Director of Product Management

Northwoods•Dublin, OH

About The Position

The Director of Product Management is responsible for leading the day-to-day operations, execution, and people leadership of Northwoods’ Product Management function, ensuring product initiatives are delivered with clarity, consistency, and measurable business impact. Working in close partnership with leadership, this role helps translate Northwoods’ product vision, strategic priorities, and market opportunities into scalable products, disciplined operating rhythms, and high-quality execution. This role frequently shifts between cross-functional leadership and hands-on coaching, from guiding roadmap execution and delivery excellence to developing Product Managers, strengthening product practices, and ensuring teams deliver with confidence. The Director of Product Management partners closely with Engineering, Design, Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, Delivery, and Executive Leadership to ensure Northwoods’ products remain differentiated, scalable, and aligned with long-term business objectives. As Northwoods expands AI-enabled capabilities, this role will help operationalize how AI is embedded across products and internal product practices in ways that are practical, trustworthy, explainable, and aligned with real-world customer needs. This role serves as the operational leader of the Product Management function, establishing clear ownership, coaching Product Managers, improving operating rhythms, and building a high-performing product organization that consistently translates strategy into execution.

Requirements

8+ years of experience in product management, product strategy, or related leadership roles within software or technology-enabled organizations.
3+ years of experience leading, coaching, or managing Product Managers, Product Owners, or cross-functional product teams.
Proven ownership of complex products or platforms with long-term roadmaps and cross-functional dependencies.
Demonstrated experience building product processes, improving operating rhythms, and scaling product organizations.
Experience partnering deeply with Engineering, QA, and Design to improve delivery quality and release confidence.
Must be authorized to work in the U.S.

Nice To Haves

Practical experience applying AI, automation, or workflow intelligence in enterprise products strongly preferred.
Experience operating within regulated or mission-critical environments strongly preferred.
Relevant degree preferred (computer science, business, design, marketing, or related field).
Strong ability to define and communicate product vision, strategy, and organizational priorities that inspire alignment and execution.
Exceptional leadership and coaching skills, with the ability to build trust, develop talent, and hold teams accountable for outcomes.
Excellent problem-solving skills, including clarifying ambiguity, evaluating trade-offs, and making sound decisions under uncertainty.
Strong business acumen with the ability to connect product investments to revenue, retention, operational efficiency, and ROI.
Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills — approachable, credible, and effective with engineers, customers, executives, and cross-functional teams.
Strong written communication skills with the ability to create clear, actionable, and testable product documentation.
Demonstrated ability to establish repeatable product practices that improve execution quality, release confidence, and delivery predictability.
Fluency in AI-enabled product practices and comfort applying AI tools in day-to-day product leadership.

Responsibilities

Reinforce the strategic direction, portfolio roadmap, and investment priorities across Northwoods’ product ecosystem, ensuring alignment with company goals, customer outcomes, and long-term growth.
Define and communicate a clear product vision across the organization, balancing near-term delivery with long-term platform evolution.
Translate customer, market, competitive, and business insights into prioritization, sequencing, and investment decisions.
Partner with Commercial and Executive Leadership on product positioning, packaging, pricing, partnerships, and market expansion opportunities.
Guide product strategy related to emerging technologies, including AI, automation, and workflow intelligence.
Help coach and develop Product Managers and Product Owners, creating clear ownership, accountability, and growth opportunities across the team.
Assist in establishing role clarity, performance expectations, and development plans for product team members.
Provide ongoing coaching through working sessions, roadmap reviews, requirement reviews, and strategic planning.
Help build a strong product culture grounded in ownership, curiosity, customer empathy, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Promote and actively foster an inclusive, collaborative, and mission-driven culture.
Establish and continuously improve Northwoods’ product operating model, including discovery practices, prioritization frameworks, roadmap planning, and execution standards.
Ensure product requirements, acceptance criteria, and product artifacts are clear, testable, and implementation-ready before development begins.
Partner closely with Engineering and QA to improve delivery predictability, release confidence, and first-pass quality.
Drive alignment between strategic priorities, sprint execution, and measurable business outcomes.
Reduce avoidable rework by improving upstream clarity, decision-making, and cross-functional alignment.
Serve as a customer-facing product leader with deep understanding of user workflows, pain points, regulatory environments, and market opportunities.
Lead discovery through customer interviews, field observations, feedback loops, and market research.
Ensure customer insights directly inform roadmap priorities, product design, and investment decisions.
Represent Product in executive customer conversations, strategic partnerships, and industry engagements as needed.
Guide the integration of AI-enabled capabilities across Northwoods’ product portfolio, balancing experimentation with production-grade execution.
Evaluate build-versus-buy opportunities, partnerships, and emerging technologies that improve customer outcomes or operational efficiency.
Champion AI-native product practices across the Product team, including prototyping, synthesis, requirement refinement, and validation support.
Define success metrics for AI initiatives, including adoption, trust, workflow efficiency, and measurable business value.
Drive alignment across Product, Engineering, Design, Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, Delivery, and Executive Leadership.
Communicate priorities, trade-offs, risks, and decisions clearly to stakeholders at all levels of the organization.
Ensure product decisions are grounded in customer value, technical feasibility, operational readiness, and business performance.
Serve as a strategic partner to the CTO and Commercial leadership on product investment, delivery quality, and long-term innovation.

Benefits

Medical (includes H.S.A. option with employer contribution), dental, and vision insurance
Short- and long-term disability
Company paid basic life insurance
401(k) with 4% company match
Free financial education and consultation
Wellness program that helps you earn lower premiums
Robust EAP program that includes free therapy sessions, lifestyle coaching, legal/ID theft services, and more
12 weeks fully paid parental leave
Up to $5,000 adoption fee reimbursement
$500 wellness reimbursement after 60 days of employment
Generous PTO policy and 10 company paid holidays
Company paid cell phone plan