Overview

The Director of Product is a key member of the leadership team at Creative Commons. Reporting to the CEO, they lead the strategy, delivery, and adoption of CC’s major products including CC Search. CC’s vision is “nothing less than realizing the full potential of the Internet — universal access to research and education, full participation in culture — to drive a new era of development, growth, and productivity.” These products will support CC’s strategy to create a vibrant, usable global commons powered by collaboration and gratitude.

We take a data-driven and user-centered approach to our work.

You are someone who’s creative, entrepreneurial, and focused on achieving outcomes. You love a big idea, and know how to break it down, evaluate it, and build a plan to make it real. You can see the complexity of the ecosystem, but also worry about the details, especially those that create utility and delight. You know how to use experimentation, iteration, and data-driven research to create product impact and meet strategic goals.

The Director sets strategy, goals and targets for the design and development of CC’s products, including: product vision and roadmap, feature prioritization and implementation, service and revenue model(s), partnerships, growth and user engagement.

You will work in close collaboration with the Director of Engineering and her team throughout the process. You will seek opportunities to integrate CC’s tools with partners that could help us meet our strategic goals.

Primary responsibilities

  • Lead and define the product vision, strategy, and implementation of CC’s major products, including our flagship initiative, CC Search:
  • Identify, research, and target key user segments for existing and new products
  • Translate analytics, data and user feedback into actionable product plans
  • Become an industry expert in how content is created, shared, discovered, and re-used online, including a deep knowledge of the competitive product landscape and user needs
  • Work hand-in-hand with engineering, policy, legal and engagement to define and plan specific product initiatives, identify risks and opportunities, and bring strategy to reality
  • Develop products that complement or build upon existing CC products in support of CC’s strategy and goals
  • Conduct usability research to provide ongoing and up-to-date insights into sharing and collaboration with CC tools online and inform CC’s product development, and promote our continued relevance and impact
  • Lead the Tools & Product team along with the General Counsel and Director of Engineering, working closely with them to define team OKRs and coordinate and communicate project plans and dependencies.
  • Orchestrate partnerships that integrate CC’s tools into new and existing platforms and services that extend the reach and utility of the commons to users everywhere.
  • Work in the open, in public documents and repositories, open chat rooms, public wikis and a global community.

Diversity & Inclusion

We believe that diverse teams build better organizations and better services. Applications from qualified candidates from all backgrounds, including those from under-represented communities, are very welcome. Creative Commons works openly as part of a global community, guided by collaboratively developed codes of conduct and anti-harassment policies.

Work Environment and Location

Creative Commons is a fully-distributed organization — we have no central office. This position is available to applicants working in the range of the Eastern to Pacific time zones, in a remote working environment. You must have reasonable mobility for all necessary travel, including meetings with CC partners and organizations, selected conferences, twice-annual all-staff meetings and the Global Summit — this usually means about 6 – 8 trips per year. We provide a subsidy towards high-speed broadband access. Laptop/desktop computer and necessary resources are supplied.

Experience

  • Experience leading product management and partnership processes, including:
  • Experience in developing and/or contributing to strategy, leading and managing projects, and working with distributed teams
  • Experience negotiating, motivating, and collaborating with technical teams in executing on product development and shipping features into software
  • Experience negotiating and communicating with diverse stakeholders to create good outcomes for all parties
  • Excellent interpersonal, negotiation, and problem-solving skills
  • Superior project management, analysis, planning, and strategy skills
  • Familiarity with human-centered design, user profiling, and insights development to support product strategy and design
  • Sound understanding of the Internet, its technical structures, and business models
  • Excellent written and verbal communication and presentation skills
  • Understanding of basic technical and design concepts related to CC integration and the use of CC tools, including legal, technical, and user experience
  • Ability to work in a distributed team environment, build good working relationships, and produce quality work in a remote work structure
  • Fluent in English; second language competency a plus
  • Familiarity with open licenses and copyright law is a plus, but not required

Salary and Perks

Creative Commons is a leading non-profit employer, offering competitive salaries and benefits, including health and wellness plans, annual retirement contributions, and a positive, supportive work environment. We offer competitive salary in the range for this position from $95,000 – $120,000 USD, commensurate with relevant skills, experience, and location.

About Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools.

Our free, easy-to-use copyright licenses provide a simple, standardized way to give the public permission to share and use your creative work — on conditions of your choice. CC licenses let you easily change your copyright terms from the default of “all rights reserved” to “some rights reserved.”

Creative Commons licenses are not an alternative to copyright. They work alongside copyright and enable you to modify your copyright terms to best suit your needs.