Director of Product Innovation

CliftonLarsonAllen•Austin, TX

About The Position

CLA is a top 10 national professional services firm where our purpose is to create opportunities every day, for our clients, our people, and our communities through industry-focused wealth advisory, digital, audit, tax, consulting, and outsourcing services. Even with more than 8,500 people, 130 U.S. locations, and a global reach, we promise to know you and help you. CLA is dedicated to building a culture that invites different beliefs and perspectives to the table, so we can truly know and help our clients, communities, and each other. CLA, one of the nation's largest public accounting and professional services firms is currently seeking a Director of Product Innovation to join the growing IT organization team. The Director, Product Innovation will Impact partners directly with the Managing Director of Product to accelerate the effectiveness, scalability, and measurable performance of CLA’s product and service portfolio across internal digital transformation initiatives and the external Digital Service Line. This is a hands-on individual contributor leadership role operating at enterprise scope. The Director identifies cross-portfolio opportunities to strengthen product differentiation, improve operating leverage, enhance SDLC effectiveness, and modernize platform capabilities. The Director personally participates in experimentation, validation, and modernization efforts to ensure innovation initiatives produce tangible and measurable impact. Innovation at CLA must be verified through real-world outcomes. The Director leads from the front thinking deeply, testing rigorously, and scaling responsibly.

Requirements

10 years of relevant experience is required.
6–10 years of experience across Product Management, Engineering, Architecture, Product Operations, Digital Transformation, or related technology leadership roles preferred
Demonstrated experience improving product or platform effectiveness at scale.
Experience influencing cross-functional stakeholders at senior levels without direct authority.
Exposure to modernization initiatives, automation strategies, or AI-enabled workflows.
Proven ability to combine structured thinking with hands-on execution.
Demonstrated comfort operating in environments that require both strategic thinking and tactical participation
Bachelor's degree is required.
Combination of relevant experience, education, and training may be accepted in lieu of degree.
Degrees Information Technology, Business Administration, or related field is preferred.
This is not a traditional management role. We are seeking a leader who actively participates in experimentation, validation, and analytical work rather than operating solely through delegation.

Responsibilities

Enterprise Portfolio Innovation & Modernization Evaluate cross-portfolio product and service initiatives to identify opportunities for improved differentiation, scalability, and economic impact.
Apply first-principles thinking to challenge legacy assumptions and redesign workflows where necessary.
Identify modernization opportunities that strengthen platform coherence and long-term scalability.
Support enhancement of both internal practitioner platforms and external Digital Service Line offerings.
Hands-On Experimentation & Impact Validation Personally lead high-impact experiments and modernization pilots.
Define measurable outcome criteria and decision thresholds prior to scaling innovation efforts.
Partner directly with Product Managers, Engineers, Architects, and Data teams to execute pilots.
Produce executive-ready analyses outlining tradeoffs, risks, economic implications, and measurable results.
Recommend scale, iterate, or sunset decisions based on validated outcomes.
Ensure experimentation efforts result in observable improvements across product performance, client value, or operational effectiveness.
SDLC & Operating Model Effectiveness Identify systemic improvement opportunities across the product development lifecycle.
Evaluate automation, intelligent tooling, and AI capabilities that enhance workforce productivity and quality across analysts, designers, developers, and QA professionals.
Monitor product and delivery metrics to detect portfolio-level improvement opportunities.
Reinforce alignment between Product, Engineering, Architecture, and Support to reduce operational friction and rework.
Technology & Platform Leverage Evaluate strategic platforms and modernization initiatives for alignment to measurable outcomes and platform-first principles.
Ensure technology investments strengthen product capability and firm economics.
Guide responsible integration of automation and AI across both internal and client-facing product offerings.
Prioritize client value and product outcomes over technology novelty.