy and ethical AI regulations.

Team & Stakeholder Leadership

• Build, lead, and mentor a high-performing global product organization, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and accountability.
• Partner with editorial, technology, sales, and marketing teams to deliver integrated solutions that align with both internal business needs, external customer needs, and future market requirements. Engage directly with researchers, institutions, funders, and societies to gather insights and strengthen partnerships.
• Actively support M&A technology related actives – and assess the build verses buy options.

Qualifications

• Proven track record (10+ years) in product leadership roles within scholarly, STM, education technology or adjacent digital publishing/knowledge services industries.
• Deep knowledge of the academic research lifecycle, publishing workflows, and scholarly communications ecosystem.
• Experience with open access business models, transformative agreements, and research funding dynamics.
• Strong background in digital product innovation, platforms, and technologies, including AI/ML, data analytics, and user experience.
• Experience designing or managing digital learning products, platforms, or ecosystems for education or academic institutions.
• Understanding of learning management systems and the evolving edtech landscape.
• Demonstrated success in managing product portfolios and delivering growth in a mission-driven environment.
• Exceptional leadership skills with experience managing global teams and working in matrixed organizations.
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills, able to communicate effectively with researchers, librarians, funders, and industry partners.

Key Competencies

• Strategic and visionary thinker with execution discipline.
• Customer- and community-centric approach.
• Data-driven decision making and commercial acumen.
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills.
• Change leadership and ability to drive digital transformation.
• Ability to align product strategy across diverse markets including scholarly publishing, education, and learning.
• Strong understanding of how technology can enhance both research dissemination and educational outcomes.

Physical Requirements

• Prolonged periods of sitting and working at a computer.
• Travel for company, client, and industry meetings.
• Willingness to work across multiple time zones (US, UK, India).

KGL a CJK Group, is an Equal Opportunity employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.