Director Of Product & Solutions Marketing

About SANS
SANS Institute (SANS) launched in 1989 as a cooperative for information security thought leadership, it is SANS' ongoing mission to empower cyber security professionals with the practical skills and knowledge they need to make our world a safer place. We fuel this effort with high quality training, certifications, scholarship academies, degree programs, cyber ranges, and resources to meet the needs of every cyber professional. Our data, research, and the top minds in cybersecurity collectively ensure that individuals and organizations have the actionable education and support they need.
Join the SANS Team
At SANS, our culture is defined by Mission, Brand, People. Our goal is to hire people who understand the importance of continuing to fight against the "bad guys" (Mission) while delivering the highest quality training (Brand) to our students. We want employees whose personal values align well with our culture of fairness, honesty, customer focus, and pragmatic approach (People).
Summary of Position
SANS Institute is the cyber security pioneer, working with enterprises to reduce their cyber risk by developing and building a community of cyber experts who work tirelessly to make the world a safer place. We're looking for a self-motivated leader who craves a challenge and feels energized to roll up their sleeves and help realize our enormous potential. Chart your own path and take healthy risks as we solve big problems together.
We are looking for a product and Solutions Marketing leader with a history of success in B2B and B2C marketing to join our core marketing team in the fasting growing and constantly changing market of cyber security and risk management This leadership role will be highly visible, partnering with the executive team and leaders across the organization to position the company and its products, driving awareness, enabling sales, increasing demand, and creating market leadership. The successful candidate will be a highly effective communicator and collaborator with a demonstrated history of working successfully across all levels of an organization. This role reports to our CMO and will lead the team of Product marketers responsible for the messaging, packaging, and delivery of our products and solutions to market.
Position Responsibilities

• Build a diverse world-class product marketing team: Build and scale a world-class product marketing team with members who are experts in the customers, the products, and the communications to the market
• Lead with market, customer, and product intelligence: Drive ongoing analysis of the market, customers, products, and the competition, including win-loss reporting, message testing, and product usage and adoption analysis
• Know your audience: Define personas and buyer journeys utilizing data, research, and insights
• Execute world-class product/solution launches: Align with the Product Management and Engineering teams to drive strategy around product positioning for existing products and new launches. Define and execute pricing and packaging strategies for product launches. Bring new products to market, both internally through sales enablement and externally through press, analyst, and influencer outreach and thought leadership programs. Provide visibility into these launches to the Marketing Leadership, Senior Leadership, and Executive teams.
• Deliver differentiated positioning and messaging:Develop a compelling product narrative and value proposition for SANS's offerings
• Lead our content strategy and development:Lead the content strategy and development of modern content assets (demos, videos, overviews, how-to guides) enabling customers and prospects to easily understand the value proposition including business value, product capabilities, and differentiation
• Drive growth with demand generation: Partner with the global acquisition and geo marketing to design integrated customer and prospect journeys that generate awareness and demand. Be proactive in recognizing where pipeline gaps exist and partner with Sales and Marketing to deliver focused campaigns and sales plays
• Empower our Sales teams with best-in-class enablement: Partner with sales to develop sales plays, use cases and customer facing content that helps drive the pipeline, find new buyers, and cross-sell into existing accounts.
• Articulate customer value with Solutions Marketing:In partnership with product and customer success teams, develop solution-based offerings focused on solving customer pain. Define solutions based on industry use cases. Deliver solution marketing programs that include messaging, positioning, and content that drive awareness and demand for solutions
• Communicate new value to the customer with release marketing:Define and own the release communications plan to ensure customer adoption of new release capabilities
• Take ownership of outcomes and results: Understand and track performance metrics by solution, geo and business unit across the portfolio, and ensure team alignment towards these metrics.
• Tell the SANS story: Speak at events, webinars, customer events, and other industry events.
• Work closely with the CMO on executive-level marketing initiatives including, but not limited to strategic announcements, strategy and planning, pricing and positioning, etc.

Position Qualifications

• BA/BS or equivalent working experience
• A dynamic leader and manager who is both analytical and creative with a minimum of 7 years of experience with Product Marketing and Product Development and 3+ years of management.
• Cyber security experience preferred, but not required.
• Demonstrated experience bringing new categories and new offerings to market: driving company positioning, branding, launch messaging, etc.
• A history of success communicating technology-based B2B products to CISOs and CIOS in a rapidly changing market. B2B experience is a must.
• A fluency in product performance metrics and product marketing best practices
• Thrive on the combination of assessing pipeline and revenue trends, defining addressable markets, evaluating pricing models AND creating sticky value propositions, headlines and inspiring sales presentations.

• A confident front-of-room presenter and who can effectively synthesize information into what matters most to our audience.
• People-focused leader with proven ability to build creative and collaborative teams, develop people, and link performance to overall business objectives.
• Collaborative, high energy, charismatic, innovative, and creative problem solver with leadership DNA,
• A driven, self-starter who can deliver high-quality marketing and sales enablement materials through your team.
• Attention to detail and organization is paramount with a continuous desire to learn and improve.
• Proven track record of delivering to schedule and to results.

Equal Opportunity Employer
SANS is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, or to perform the essential functions of a position, please contact SANS Human Resources.
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The base salary range for this position is between $150,000 and $200,000 Base salary ranges may vary by geographic location and relevant experience, education, certifications, and years of experience. There is no guarantee an offer will be at the top of the posted range based on the salary analysis.
In addition, SANS provides the following benefits:
Medical
Dental
Vision
Short-Term Disability
401(k) with company match
Employee Assistance Program
Supplemental Life Insurance and AD&D
Paid Time Off
Company Paid Holidays
Volunteer Paid Time Off