Fast Facts

Macmillan Learning is seeking an Executive Program Director for STEM to lead strategic initiatives and drive digital growth within their education portfolio. This role requires a visionary leader with a strong background in educational publishing and a passion for innovation in higher education.

Responsibilities: Key responsibilities include setting the strategic vision for the STEM portfolio, advancing cross-functional initiatives, overseeing financial planning, and mentoring teams to ensure organizational success.

Skills: Candidates must possess strong leadership, strategic planning, and financial acumen, with experience in educational publishing or related industries. A deep understanding of educational technology and digital learning trends is essential.

Qualifications: A Bachelor's Degree is required with a minimum of 5 years in educational publishing, along with editorial experience in quantitative disciplines. Preferred qualifications include established thought leadership in STEM education and experience with emerging educational technologies.

Location: Austin, Texas, United States

Compensation: $160000 - $180000 / Annually

At Macmillan Learning, we're committed to driving innovation that transforms education. We seek team members who thrive on pushing boundaries, envisioning future possibilities, and building solutions that make a lasting impact. Whether you're a Pioneer shaping bold new ideas, a Builder turning possibilities into reality, or a Stabilizer optimizing for success, you'll play a vital role in advancing our mission. If you're excited by the prospect of testing new technologies, implementing transformative strategies, and thriving in a fast-paced, innovative environment, we’d love to hear from you!

The Executive Program Director, STEM, provides leadership and strategic direction for Macmillan Learning’s STEM portfolio, driving sustainable digital growth, innovation, and pedagogical excellence. This role synthesizes discipline strategies into a unified, forward-looking vision that advances partnerships, deepens market relevance, and strengthens Macmillan’s leadership position in higher education. As both strategist and catalyst, the Executive Program Director shapes multi-year portfolio strategy, steers cross-functional initiatives that accelerate growth, and cultivates a dynamic ecosystem of internal and external thought leaders. By influencing decisions across Product, Marketing, Sales, Implementation, and Finance, the Director ensures that the STEM portfolio not only achieves business success but also delivers measurable learning impact across the global higher education landscape. This role manages other employees.

We know that talented candidates sometimes hesitate to apply when they don't meet every single qualification listed. We encourage you to apply if you're excited about this role and believe you can contribute meaningfully to our team, even if your background doesn't align perfectly with every requirement. We're looking for people who are passionate about our mission and can bring valuable perspectives to our work. Different experiences, skills, and approaches all have the potential to strengthen what we do. If this opportunity interests you, we'd love to hear how your unique background and abilities could contribute to our team's success. We're committed to building a workplace where everyone can do their best work and where diverse viewpoints are valued. We encourage all qualified candidates to apply - we're excited to learn about the different ways you might add value to our organization.  

Major responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Portfolio & Market Strategy Synthesis

• Set and execute the strategic vision for the STEM portfolio, ensuring market share growth in alignment with corporate priorities and emerging opportunities in digital learning.
• Converge discipline-level strategies with a cohesive, data-informed holistic STEM portfolio vision that anticipates market shifts and institutional needs.
• Identify and prioritize investment opportunities, partnerships, and innovations that strengthen Macmillan’s competitive advantage and long-term revenue growth.
• Lead comprehensive market and opportunity analyses to inform portfolio positioning and product differentiation.
• Serve as the executive voice for STEM within corporate strategy, influencing decisions that drive cross-portfolio success.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Partner with senior leaders across Product, Marketing, Sales, and Finance to align organizational resources and priorities around strategic portfolio outcomes.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives that advance digital transformation and new business models.
• Represent the STEM portfolio in executive planning, budget prioritization, and performance reviews, ensuring accountability to strategic goals.
• Translate corporate strategy into clear, actionable frameworks that guide teams across the organization.
• Champion a culture of innovation, collaboration, and inclusive leadership across the organization.

Talent Ecosystem Development

• Oversee the health and balance of the thought leader pipeline across disciplines, ensuring diversity and sustainability.
• Enlist high-impact collaborators who make visible contributions to portfolio development and organizational research (conferences, advisory boards, publications).
• Monitor trends in grant awards and partner with research/pedagogy leaders on shared interests and projects.
• Position Macmillan’s reputation as the destination of choice for innovators across higher education.

Financial & Business Case Leadership

• Own multi-year financial planning for the STEM portfolio, ensuring disciplined investment and resource allocation that balance near-term profitability with long-term innovation.
• Oversee the development of business cases and financial models for new initiatives, ensuring strategic alignment and cross-functional buy-in.
• Evaluate portfolio performance against key retention metrics, providing executive-level insights and recommendations for continuous improvement.
• Drive accountability for revenue, margin, and growth targets within the broader organizational financial strategy.

Leadership & Mentorship

• Serve as a visible ambassador for Macmillan Learning in the STEM and higher education communities, shaping the dialogue around digital pedagogy, access, and innovation.
• Provide strategic guidance, mentorship, and professional development for the STEM Program team.
• Develop succession and capability plans that build leadership depth across the team and ensure organizational scalability.
• Ensure consistency in strategic approaches, metrics, and frameworks across the Program Strategy team.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in educational publishing/learning company or related industry.
• Minimum of 3 years editorial experience in quantitative disciplines.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in the publishing industry.
• Established presence or thought leadership in the STEM education or edtech ecosystem, with contributions to conferences, academic partnerships, or digital pedagogy initiatives.
• Proven ability to lead bold, forward-thinking initiatives that redefine portfolio strategy, product differentiation, or go-to-market approaches in response to emerging market opportunities.
• Deep curiosity for and practical knowledge of emerging technologies in higher education, such as generative AI, adaptive learning, learning analytics, or digital credentialing.

Salary Range: $160,000 - $180,000

Exemption Status: Exempt

Physical Requirements:

Must be able to multi-task, concentrate in an open office work environment, and to travel occasionally. Must be able to work more than 40 hours per week as needed. 

The position is eligible for remote employment, excluding the following locations: Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming.  

Benefits

Regular full-time and qualifying part-time employees and their dependents are eligible for Macmillan benefits, effective on the employee’s date of hire. Macmillan also offers health benefits coverage to qualifying same-sex and opposite-sex domestic partners (may require additional documentation) of active employees.

• Competitive pay and bonus plan
• Generous Health Benefits (Medical, Dental, Vision)
• Contributions to your 401k retirement account through Fidelity 
• Generous paid time off, sick time, floating holidays, and paid holidays (Spring Reset Day , Juneteenth, Indigenous People's Day, Election Day, and more!)
• Employee Assistance Program, Education Assistance Program
• 100% employer-paid life and AD&D insurance
• And much more!

Macmillan Learning is a privately-held, family owned company that improves lives through learning. By linking research to learning practice, we develop pioneering products and learning materials for students that are highly effective and drive improved outcomes. Our engaging content is developed in partnership with the world's best researchers, educators, administrators, and developers. To learn more, please visit macmillanlearning.com or see us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or join our Macmillan Community. Macmillan Learning is a division of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, a family-owned global media company headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.  

At Macmillan Learning, we believe diverse perspectives and backgrounds enrich our mission to improve lives through learning. We actively seek candidates who reflect a wide range of identities, experiences, and communities. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, disability status, physical ability, neurodiversity, genetic information, protected veteran status, family and economic status and background, geographical status and background, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. You can read more about our Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion initiatives here.

The successful candidate for this position will be an employee of Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishing Group, LLC d/b/a Macmillan Learning. Bedford Freeman & Worth Publishing Group, LLC has developed an affirmative action program in compliance with the NY Department of Education’s guidance. Portions of the affirmative action program are available for review by applicants and employees by contacting Human Resources at Macmillan Learning.