Director of Product, Fleet Lifecycle Optimization

Ford • Palo Alto, CA

25d • Hybrid

About The Position

Ford is hiring a Director of Product Management to own the fleet lifecycle optimization journey for Ford Pro’s commercial customers. The role will develop a product vision and roadmap connecting total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis, benchmarking, scenario planning, vehicle remarketing, vehicle selection and ordering, and financing. The goal is to help fleet managers maximize operating-cost and capital efficiency through seamless digital experiences that work alongside staffed sales motions involving Ford and its dealers.

The position builds on Ford’s commercial vehicle business and growing software and services portfolio. The director will partner with engineering, design, business teams, Pro Credit, and dealers to deliver the roadmap; evaluate external dependencies and build, buy, or partner options; define input metrics to diagnose and improve customer journeys; and develop deep expertise in commercial fleet economics, financing, vehicle purchasing, customer needs, market practices, competition, and applicable legal and regulatory frameworks. The role also includes building and managing a high-performing product team.

This is a leadership level 4 role. It is hybrid, with a requirement to work onsite four or more days per week. Visa sponsorship is not available. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Salary grade and base salary will depend on candidate skills and experience, job scope, responsibility, and market value.

Requirements

• 10 or more years of product management experience with a demonstrated track record of impact.
• 5 or more years of people management experience, including managing managers, ideally product management managers, and a record of building strong teams and developing people.
• Experience taking a product or concept from 0 to 1.
• Ability to own an investment case involving headcount and millions of dollars, and defend an investment-return target.
• Strong analytical and financial fluency, including comfort with depreciation, residual values, cost of capital, and total cost models.
• Ability to turn complex analysis into simple, actionable experiences.
• Demonstrated AI fluency, including day-to-day use of AI tools and specific examples of how they have changed how the team builds software and the impact of those changes.
• Comfort working beyond traditional product management boundaries, for example by prototyping, conducting analysis, or making simple code changes.
• Demonstrated effectiveness delivering results by aligning roadmaps, KPIs, and stakeholders in large, complex, highly matrixed organizations.
• Passion for serving B2B customers.
• Legally authorized to work in the United States; employment eligibility will be verified at hire.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in a fleet-related space, B2B financing, or innovation in heavily regulated industries.
• Academic background in engineering, hard sciences, design, finance or economics, or data science, or equivalent work experience.

Responsibilities

• Own the product vision and roadmap for fleet lifecycle optimization, connecting the end-to-end customer journey.
• Deliver TCO analysis that consolidates relevant operating and financing costs, ideally including indirect costs such as downtime, and presents them clearly to drive action.
• Develop benchmarking capabilities comparing assets within a fleet, current assets with new vehicle options (especially Ford vehicles), and a customer’s fleet with similar and ideal fleets.
• Develop scenario-planning experiences that show how operating costs, financing costs, cash outlay, and other factors change across vehicle purchase and sale scenarios.
• Help customers remarket vehicles for the best possible prices with minimal cost and effort through their preferred channels.
• Improve vehicle selection, configuration, quoting, and ordering across do-it-yourself, staff-assisted, and agentic workflows.
• Work closely with the Pro Credit team to incorporate commercial vehicle financing options into the purchase process.
• Collaborate with engineering, design, and business teams to deliver the product vision and roadmap.
• Manage external dependencies and evaluate build, buy, and partner relationships.
• Work with dealers to develop mutually beneficial strategies for delivering the customer experience, recognizing dealers as the vehicle sales channel.
• Design input metrics to diagnose and improve the customer journey.
• Build expertise in commercial fleet TCO, fleet optimization, commercial financing, vehicle purchasing, customer needs and preferences, market norms, competitive intelligence, and relevant legal and regulatory frameworks.
• Build and manage a high-performing product team.

Benefits

• Immediate medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug coverage.
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, and subsidized backup childcare.
• Family-building benefits, including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement and fertility treatments.
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members, and management leases.
• Tuition assistance.
• Employee resource groups.
• Paid time off for individual and team community service.
• Paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
• Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed