Director, Business and Product Strategy

Director, Business and Product Strategy at Compendium, an Imprint of Penguin Random House

Compendium, a Seattle-based publishing company, is celebrated for its inspirational books, journals, greeting cards, and gift products. Established 40 years ago as an independent publisher, Compendium is now an imprint of Ten Speed Press, which falls under Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House. Compendium has cultivated a strong reputation for delivering thoughtful and uplifting content that commemorates life’s significant moments.

Our mission at Compendium is to foster connections through meaningful moments with inspiring gifts. Our vast collection of joyful messages, found in greeting cards, children’s books, guided journals, and customizable keepsakes, has positively impacted lives globally. This impact underscores our belief that even a small dose of inspiration can create a profound difference. We invite you to join our mission to empower, delight, inspire, and care.

We are currently seeking a Director, Business and Product Strategy to advance the commercial vision and execution of our product portfolio through a highly collaborative, insight-driven methodology. Reporting to the Deputy Publisher, this pivotal role integrates business analysis, assortment planning, and product strategy, effectively linking data, market insights, and creative endeavors to achieve thoughtful, sustainable growth.

This leader will provide essential clarity and perspective, translating business insights into shared frameworks, strategic priorities, and actionable plans that empower the cross-functional team to excel. This role is fundamental to Compendium’s ongoing evolution and growth, ensuring that our products are both creatively compelling and firmly rooted in robust business fundamentals across all retail channels.

This position is ideal for a strategic, hands-on professional who thrives on diving deep, asking insightful questions, and collaborating with teams to pinpoint and capitalize on opportunities. Success in this role demands exceptional listening skills, sound judgment, and the capacity to synthesize diverse information into clear, decisive direction.

The Director, Business and Product Strategy will oversee the financial performance, analytics, and business context of the product line, working in close collaboration with the design and editorial teams to collaboratively shape product and assortment strategy.

Collaborative Leadership

• Act as a key connector among Sales, Editorial, Design, Marketing, and Operations, surfacing diverse perspectives, facilitating productive dialogue, and guiding teams toward collective progress.
• Provide clarity and prioritization by establishing clear shared goals, decision-making frameworks, and timelines.
• Communicate business context, strategic direction, and performance updates to senior leadership with utmost clarity and confidence.

Business Analysis & Strategy

• Own and manage financial performance, including list building to meet growth targets, setting product parameters to support topline revenue and profit objectives, and planning for future development.
• Analyze sales data, profitability, format performance, and market trends to identify new opportunities, potential risks, and areas for optimization.
• Develop and share clear business insights that inform product strategy, assortment decisions, and channel investment.
• Partner closely with the Sales team to support account strategy, performance analysis, and long-range planning initiatives.

Assortment Planning & Product Strategy

• Guide the development of comprehensive assortment plans in collaboration with cross-functional partners, carefully balancing team ideation, creative vision, consumer demand, and financial objectives.
• Help define product architecture, pricing approaches, and lifecycle considerations tailored to each channel.
• Ensure that assortments are channel-appropriate, highly competitive, and consistently aligned with Compendium’s brand identity, values, and ambitious growth goals.
• Translate complex business insights into clear briefs and frameworks that effectively support both editorial and design teams.

Product Leadership & Partnership

• Serve as a strategic partner to product teams throughout the entire product development lifecycle—from initial concept generation through launch and subsequent post-launch review.
• Facilitate stakeholder alignment around product direction, scope, and prioritization by synthesizing diverse input and collaborating on strategic plans.
• Ensure that all product concepts are supported by a clear business rationale and measurable success criteria.
• Act as a thoughtful steward of Compendium’s product portfolio, maintaining a keen focus on brand voice and values, product purpose and target audience, market differentiation, and long-term scalability.

Retail Channel Focus: Target

• Support product and business strategy specifically for the Target proprietary business, demonstrating a strong understanding of channel dynamics, consumer behaviors, and key success drivers within this segment.
• Monitor channel performance diligently and adapt strategy based on sell-through data, competitive research, and evolving market and channel insights.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of proven experience in business analysis, product strategy, assortment planning, or merchandising, preferably within publishing, gift, consumer products, or related creative industries.
• Demonstrated experience owning P&L performance and effectively translating complex data into clear, actionable insights.
• Strong understanding of multi-channel retail dynamics.
• Exceptional analytical skills complemented by sound judgment and the ability to think holistically across the business.
• Proven experience working collaboratively and effectively with diverse cross-functional teams.
• Strong communication skills, with a critical ability to listen, synthesize information, and articulate complex ideas clearly and concisely.
• Comfort operating successfully in ambiguous environments, building alignment, and enabling teams to drive progress forward.

Key skills/competency

• Business Analysis
• Product Strategy
• Assortment Planning
• Merchandising
• P&L Management
• Market Trend Analysis
• Cross-functional Collaboration
• Retail Channel Dynamics
• Financial Performance
• Stakeholder Alignment