Director, Product Marketing - Sage HCM (San Jose)
HCM and payroll is a crowded category, but the market problem is still very real: many businesses still struggle to connect HR, payroll, workforce data, and financial decision-making. Labor costs, payroll accuracy, compliance risk, headcount planning, and forecasting all depend on people-related data, yet those workflows are often fragmented across teams, systems, and processes. Sage HCM is Sage’s cloud Human Capital Management platform for HR, payroll, talent engagement, and workforce management. It can be sold as a standalone HCM platform and can also connect with financial management and ERP systems, including Sage Intacct. That gives Sage a strong positioning opportunity: not just automating HR and payroll tasks, but helping businesses connect workforce decisions to the financial and operational outcomes they need to manage. AI adds another important layer to that story. Sage HCM launched with the HCM Agent, focused on HR and payroll workflows such as payroll preparation, validation, reconciliation, and surfacing potential compliance risks. This reflects Sage’s broader “glass box” approach to AI: recommendations should be transparent, explainable, and auditable in workflows where trust, accuracy, and accountability matter. As Director, Product Marketing, you will define how Sage positions, launches, sells, and grows its North American HCM, payroll, workforce management, and AI-enabled portfolio. You will lead product marketing strategy, a high-performing team of Senior Product Marketers, influence roadmap and investment decisions, shape portfolio narratives, and align Product, Sales, Growth and Performance Marketing, Customer Success,, and executive stakeholders around a clear commercial direction. This is a senior leadership role for a product marketing leader who wants to own a meaningful category narrative, use customer and market evidence to shape strategy, and translate complex buyer, competitor, product, and commercial signals into decisions that help Sage win. Location Requirement Hybrid; 3 days per week from our San Jose Office (300 Park Avenue) Who is Sage & Why Join? Sage helps small-to-medium-sized businesses to succeed with AI-powered Accounting, Finance, Payroll & HR software. Knowing that millions of our global customers depend on our solutions, motivates us to keep innovating so they keep growing with confidence. Own a high-stakes AI positioning challenge in a category where trust and confidence matters. Payroll, compliance, workforce data, and labor costs are not areas where buyers want vague AI claims; they need transparency, accuracy, and confidence. Shape the market story for Sage HCM as both a standalone HCM platform and a connected workforce-and-finance solution, giving you a broader narrative than a traditional payroll or HR software role. Influence the decisions senior product marketers care about: portfolio strategy, roadmap inputs, segmentation, pricing and packaging, launch priorities, sales readiness, and customer growth. Lead and develop a product marketing team while setting the standards for how Sage tells sharper, more differentiated, and more commercially effective stories in HCM, payroll, and AI. Minimum Qualifications 10 years of product marketing experience in B2B SaaS, ideally within HCM, Payroll or Finance solutions People leadership experience with a track record of coaching, developing capability, and scaling product marketing impact. Background leading product marketing strategy across a portfolio, product domain, region, or multi-product business. Deep understanding of B2B SaaS go-to-market models, customer journeys, segmentation, pricing, packaging, adoption, retention, expansion, and commercial performance drivers. Advanced capability in positioning, messaging, value proposition development, portfolio narrative, and executive-level storytelling. Strong use of customer insight, market research, competitive intelligence, analyst perspectives, product signals, and commercial data to guide strategy and decision-making. Track record influencing roadmap, investment decisions, go-to-market sequencing, segmentation, launch priorities, and commercial planning. Strong commercial judgment and cross-functional leadership, with measurable impact on launch effectiveness, sales readiness, customer adoption, retention, expansion, or revenue growth. Product Marketing Strategy & Portfolio Leadership Own product marketing strategy for Sage’s North American HCM, payroll, workforce management, and AI-enabled portfolio. Shape portfolio positioning, value propositions, and commercial strategy to support growth, adoption, retention, expansion, and market differentiation. Influence roadmap, investment, segmentation, pricing, packaging, launch sequencing, and go-to-market priorities through market, customer, product, and commercial insight. Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing product marketing team, raising standards and scaling product marketing impact. Market, Customer & Competitive Insight Lead customer, market, competitor, analyst, and commercial insight to inform product strategy and go-to-market decisions. Translate evidence into recommendations that influence roadmap, launch priorities, segmentation, pricing, packaging, and growth opportunities. Challenge assumptions with data and customer insight to strengthen Sage’s position in the HCM, payroll, workforce management, and AI-enabled software market. Positioning, Messaging & Portfolio Narrative Define differentiated positioning, messaging, and value propositions across products, segments, buyer audiences, and customer lifecycle stages. Build clear, evidence-based narratives that communicate customer value, competitive differentiation, and commercial relevance. Strengthen Sage’s market story around connected HR, payroll, workforce management, financial management, and trusted AI-powered workflows. Go-to-Market Strategy & Commercial Performance Lead go-to-market strategy and launch planning across the HCM and payroll portfolio, ensuring commercial readiness and cross-functional alignment. Partner with Product, Sales, Growth and Performance Marketing, Customer Success, and Partner teams to connect product strategy to launch execution, sales readiness, customer adoption, and revenue growth. Use performance insights to improve launch effectiveness, sales readiness, adoption, retention, expansion, and in-life optimization. Sales Enablement & Customer Growth Define enablement strategies that equip Sales, Customer Success, and Partner teams to position and sell Sage solutions effectively. Support migration, adoption, retention, and customer growth initiatives through clear value-based messaging and programs. Ensure enablement and adoption activities connect to measurable business and customer outcomes. Cross-Functional Leadership & Product Marketing Excellence Partner with Product, Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, Partner, and senior leadership teams to align strategy, priorities, and execution. Create clarity across a complex global organization, resolving ambiguity and helping teams make trade-offs across competing priorities. Establish scalable product marketing standards, frameworks, and best practices that improve quality, consistency, and commercial impact. Lead the practical use of AI-enabled tools and workflows to improve product marketing effectiveness, efficiency, decision-making, and quality. The compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, level, job-related knowledge, education, and experience. For this role, in those locations, the target salary range for new hires is: $200,000 to $260,000 base. In addition to base salary, employees will participate in a bonus plan (30%) based on company and individual performance. Our talent acquisition team will provide the specific opportunity on our bonus or incentive programs to eligible candidates. The range listed is just one component of the Sage total compensation package. LI-CH1 J-18808-Ljbffr
