We believe in the power and joy of learning

At Cengage, our employees have a direct impact in helping students around the world discover the power and joy of learning. We are bonded by our shared purpose – driving innovation that helps millions of learners improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.

Focusing on college and career readiness, Cengage School equips students with the skills and confidence to succeed beyond the classroom. Through exclusive access to National Geographic Learning, Big Ideas Learning, Gale, Thorndike Press and Cengage curriculum and technology, it engages learners in core subjects and career pathways—empowering educators and inspiring student success.

Our culture values inclusion, engagement, and discovery

Our business is driven by our strong culture, and we know that creating an inclusive workplace is absolutely essential to the success of our company and our learners, as well as our individual well-being. We recognize the value of diverse perspectives in everything we do, and strive to ensure employees of all levels and backgrounds feel empowered to voice their ideas and bring their authentic selves to work. We achieve these priorities through programs, benefits, and initiatives that are integrated into the fabric of how we work every day. To learn more, please see https://www.cengagegroup.com/about/inclusion-and-belonging/.

The Vice President, Marketing is aligned to the Cengage Learning’s K‑12 business, including the National Geographic Learning brand. This senior leader is jointly responsible for defining and implementing an integrated go‑to‑market strategy grounded in Product Marketing, Demand Generation, and Engagement Marketing. The role synthesizes market, customer, and performance insights to shape strategy and partners cross‑functionally to deliver a cohesive, differentiated story across products, audiences, and channels.

A strategic problem solver with a strong execution orientation, this role leads teams that drive brand affinity, generate and convert demand, deepen customer engagement, and optimize the buyer and educator journey—while rigorously measuring impact and return on investment.

What you'll do here:

Product Marketing (Positioning, Messaging & GTM)

• Lead product marketing strategy across the K‑12 portfolio, including messaging, positioning, and go‑to‑market execution.
• Use a research approach to uncover customer needs, product value, and competitive differentiation; translate insights into clear, compelling narratives.
• Partner with Product, Strategy, and Technology leaders to inform roadmap, packaging, pricing, and launch priorities.
• Provide executive insights to influence the development of new products, solutions, and services.
• Ensure consistent, differentiated storytelling across sales, marketing, brand, and customer touchpoints.

Demand Marketing (Pipeline Growth & Conversion)

• Own marketing’s contribution to pipeline and revenue, using standard demand generation methodologies.
• Partner closely with Sales, GTM Operations, and Analytics to set, track, and achieve short‑ and long‑term pipeline goals.
• Lead high‑impact account‑based marketing (ABM) strategies focused on priority K‑12 districts, states, and adoption cycles.
• Optimize win rates and reduce objections through targeted campaigns, journey optimization, and sales enablement.
• Build attribution discipline and performance dashboards to ensure accountability and impact across programs.

Engagement Marketing (Brand, Lifecycle & Thought Leadership)

• Enhance brand affinity and engagement through coordinated campaigns, content, thought leadership, and storytelling.
• Partner with internal teams to advance brand reach, relevance, and consistency.
• Engage media, industry influencers, and strategic partners to reinforce NGL and Cengage K‑12 narratives.
• Lead development of personalized, account‑based and life-cycle campaigns tailored to educator, administrator, and buyer needs.
• Ensure in‑person and virtual events, conferences, and briefings are strategically planned and effectively delivered.

Sales Enablement & Partner Marketing

• Oversee the creation of sales tools, content, and enablement assets (presentations, proposals, case studies, training).
• Ensure marketing support for strategic partnerships, channel initiatives, and cross‑functional priorities.
• Strengthen alignment between Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success to improve pipeline conversion and retention.

Leadership, Operations & Measurement

• Build, lead, and inspire a high‑performing marketing leadership team across demand, engagement, and product marketing.
• Lead budgets and resources with rigor; continuously optimize investment based on performance.
• Measure success using both traditional and non‑traditional metrics, including pipeline, conversion, win rates, adoption, retention, and brand health.
• Act as a trusted advisor to executive leadership on market trends, customer needs, and competitive dynamics.

Skills you will need here:

• Bachelor’s degree required or equivalent; master’s degree preferred or equivalent experience
• Minimum of 12 years of marketing experience, including minimum of 10 years in K‑12 or education‑focused product and/or go‑to‑market marketing.
• Minimum of 5 years of people leadership experience.
• Deep understanding of K‑12 state and district adoption markets and buying processes.
• Shown success launching, scaling, and growing innovative products and solutions.
• Strong analytical approach with the ability to measure, interpret, and communicate the impact.
• Demonstrated strategic agility—able to think big while delivering with precision.
• Proficiency with Salesforce.com and Marketing Cloud preferred
• Willingness to travel to customer and sales and marketing events as required

Cengage is committed to working with broad talent pools to attract and hire strong and most qualified individuals. Our job applicants are considered regardless any classification protected by applicable federal, state, provincial or local laws.

Cengage is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities including during our job application process. If you are an applicant with a disability and require reasonable accommodation in our job application process, please contact us at accommodations.ta@cengage.com.

About Cengage

Cengage, a global education technology company serving millions of learners, provides affordable, quality digital products and services that equip students with the skills and competencies needed to be job ready. For more than 100 years, we have enabled the power and joy of learning with trusted, engaging content, and now, integrated digital platforms. We serve the higher education, workforce skills, secondary education, English language teaching and research markets worldwide. Through our scalable technology, including MindTap and Cengage Unlimited, we support all learners who seek to improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.

Compensation

At Cengage Group, we take great pride in our commitment to providing a comprehensive and rewarding Total Rewards package designed to support and empower our employees. Click here to learn more about our Total Rewards Philosophy.

The full base pay range has been provided for this position. Individual base pay will vary based on work schedule, qualifications, experience, internal equity, and geographic location.  Sales roles often incorporate a significant incentive compensation program beyond this base pay range.

In this position,  you will be eligible to participate in the company’s discretionary incentive bonus program.  This position's bonus target amount, which is not guaranteed and is dependent on individual performance and overall company results among other factors, is provided below.  

35% Annual: Individual Target

 

$192,500.00 - $250,250.00 USD