Manager, Product Portfolio & Channel Partner

IVEY BUSINESS SCHOOL FOUNDATION•London, ON

2d•CA$74,800 - CA$93,551•Onsite

About The Position

The Manager, Product Portfolio and Channel Partnerships is accountable for the performance, quality, and strategic evolution of Ivey Publishing's product portfolio across Ivey-owned and partner collections. Reporting to the Director, Publishing & Product, this role combines direct operational ownership with strategic leadership serving as the pivotal point of accountability for product intake, lifecycle management, metadata and content readiness, distribution partner delivery, and the evaluation of new products and formats. This role leads one Product Assistant and operates with a high degree of cross-functional collaboration, working closely with Business Development, IT, Customer Service, and senior leadership to drive portfolio outcomes through rigorous standards, strong partner relationships, data-informed decision-making, and continuous process improvement. The Manager owns the translation program as direct accountability, managing budget, vendor relationships, and a market-informed prioritization strategy to grow Ivey Publishing's reach in priority languages and regions. As Ivey Publishing expands into increasingly complex product types including simulations, digital tools, and multimedia formats. This role serves as the first point of assessment for new product intake, leading to a structured review and approval process that integrates pedagogical, technical, and commercial inputs before any new product or collection is onboarded. This is a forward-looking role designed to bring active, structured management to partner and channel relationships and to establish product evaluation and governance practices that will support Ivey Publishing's continued growth.

Requirements

University degree or equivalent experience.
4 - 5+ years in product/portfolio operations, publishing operations, partner/distribution management, or digital content roles.
Demonstrated experience improving workflows and translating business needs into system/data requirements.
Experience with CRM and analytics/reporting tools (Salesforce, Power BI/Tableau, Excel, Crystal) is an asset.
Strong partner management sets cadence, documents decisions, resolves issues, and drives accountability.
Product judgment and curiosity evaluate new formats/technologies for learning value, feasibility, and market fit.
Analytical: turns usage/sales signals into priorities and recommendations.
Ability to manage a high volume of demands, with autonomy and superior decision-making skills.
Excellent written and verbal communication; comfortable coordinating across functions without formal authority.
Ability to motivate and mentor team members to improve performance and achieve team KPIs.
Possess excellent planning, time management, and organizational skills.
Advanced Microsoft Office skills, particularly Excel; strong comfort with databases and reporting tools.

Responsibilities

Establish and maintain strong, structured working relationships with key operational distributor and supplier contracts, setting meeting cadence, managing agendas, and tracking action items through to resolution.
Partner with Business Development on co-brand and strategic partner relationships, including onboarding readiness, ongoing operational performance reviews, and enablement support to ensure partners can effectively publish and adopt Ivey Publishing products.
Perform gap analysis to inform recommendations by systematically assessing current partner and channel operations against contractual requirements, internal standards, and best practices.
Maintain an operational view of partner compliance with contract terms, proactively surface risks, gaps, and improvement opportunities to the Director and Business Development with supporting analysis and recommended actions.
Serve as the internal voice of partner and channel needs, translating operational realities into process, standards, and roadmap recommendations that improve Ivey Publishing's ability to serve and grow its partner network.
Support Business Development with commercial insights drawn from partner usage data, delivery performance, and product availability trends to inform business development strategy and partner negotiations.
Manage full product lifecycle actions - launches, corrections, revisions, withdrawals, and sunsetting - with clear partner and customer communication and minimal disruption to availability or sales.
Ensure timely, accurate, and contract-compliant delivery of materials and updates to all distribution partners, including files, metadata, access provisioning, and update cadence.
Own all operational partner delivery processes including monthly updates, ad hoc requests (single-case updates, metadata corrections, full content pulls), access coordination, issue resolution, and process documentation, maintaining a high standard of accuracy and responsiveness.
Actively review partner storefront environments to validate and optimize execution, ensuring product availability, metadata quality, accessibility standards, and overall presentation align with contractual and brand expectations. Leverage these reviews as an opportunity to strengthen partner relationships, provide constructive feedback, and collaboratively address discrepancies, driving continuous improvement and a high-quality end-user experience.
Develop and lead a structured product review and approval process that gathers and synthesizes pedagogical, technical, and commercial inputs from relevant stakeholders including faculty, Business Development, Business Systems, and external partners as appropriate.
Function as project lead for new product evaluations: define scope, coordinate cross-functional inputs, manage timelines, and produce a formal recommendation for Director approval.
Evaluate new formats and technologies including simulations, digital tools, multimedia, and interactive content for learning quality, technical compatibility, distribution feasibility, and market fit, with focus on the investment and operational implications of complex digital products.
Own end-to-end intake for all approved new and revised products from internal and external sources, ensuring required documentation, metadata completeness, file readiness, quality assurance, and release coordination are completed accurately and on time.
Define and enforce metadata and versioning standards including taxonomy, required fields, duplicate management, revisions, and storefront display requirements, maintaining a high and consistent standard of data quality across the portfolio.
Identify and surface cost implications of new product intake to support Director level decision making.
Maintain a comprehensive portfolio view across Ivey-owned and partner collections, tracking performance, gaps, risks, and opportunities with sufficient rigor to support timely, well-reasoned decisions.
Develop and maintain product and collection roadmaps - including priorities, timelines, dependencies, and expected impact for regular review and approval with the Director.
Establish and lead a consistent operating cadence with documented decisions and clear follow-up accountability.
Prepare decision briefs for the Director on trade-offs, partner issues, investment considerations, and strategic recommendations, ensuring options and risks are clearly articulated.
Represent portfolio and partner needs internally to inform process improvements, system enhancements, and roadmap priorities across functions.
Lead, coach, and develop the Product Assistant: set clear priorities, provide regular feedback, build capability in quality standards and partner responsiveness, and develop SOPs and checklists that enable consistent, scalable throughput.
Hold direct accountability for the translation program, including budget management, vendor relationships, delivery planning, and quality oversight, ensuring the program operates efficiently and meets contractual and commercial obligations.
Develop and maintain a market-informed prioritization strategy in close consultation with Business Development: assess sales demand signals, strategic regions, partner pull, and existing translated inventory to build a forward-looking translation plan that targets growth opportunities not just volume.
Manage the translation pipeline to achieve a minimum of two hundred translations per year, with an active eye toward expanding reach in priority languages and markets and identifying emerging opportunities to gain experience translation as a revenue-enabling capability.
Manage freelance and vendor workflows including timelines, quality standards, rework processes, and vendor performance expectations, maintaining a high standard of output quality and throughput consistency.
Track and report on program performance - including throughput, budget adherence, and adoption or usage indicators and bring proactive recommendations to the DirectorK on program evolution and investment opportunities.

Benefits

A collaborative and engaging work culture
Opportunity to join a community of people-focused professionals
Market competitive compensation with annual increases available
Generous benefits package with employer-paid premiums, including a comprehensive Health and Dental Plan, Health Care Spending Account, short- and long-term disability programs, no waiting period required.
Enhanced mental health benefits coverage and resources.
Life and AD&D insurance for you and your family.
Out-of-country travel insurance.
Employee and Family Assistance Program.
Pregnancy and Parental top-up leave program.
A generous group retirement savings plan with 7.5% employer contributions.
Vacation starting at 15 days per year plus 2 paid Ivey Personal Days.
Paid time off during the School’s December holiday closure.
Numerous campus-wide arts, culture, and sport events.
Supports for professional development and career progression opportunities.