Lead Product Manager, Recommendations

About the role

Scribd, Inc. is seeking a Lead Product Manager to own the recommendations experience for 200 million monthly visitors. The ideal candidate will work at the intersection of machine learning and product to surface the right content to the right person, at the right time.

Responsibilities

• Chart the long-term recommendations strategy - own a multi-year roadmap spanning candidate generation, ranking, and results presentation across Scribd's surfaces, guiding every user from interest to the right document.
• Partner with ML Engineering & Applied Research - translate cutting-edge retrieval and ranking research into production systems that blend collaborative signals, content embeddings, and real-time behavioral data for best-in-class personalization.
• Define the metrics that matter - establish and monitor leading indicators of recommendations success: engagement rate, click-through, content completion, and downstream subscription conversion and retention.
• Balance short-term wins with long-term vision - ship incremental relevance improvements that hit revenue goals while building an extensible recommendations platform aligned with Scribd's 3-year AI strategy.
• Fuse data with the voice of the customer - synthesize experiment results, behavioral analytics, user interviews, and feedback to inform prioritization and feature design.
• Communicate with clarity and influence - align product, engineering, design, content, and executive stakeholders by clearly articulating requirements, timelines, deliverables, and expected impact.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of product management experience, including 4+ years leading recommendations or search products in a high-traffic consumer environment.
• Deep familiarity with retrieval and ranking algorithms, embeddings, and feature stores — paired with the ability to reason about end-to-end customer journeys for distinct user segments.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills — adept at crafting product briefs and presenting data-backed decisions to senior leadership.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related technical field (or equivalent practical experience).

Bonus Points

• Hands-on proficiency with AI tools for productivity and analytics — including LLM-powered workflows, SQL copilots, and data exploration tools — to move fast, prototype ideas, and pressure-test assumptions without always needing engineering support.
• Experience designing LLM- and GenAI-enhanced discovery experiences that go beyond raw recommendations to deliver personalized, task-specific value.
• Familiarity with modern ML ops tooling.

Pay and Benefits

The salary range listed is for the level at which this job has been scoped. In the event that you are considered for a different level, a higher or lower pay range would apply. This position is also eligible for a competitive equity ownership, and a comprehensive and generous benefits package.

Working at Scribd, Inc.

Are you currently based in a location where Scribd, Inc. can employ you? Employees must have their primary residence in or near one of the following cities. This includes surrounding metro areas or locations within a typical commuting distance:

• United States: Atlanta | Austin | Boston | Dallas | Denver | Chicago | Houston | Jacksonville | Los Angeles | Miami | New York City | Phoenix | Portland | Sacramento | Salt Lake City | San Diego | San Francisco | Seattle | Washington D.C.
• Canada: Ottawa | Toronto | Vancouver
• Mexico: Mexico City

Benefits

• Scribd Flex (flexible work model)
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage
• Mental health support and disability coverage
• Generous paid time off, including vacation, sick time, holidays, winter break, volunteer time, and sabbaticals
• Paid parental leave and family support benefits
• Retailer matching and employee equity
• Learning and development programs and professional growth opportunities
• Wellness and home office stipends
• Complimentary access to the Scribd, Inc. suite of products
• Enterprise access to leading AI tools

Get to Know Scribd, Inc.

About Scribd, Inc. Life at Scribd, Inc. We want our interview process to be accessible to everyone. You can inform us of any reasonable adjustments we can make to better accommodate your needs by emailing accommodations@scribd.com about the need for adjustments at any point in the interview process.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Scribd, Inc. is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We encourage people of all backgrounds to apply, and believe that a diversity of perspectives and experiences create a foundation for the best ideas.