VP Product & Engineering

About the Role

The Daily Beast is looking for an experienced and enthusiastic leader to guide our Product and Engineering teams as the company scales its product footprint and enters its next era under new leadership. This role blends technical expertise with product management chops to drive the strategy and development of our core products, including our website and mobile apps, subscription services, ad products, community engagement features, syndication lines, and more.

You’ll manage a group of product managers, engineers, and product designers who are hungry to make compelling experiences for our audience and grow the business. As the team leader, cultivating a culture of innovation and continuous improvement will be a top priority. 

A strong understanding of editorial workflows and the digital publishing business is important for success in this role. You will work closely with editorial and business stakeholders to ensure product features and tools align seamlessly with newsroom processes and business objectives. 

The Daily Beast recently migrated to the ArcXP CMS, so experience with React-based or similar platforms is highly valued, as you will help drive our platform's technical and product evolution.

This role will report to the President & COO, collaborate closely with all levels of the organization, and be based in New York. 

What You'll Do: 

• Leadership: Inspire and mentor the product management, product design, and engineering teams – promoting a culture of inclusion, collaboration, and professional development. Help establish and maintain career progression paths and opportunities for the current and future team.
• Product Vision: Develop a clear product vision and strategy for our site, mobile apps, and loyalty products, focusing on best-in-call digital experiences, community engagement tools, and effective monetization across our platforms.
• Technical Guidance: Provide technical leadership for and grow the technical expertise of the engineering team, ensuring quality, scalable and maintainable solutions. Ensure proper product technical scope is established prior to engaging in development. 
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Act as the key liaison between product, engineering, newsroom, and business teams, ensuring open communication and alignment across departments.
• Development Process Management: Oversee the full product development lifecycle, from ideation to implementation, ensuring products are built with sound technical solutions, delivered on time, and aligned with business goals.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Leverage data analytics and user feedback to drive continuous improvement in product features and user experience.
• Technology and Platform Evolution: Stay informed on industry trends and emerging technologies, identifying opportunities for innovation and advocating for necessary investments in our technical infrastructure.

Qualifications

• Media Expertise: Deep experience working in media or content businesses such as digital publishing, streaming platforms, etc. Experience with news a plus, but not a must.
• Leadership Experience: 3+ years of leadership roles with product and/or engineering teams, ideally within a digital publishing or content-driven organization, with a strong ability to foster collaboration and growth within your team.
• Technical Expertise: Strong technical background and experience with web development, either as an engineer (React preferred) or a technical product manager. Experience with third party content management systems like Arc XP (or similar) is preferred. 
• Product Management Skills: 5+ years of experience in product management, including ownership of product roadmaps and collaboration with cross-functional teams, particularly editorial and revenue stakeholders.
• Strong Communication Skills: Excellent written and verbal communication abilities, with a talent for translating complex technical concepts into business-friendly language that encourages understanding and critical thinking.
• Growth Mindset: A data-driven mindset, with a passion for continuous learning and improvement, as well as a desire to stay engaged with the codebase.

Why Join Us?

• Be part of a respected and influential news organization.
• Engage with a dedicated audience passionate about political news.
• Enjoy a collaborative and fast-paced work environment.
• Opportunities for career growth and development.

Benefits

• Generous paid parental leave 
• Free, premium, access to Care.com for your ongoing care needs: children, seniors, pets, home, and more
• Care@Work Backup Care for Children: Access to subsidized, in-home (or in-center) care for your children up to 10 days per year

Pay Range Salary

The pay range for this position is $225,000 to $250,000 annually. 

The base salary range represents the anticipated low and high end of the salary range for this position. Actual salaries may vary and may be above or below the range based on various factors including but not limited to work location, experience, performance and other factors. The range listed is just one component of The Daily Beast’s total compensation package. The Daily Beast provides a variety of benefits to employees, including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, 401K employer matching program, paid holidays, and paid time off (PTO).

Additional Information

Don’t meet every single requirement listed here? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet each and every qualification. We are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, so if you’re interested in joining the Beast but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with this job description, we encourage you to give it a shot all the same. It might turn out that you're just the right candidate for this or other roles. See more about our commitment to diversity at https://www.thedailybeast.com/company/diversity

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.