Course Adoption Marketing Manager

APA•Washington, DC

1d•Remote

About The Position

The Course Adoption Marketing Manager, reporting to the Director, Education Channel, Sales and Marketing, leads strategic marketing, positioning, and go-to-market planning for a portfolio of higher-education coursebooks and learning resources. This role is responsible for defining target audience, shaping product messaging and value propositions, and guiding the branding of the overall course-adoption program. This role ensures that both new editions and established backlist titles are effectively positioned across academic areas and course contexts. Working closely with editorial, sales, and cross-functional marketing teams, this role drives the strategic direction, visibility, and long-term performance of the portfolio in the higher-education market.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree is required.
Minimum of 5+ years of marketing and brand strategy experience in an organization with intellectual property products and services that are sold into the education market.
Strong understanding of the issues impacting the higher education market, including course materials adoption trends, distribution and fulfillment programs, course and discipline trends, student purchasing, buyer’s journey.
Experience with Account Based Marketing (ABM).
Ability to perform competitive analysis on similar products and coursebooks in the higher education market and translate into competitive advantage value propositions.
Experience in the techniques used to gain decision maker and user insights, developing customer personas.
Self-directed and self-starter who can work in a highly collaborative environment.
Multi-tasker who can manage many projects simultaneously and prioritize those projects.
Strong written and oral communication skills.
Creative problem solver that can analyze data and find actionable data driven solutions.
Enthusiasm for learning.
Proven ability to achieve results against set objectives in a fast moving, dynamic environment.
Advanced experience with the Microsoft Office Suite.
Advanced experience working with a CRM (such as Salesforce), project management software (such as Kapost, WRIKE, Asana, Basecamp, etc.) and a marketing automation system (Marketo, Marketing Cloud, Eloquoa, etc.).

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead branding and positioning for the course-adoption program and product portfolio, ensuring a consistent and compelling brand identity across channels.
Develop adaptable messaging frameworks and value propositions that support coursebooks or courseware used across multiple academic areas and course types.
Identify and analyze target audiences—including instructors, departments, and institutional stakeholders—and translate insights into effective marketing strategies.
Shape coursebooks positioning and messaging for both new editions and backlist titles, aligning with market needs and collaborating with authors and editorial teams.
Drive integrated go-to-market planning for new titles, new editions, and program-level initiatives, coordinating execution across sales, marketing, and digital teams.
Create sales enablement tools and course-focused materials that support adoption conversations and strengthen product understanding.
Manage backlist lifecycle strategy by assessing performance, refreshing positioning, and developing targeted plans to extend visibility and course use.
Monitor higher-education trends, curriculum developments, and competitive activity to inform product strategy and market positioning.
Provide strategic recommendations to editorial and leadership based on market intelligence and audience insights.
Define and track success metrics for product launches, branding initiatives, and portfolio-level marketing efforts.
Plan and execute webinar strategy for each campaign season.
Occasional conference travel or in-office meetings as needed (15%).
Other duties as assigned.