Product Manager, AI

Company Description

VERSANT is a leading force in news, sports and entertainment - home to iconic and trusted brands that inspire, inform, and delight audiences. Our unique combination of content, technology and services enriches the cultural fabric, igniting passions, sparking conversations, and connecting people to what they love most.

As an independent, publicly traded company, VERSANT brings together powerhouse cable networks - including USA Network, CNBC, MS NOW (formerly MSNBC), Oxygen, E!, SYFY, and Golf Channel - with dynamic digital and direct-to-consumer brands such as Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow, GolfPass, and SportsEngine. Together, these businesses reflect our commitment to delivering exceptional experiences across every screen and service.

VERSANT is an industry-changing media company fueled by innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit. With a strong foundation and a forward-looking vision, VERSANT empowers creativity, embraces change, and drives connection in an ever-evolving world.

Job Description

The AI Product Manager will lead the vision, strategy, and execution of artificial intelligence initiatives that transform how audiences discover, consume, and engage across CNBC, MS NOW and E!. This role bridges technology, editorial, and business priorities—leveraging machine learning, natural language processing, and generative AI to power personalization, recommendations, tagging, summarization, and content creation tools.

The AI Product Manager will identify opportunities to enhance newsroom efficiency, deliver more relevant experiences to users, and drive measurable impact across audience growth and engagement. This leader will partner closely with data science, engineering, design, and editorial teams to translate complex AI capabilities into intuitive, ethical, and scalable product experiences. They will define success metrics, oversee experimentation, and ensure all AI applications align with journalistic standards, brand voice, and data governance frameworks.

The ideal candidate combines a passion for innovation with a deep understanding of digital publishing and a commitment to responsible AI that supports both newsroom creativity and audience trust.

• Collaborate with product and tech leadership to define and execute the AI product strategy, enhancing news discovery, personalization, and content creation experiences.
• Identify opportunities to leverage machine learning, NLP, and generative AI to improve editorial workflows and audience engagement.
• Partner with newsroom, design, and engineering teams to translate journalistic needs into scalable AI solutions.
• Own the roadmap for AI-driven features such as recommendations, summarization, tagging, transcription, and semantic search.
• Evaluate and integrate third-party AI tools while ensuring alignment with brand standards, data privacy, and ethics policies.
• Collaborate with data scientists to design and validate models that improve user retention and content relevance.
• Establish success metrics and analyze the performance of AI initiatives using A/B testing and analytics.
• Communicate complex AI concepts to non-technical stakeholders in clear, actionable terms.
• Ensure AI systems support editorial integrity, bias mitigation, and responsible use of automation.
• Partner with data governance and legal teams to maintain compliance with evolving AI regulations.
• Drive continuous learning within the organization by sharing insights, prototypes, and emerging trends.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of 3 years of product management experience, including at least 2 years leading AI, data, or machine learning initiatives.
• Deep understanding of generative AI, NLP, recommendation systems, and content personalization.
• Experience in digital publishing, newsroom workflows, or large-scale media platforms.
• Proven ability to translate technical AI concepts into user-centric features and measurable outcomes.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills across editorial, design, engineering, and data science teams.
• Commitment to ethical AI use, data privacy, transparency, and bias mitigation in media applications.

Desired Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Product Management, or a related field.
• Experience with AI content tools (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic, Vertex AI) and MLOps frameworks.
• Familiarity with CMS systems, metadata frameworks, and audience data pipelines.
• Track record of launching AI-powered products that improved engagement, efficiency, or monetization.
• Knowledge of emerging AI regulations, copyright implications, and media compliance standards.
• Passion for innovation at the intersection of journalism, technology, and audience experience.

What we’ll offer:

At CNBC Headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, you’ll have access to great perks and amenities: 

• Sweat it out -- Free onsite fitness center with state-of-the-art equipment, plus daily group classes 
• Eat up -- Gourmet cafeteria with daily specials plus soup and salad bars 
• Extras -- Dry cleaning, and sneak peeks   Don’t have a car? No problem! We offer free shuttle transportation to and from multiple locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Hoboken and Jersey City 

This position is eligible for company sponsored benefits, including medical, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k), paid leave, and a variety of other discounts and perks.

Salary range: $130,000-$160,000 (bonus eligible)

Additional Information

As part of our selection process, external candidates may be required to attend an in-person interview with a VERSANT Media employee at one of our locations prior to a hiring decision. VERSANT Media's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and require support throughout the application and/or recruitment process as a result of your disability, you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation. You can submit your request to candidateaccessibility@versantmedia.com.

VERSANT Media is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. We include a good faith pay range for each position to comply with applicable state and local pay transparency laws and to promote equity across our organization. Actual compensation will be based on factors such as the candidate's skills, qualifications, experience, and location and may include additional forms of compensation and benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, etc.

VERSANT Media is not accepting unsolicited assistance from search firms for this employment opportunity. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at VERSANT via-email, the Internet, or in any form and/or method without a valid written Statement of Work in place for this position from VERSANT's Talent Acquisition team will be deemed the sole property of VERSANT. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by VERSANT as a result of the referral or through other means.