Job Description
Here at Rakuten Kobo Inc. we offer a casual working start-up environment and a group of friendly and talented individuals. Our employees rank us highly in terms of commitment to work/life balance. We realize that for our people to be innovative, creative and passionate they need to feel valued and supported. We believe in rewarding all our employees with competitive salaries, performance based annual bonuses, stock options and training opportunities.
If you’re looking for a company that inspires passion, personal, and professional growth– join Kobo and come help us
make reading lives better.
The Role
Our Business Operations team is searching for an enthusiastic Product Manager, Self Publishing who can help shape the way customers interact with our products and services. As the Product Manager, you will be a key leader on the team and drive our plans to modernize the systems, processes, and tools powering Kobo’s self publishing business (Kobo Writing Life), our author community, and publishers. The ideal candidate has experience working on technical products, with proven ability to build product capabilities. You are diligent, exhibit exceptional attention to detail, and are a strong communicator.
You will be part of a diverse and collaborative environment, working with multiple stakeholders and various teams including R\&D, Product, and Content to take new features from idea to reality. Your day-to-day tasks include research, writing various product documentation, planning initiatives, defining product iterations, being responsible for managing a product backlog \& roadmap, reporting and analyzing product performance for continuous improvements. If you’re driven, analytical, creative, organized, adaptable, performance-focused, and able to deliver high-quality work within a fast-paced environment, we want to hear from you.
Key Responsibilities
Own the Self Publishing product management function, working closely with digital catalog teams and other product areas to optimize operations and enable business growth
You must be proficient with the four core functions of product management:
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Understand the user, our business, and the broader market. This means identifying user problems and determining how they impact business performance.
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Identify the right problems to solve based on user and business impact
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Deliver by working with the software development team to prioritize and plan
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Analyze the data to understand product performance and then plan for what’s next
Define a vision and roadmap for the self publishing platform and communicate it throughout the organization to gain alignment
Write high-level requirements and work with stakeholders to agree on the scope of an initiative related to your product
Collaborate with R\&D teams: lead workshops, refine requirements, write user stories, validate on completed work, plan releases, manage and prioritize backlogs
Communicate the status of current initiatives and keep teams informed of progress
Review research, user feedback channels, and product analytics, seeking problems to solve and opportunities to improve your product
The Skillset
4+ years experience working in a product management role; experience in digital content or eCommerce a plus
Outstanding verbal and written communication to various audiences within the organization
Demonstrated ability to convey insights from complex analysis to non-technical business users at varying levels of familiarity
Technical experience and curiosity, with the ability to demonstrate the importance and impact of technical work to non-technical audiences
A track record of identifying important user problems, executing on them with high impact to the users and organization
Strong analytic skills and quantitative skills to deeply understand the space, the product’s performance, identifying opportunities and gaps
Experience working in an Agile software development environment
Curious and actively staying ahead of competitive landscapes and industry trends
Outstanding organizational skills, self-motivated, creative problem solver with high attention to detail
Dedication to continual self-improvement and learning
A love of reading, obviously
The Perks
Flexible hours and remote working environment
4 extended summer long weekends
Full benefits starting from your first day
Paid Volunteer days, unlimited sick days, and 3% RRSP matching
Monthly commuting allowance for hybrid employees
Flexible health spending account
Training budget + Udemy account
Free Kobo device + free weekly e-book or audiobook
Weekly Kobo Tech University sessions
Maternity/paternity leave top up
90 Day Work from Anywhere program
Daily lunch credit when in-office and in-office snacks
Dog friendly office
About Rakuten Kobo Inc.
Owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten and headquartered in Toronto, Rakuten Kobo Inc. is one of the most advanced global ecommerce companies, with the world’s most innovative e-reading services offering more than 6 million eBooks and audiobooks to 30 million + customers in 190 countries. Kobo delivers the best digital reading experience through creative innovation, award-winning e-readers, and top-ranking mobile apps. Kobo is a part of the Rakuten group of companies.
Rakuten Kobo Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. Accessibility accommodations for candidates with disabilities participating in the selection process are available on request. Any information received related to accommodation needs of applicants will be addressed confidentially.
Rakuten Kobo would like to thank all applicants for their interest in this role however only qualified candidates will be shortlisted.
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