Director of Product Management

Tempo Communications•Vista, CA

6d•$180,000 - $220,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Tempo Communications builds the test, measurement, and tooling products that technicians rely on to install and maintain communications networks across copper, fiber, PoE, and underground utility location. Our brands are Tempo, Paladin Tools, and KingFisher. We are an independent, closely held, owner-led company of roughly 130 people, headquartered in Vista, California, with operations in Wales, Hungary, and Australia. Our customer is the field technician, and our promise is straightforward: Find it. Fix it. Prove it. The Role We are hiring a Director of Product Management to own how Tempo decides what to build, in what order, and why. This is a working leadership role rather than a purely strategic one: you will carry a product category of your own while leading three product line managers across the rest of the portfolio, reporting directly to the CEO. This is a step up, and we mean it that way. We expect to hire a senior product manager or product line leader who has outgrown their current scope and is ready to run a portfolio, rather than someone who has held a director title for a decade. If the seat above you does not exist where you are, this is that seat. This is hands-on work at a company small enough that your decisions ship. If you are looking for a comfortable landing, this is not it. If you want a portfolio of your own, real financial discipline behind the choices, and products you defined in technicians' hands inside of eighteen months, read on.

Requirements

Eight or more years in product management or product line management for physical products (instruments, test and measurement equipment, electrical or electronic hardware, or professional tools).
Application depth in how field work is performed, either from direct field experience or through deliberate learning via ride-alongs and observed use.
Ownership of a product line P&L, including pricing, margin, and portfolio rationalization.
Proven ability to build and defend business cases, and to rank a development funnel on financial merit.
Substantive experience within a formal stage-gate or phase-gate process, owning gates and building supporting evidence.
Experience with market sizing and segmentation work that has been defended to decision-makers.
Fluency in reading business data, including SKU-level margin and mix, price realization, and launch performance against plan.
Ability to specify products to engineering and overseas contract manufacturers, covering requirements, trade-offs, and first article review with sufficient technical depth.
Experience managing or mentoring product managers.
Willingness to travel approximately 25 to 30 percent.

Nice To Haves

Background in communications infrastructure, utility locating, fiber optics, or electrical contracting markets.
Prior experience as a technician, installer, or field engineer before moving into product management.
Experience with structured preference and trade-off research (e.g., conjoint, MaxDiff, Kano, price sensitivity analysis).
Comfort with AI-assisted research and analysis tools.

Responsibilities

Own application knowledge, understanding how work actually gets done and identifying areas for safety, productivity, or quality improvement.
Manage the product portfolio, including Location & Markers, Fiber Test & Measurement, Copper & PoE, and Tools.
Build and defend a multi-year roadmap with technological continuity.
Carry one product category yourself, including P&L responsibility.
Build business cases, rank the development funnel on financial merit, and make decisions on project funding and termination.
Own the NP&SI stage-gate process end-to-end, including defining deliverables, presenting evidence, and conducting gate reviews.
Conduct market sizing and competitive intelligence to inform investment decisions.
Own launch outcomes, including revenue, margin, and vitality index measured against plan.
Ensure the existence and quality of application notes, training materials, and sales tools.
Manage and develop three product line managers, including setting development plans, running reviews, and coaching on business case construction and market analysis.