Product Owner Website

IBFD

IBFD is the leading international provider of cross-border tax expertise. An independent, non-profit foundation, IBFD has a long-standing history in supporting and contributing to tax research and academic activities. IBFD utilizes a global network of tax experts to serve Fortune 500 companies, governments, universities, international consultancy firms, and tax advisors. IBFD’s core business is research, publishing (online and print) and education in international taxation. All IBFD products are accessible through IBFD’s Tax Research Platform, the powerful online engine behind efficient tax information and research. Founded in 1938 and headquartered in Amsterdam, IBFD also has a local presence in important markets such as North America, Asia and China.

The IBFD Global marketing team

The IBFD Global Marketing (& Communication) department is responsible for developing and executing the global marketing strategy. The department empowers the commercial strategy for IBFD and is responsible for internal communications, and market insights & research for the entire organisation. The global marketing team enables revenue growth, expanding market share and enhancing brand equity on a global scale and plays a key role in advancing IBFD’s purpose.

We support the entire organisation to grow sustainably with strong, data and value driven marketing. This entails omnichannel marketing campaigns tailored on ideal client profiles, where client insights form the basis for all client engagements. Our website is a crucial channel for us both from a commercial and purpose perspective.

Overview, purpose of the position

Within the Global Marketing team, the Digital team enables the digital part of the customer journey from start to finish – via all available digital channels. The website, including a web shop, is a crucial channel in servicing a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, with different needs and expectations. The website is a revenue driver, but equally important is IBFD’s Though Leadership position and the promotion of IBFD external authors. It provides the physical evidence in de marketing mix, being our ‘window to the world’ and takes a central position in the entire customer journey and experience.

Reporting to Product Manager Website (Global Head of Marketing), you will coordinate with internal stakeholders to identify business and stakeholder needs, creating the foundations to develop and deliver a value-based integrated roadmap of continuous improvement including customer experience, campaign delivery, and the roll out of the improved design of IBFD’s website, ibfd.org.

To be successful in this role you’ll need excellent verbal, presentation and written communication skills as well as, good interpersonal, and influencing skills. Almost all communication is in English.

As the Product Owner (PO), you work in a cross functional team consisting of developers, a scrum master, UX design, automated testing, as well as with your colleagues in the Global Marketing team.

At IBFD we work in an Agile manner, where delivery of items is done in a short cycled manner and by continuous learning. The Product Owner (PO) is in the Agile team primarily responsible for maximizing the value delivered by the team by ensuring that the team backlog is aligned with the overall product vision, customer needs and stakeholders. The PO represents the voice of the customer and stakeholders to the development team requiring actively gathering requirements, creating user stories, and defining the features in product backlog. The product owner prioritizes these items based on value, ROI, and other factors critical to the product's success. Likewise, you discuss and clarify user stories and acceptance criteria and advocate for the customers’ needs in front of the development team.

Responsibilities & Accountabilities

• Supports IBFD’s Digital Marketing strategy
• Is part of a culture that attracts, recruits, retains, trains, supports, develops and motivates talented marketing talent to deliver the digital marketing strategy.
• Manage and own the product backlog and prioritize tasks based on business goals and customer needs.
• Communicate with stakeholders to clearly convey the product vision and strategy.
• Stakeholder management is essential to understand and advocate for the interests of various parties.
• Partners with colleagues to manage complex issues and across the organisation and be able to work and direct in situations of ambiguity to define a clear path to success.
• Stays abreast of the latest trends in marketing techniques and technologies to enable IBFD to exploit the latest capabilities and techniques, driving innovation and operational excellence across the organisation.
• Manage and optimize the website to enhance user experience and achieve business objectives.
• Develop and implement digital marketing strategies, including search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM).
• Coordinate product placement and promotions on the website to increase visibility and sales.
• Collaborate with the Brand and Content & Campaigns teams to ensure consistent brand messaging and marketing campaigns.
• Analyze web traffic and user behavior to gain insights and implement improvements.
• Collaborates with Data team to develop reporting, dashboards, insights and periodic reviews, identifying areas for improvement. And act as a bridge between Tech & Data and marketing, as well as other departments within the organization, to ensure an integrated approach.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

1. Defining a North Star for the Global website and its subsites, towards which you will build and execute a roadmap.
2. Product Backlog Health: The number of open items, the lead time of tasks, and the priority of the backlog.
3. Sprint Velocity: The amount of work a team can complete in a sprint, measured in story points or hours. In close collaboration with the scrum master
4. Website Traffic: The number of visitors to the website
5. Conversion Rate: The percentage of visitors who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up.
6. Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors who leave the website after viewing only one page.
7. Search Engine Rankings: The position of the website in search engines for relevant keywords.
8. Number of leads (qualitative), qualified (shared with the entire global marketing team)

Shared KPIs with the Digital Marketing Experts:

1. Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of people who click on an advertisement or link.
2. Return on Investment (ROI): The return from marketing campaigns relative to their cost.
3. Engagement Metrics: Such as average time on site, number of pages per session, and social media interactions.

Key Skills

• Vision and Strategic Thinking: Developing and communicating a clear product vision and strategy that aligns with business objectives.
• Stakeholder Management: Effectively managing relationships with stakeholders to understand and fulfill their needs and expectations.
• Decision-Making: The ability to make quick and effective decisions, especially in high-stakes situations.
• Communication Skills: Effectively communicating with stakeholders, team members, and other involved parties, and the ability to convey complex ideas clearly.
• Time Management: Efficiently managing time and resources to meet deadlines and successfully complete projects.
• Analytical Skills: The ability to interpret data and use it to make informed decisions and develop strategies.
• Agile and Scrum Knowledge: Thorough knowledge of Agile and Scrum methodologies to work effectively within a Scrum team.
• Focus and Prioritization: The ability to stay focused on key tasks and prioritize based on business goals and customer needs.
• Persuasiveness: The ability to convince others of the value of ideas and decisions, especially during stakeholder discussions.
• Technical Knowledge: Basic understanding of web technologies and digital marketing tools to effectively communicate with IT and marketing teams.

Education, Training & required experience

• Proven track record & strong understanding of and experience with digital marketing channels and techniques, including the interdependencies between CRM, automations and websites.
• 6-10 years of experience in BTB environment.
• Proven track record of product ownership of websites
• Certified Product Owner (PSPO or CSPO; Professional Scrum Product Owner) or Certified Scrum Product Owner) or willing to obtain this within 6 months.
• Digital Marketing Courses: eg Google Digital Garage or Adobe Analytics, digital marketing, SEO, and SEM.
• Marketing University degree

IBFD Global Marketing values

Client Focus: I put internal and external clients at the centre of my thinking

Accountability: I take ownership and responsibility for my actions

Respect: I build trust-based relationships to deliver in my role

Communication: I build personal credibility and interact effectively with others to deliver our organizational objectives

Achievement: I deliver results and create value

Leading and Managing Others: I lead, engage, develop and empower my team to achieve our individual and team goals that support the business strategy