Senior Product Manager, Paper Recommendations

Company Overview

Academia.edu is a venture-backed, for-profit business based in San Francisco whose mission is to accelerate the world’s research. Our platform enables researchers worldwide to effortlessly find and access academic papers, stay current with peers and relevant research areas, and enhance their ability to publish and distribute their work. With over 100 million academic papers, a vast user base of over 250 million and adoption by over half of the academic community, we're at the forefront of transforming the $25 billion academic publishing industry.

The Role

We are seeking a Senior Product Manager for our Paper Recommendations team. In this pivotal role, you will lead a newly formed team focused on optimizing our recommendation algorithms to ensure users receive the most relevant and high-quality research. As a subject matter expert in ranking systems, you will bring best practices and techniques to the team, guiding and mentoring both colleagues and the organization. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams, including data science, engineering, and UX, to enhance our recommendation system and improve the user experience.

• Build out the first product roadmap for this newly formed team
• Define and navigate the explore-exploit trade-off in recommendation systems and how to balance user exploration with personalized content exploitation
• Educate the product organization on ranking/recommendations best practices
• Lead and coordinate cross-functional teams across engineering and data
• Manage product lifecycle from ideation to launch and post-launch optimization
• Drive business impact (i.e. more engagement with research through better recommendations)

• Bachelor's degree in a related field; advanced degree preferred
• 5+ years of experience in product management, preferably in edtech or media-tech
• Strong understanding of recommendation systems, machine learning, and data science principles
• Proven track record of successfully launching and managing recommendation products
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
• Exceptional communication skills, both written and oral
• Customer-centric approach with a knack for data-driven validation
• Self-starter with a proactive approach to identifying and solving problems
• Demonstrated ability to make a significant business impact
• Previous startup experience is essential

• A stint in growth-stage tech companies during a ‘high-growth’ period, particularly with a subscription model
• Background in working with Large Language Models (LLMs)
• Passion for education and academic research

Diversity and Inclusion

Academia is a proud equal-opportunity employer and we are committed to hiring and supporting a diverse workforce. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.