Product Manager

About Us: 

ProShares now offers one of the largest lineups of ETFs, with more than $70 billion in assets. The company is the leader in strategies such as dividend growth, interest rate hedged bond and geared (leveraged and inverse) ETF investing. ProShares continues to innovate with products that provide strategic and tactical opportunities for investors to manage risk and enhance returns.

Position Summary: The Product Manager will be responsible for the successful guidance of the complete life cycle of many of the firm’s products. This function acts as the “hub” for informing and implementing product strategy (including positioning, branding, pricing and efficient distribution support), analyzing market conditions, identifying gaps and opportunities to enhance and position products to maximize the competitive advantages.

Essential Job Functions^[1]:

• Drive commercial success throughout the product lifecycle, including promotional planning, product launches, ongoing support, and potential rationalization.
• Product Positioning: Own strategic product messaging and positioning, including product features, client benefits, investment merit, and competitive differentiation for the target client.
• Business Planning: Build the business case for product initiatives and campaigns from senior stakeholders with clear and concise business rationale and data.
• Product Planning and Promotion: Drive the execution of cross-functional product support initiatives and campaigns in coordination with sales, marketing, and investment strategy, and ensure all contributors are accountable for their deliverables, and escalate, when necessary, to meet milestones.
• Product Quality and Enhancements: Create regular processes for monitoring product performance and execute on all product enhancements, such as index changes, share price splits, sales and marketing program adjustments, and other changes that impact product quality and communicate the status of initiatives to senior management and internal partners.
• Research and Analytics: Create an integrated view of product and competitive opportunities, based on analyses of fund flows and performance, client feedback, competitive intelligence, investment trends, and industry developments. Stay abreast of competitive product information specific to both competitors and sponsor programs. Identify significant product launch, development, or repositioning initiatives and present actionable business plan opportunities in response. Develop recommendations on product gaps, marketing themes, and competitive campaigns.
• Product Rationalization: Monitor fund data and recommend rationalization as needed. Continually evaluate the relevance of the existing product set, with a particular focus on positioning, pricing, and efficient support of distribution. Execute on process for rationalization in partnership with internal and external stakeholders with a focus on both profitability and firm reputation and brand.

Education and Experience:

• At least 5 years of total experience with relevant work experience in the investment management industry, with experience in project management within a distribution organization.
• Experience with ‘40 Act products, including exchange traded funds and mutual funds.
• Outstanding project management skills, including the ability to manage complex business processes through influence when all the resources necessary for a successful outcome are not directly under the individual’s control. A track record of execution success is a key attribute.
• Experience in product, including product development, product launches, product life cycle management and consolidations.
• Experience in strategy or corporate development, particularly related to distribution efforts.
• Experience in a project management role, in a retail distribution group.
• Track record of development and execution of distribution plans including sales and marketing initiatives.
• Proven track record of commercial success, including the ability bring a business mindset to complex issues around opportunity cost tradeoffs and an understanding of product profitability in competitive resource allocation environments, both external with competitors and internally within a multi-line business

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Possession of a blend of quantitative and interpersonal skills, with an evidenced ability to communicate
• effectively (both orally and written) to senior management and experienced investment professionals.
• Strong conceptual, cognitive, and analytical skills, probably exemplified through an outstanding academic background with an advanced degree in finance or business, such as an MBA, or a professional designation such as a CFA.
• Self-starter with a team-orientation, combined with a proven ability to manage projects across cross-functional teams under demanding deadlines.
• Results-orientation with attention to detail.
• Proficiency in multiple investment and database software packages (e.g. FactSet, eVestment Alliance, Zephyr, Callan PEP, Pertrac).
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly in Excel and PowerPoint, including the ability to develop professional presentations and analysis.

[1] These statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work involved for this job. It is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of this job. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.