Company:
Cox Communications

Executive Director, Video Product Management

Job ID: 33483


Job Description:

• This position has full responsibility and accountability for the lifecycle support of Cox's portfolio of deployed video products.
• Working with cross-functional teams, this individual will define and drive product enhancements, operational process improvements, unit cost reductions, and establish migration paths, including business model revisions and end of life strategies, for deployed video products:


Product Strategy:

• Ensure that cross-functional teams are aligned with and support the video product strategy during the lifecycle stage, serving as the primary source of information on project activity and providing leadership and guidance to cross-functional teams in their support of the video product line during the high growth, majority, and decline phases.
• Provide input to the video product roadmap maintained by Product Development, partnering to ensure that roadmap addresses long-range consumer usage patterns and current product gaps identified by customer research and direct customer feedback, plus assist in obtaining funding.
• Long-range product plans: Develop a studied view of long term consumer usage patterns, for the purpose of ensuring Cox's continued success in meeting the consumer and financial needs.
• Partner with Marketing on product research and the determination of what product benefits should be stressed to the systems and consumers, based in part on usage and research.


Product and Product Line Performance:

• Define performance metrics to evaluate the success of deployed video products (including operational health across all video products) and partner with Finance to evaluate and report on return on investment.
• Identify desired product enhancements and partner with cross-functional teams to implement, handing off any new product development activities to Product Development.
• Competitive analysis: Develop, maintain and assess product level competitiveness and work with Product Development and cross-functional teams to address identified gaps .
• Identify cross-product enhancement and linkage opportunities with the data, voice and wireless product teams and ideas to the video product development and product portfolio teams.
• Manage a small team of direct reports who have primary day-to-day management responsibility for specific video product lifecycle initiatives, currently defined as Core Video, OnDemand/DVR/Broadband Video and Interactive TV, the latter two including advertising initiatives.


Product Line Financial:

• Analyze cost and operational metrics and partner with field locations, Operations, Supply Chain Management and Technology organizations to achieve unit cost reductions.
• Manage, review and allocate budget and actual spending for lifecycle phase activities.
• Partner with Marketing and Finance on financial oversight of the overall video business.


Product Lifecycle Management:

• Track fielded product operational metrics and learn, consolidate and share operational best practices.
• Be the advocate with cross-functional teams to drive resolution of operational issues with deployed video products, including end-of-life and obsolescence.
• Accept responsibility for new products once they have been successfully rolled out to the initial market by the Product Development team.
• Partner with Operations Support on subsequent new product deployments following initial product launch (providing launch prioritization as a guide) and to track fielded product operational metrics and learn, consolidate and share operational best practices.


Communications:

• Develop and implement comprehensive internal communication plans to all internal constituencies, notably the field organizations.
• This would encompass the current state of the products, the progress of enhancement (including business model revisions), cost reduction, and process improvement projects, plus selected topics related to timely industry and technology topics.
• Utilize multiple media to ensure key messages are being properly conveyed in a timely and consistent fashion.
• Establish, promote and maintain repository for key information.
• Partner with Public Affairs for execution, as appropriate.


Cross Functional Partnerships:

• Partner with Marketing to migrate product offer strategies as warranted by business model analysis of current product operating metrics.
• Develop and work with cross-functional teams to implement end of life strategies for deployed video products.


Accomplish the above by:

• Communicating to cross functional peers, executives, and field systems a clear product strategy designed to maintain Cox Communications video lifecycle management, enhancement, cost reduction, and support initiatives.
• Working closely with cross-functional team members including Product Development, Operations Support, Technology, Marketing, Operations, Cox Media, Cox Business, and others to achieve product lifecycle management objectives.
• Building teamwork among the cross-functional resources assigned to implement corporate projects.
• Recruiting, hiring, and developing a world-class team to support the needs of the business.
• Ensuring that the necessary resources are allocated to appropriate functional tasks.
• Providing leadership and strategic direction to team members and business sponsors, to facilitate their understanding of the lifecycle scope, requirements, and product direction.
• Clearly set expectations for deliverables, dates and responsibilities and provide the single point of product lifecycle communication.
• Managing key performance indicators: cost/budget/schedule performance, customer satisfaction, revenue projections, unit cost, and resource management (utilization).
• Delivering revenue and expense targets for the team and assigned products, including annual budget planning and quarterly budget and variance updates.


Qualifications:

• BS or BA degree required; MBA preferred.
• Minimum of 10 years cable industry or relevant work experience, including people leader experience and at least 5 years of product marketing and/or management. (Required).
• P &L experience and proficiency with financial analysis and reporting.
• Proven track record of vendor negotiations.
• Familiarity with product operations and best practices for maintaining fielded products.
• Thorough understanding of video telecom strategies, industry players, competitors, customers, vendors, and technologies. Knowledge of, wireless, data, and VOIP preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically and develop both short and long term product/services plans required to maintain products in market.
• Demonstrated ability to successfully manage large, diverse organizations: planning, budgeting, human resources, and project management.
• Understanding of back office processes (order entry, provisioning, trouble management, billing) and cable system field operations.
• Technical understanding of telecommunication (video, voice or data) systems / networks.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Proven ability to get things done in a consensus-driven culture and matrix structure.
• Willingness to travel.