Director of Product Strategy

Ford Motor • Dearborn, MI

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

Come help build a better world, where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams. Ford is experiencing significant business transformation in an ever-changing digital world. Integrated Services was launched to create and market new customer experiences by integrating hardware, software, and services across Ford Blue, Model e , and Ford Pro. This is not an advisory, consulting, or ivory-tower strategy role. This leader will be a hands-on builder who shapes real product decisions, partners deeply with Product, Engineering, Design, and GTM leadership, and ensures strategy turns into execution. The role blends portfolio-level strategy, operating cadence, and executive storytelling. The Product Strategy team acts as the "forward radar" and the "strategic voice" of the Digital Product organization. While our product teams focus on building and shipping, this team focuses on defining where we play and how we win. We operate with high velocity, ensuring that our long-term vision is translated into immediate, actionable strategic directives. We bridge the gap between complex market data, technical possibilities, and executive decision-making. In this position... Ford is building a software-and services-led digital ecosystem at massive global scale. We are seeking a Director of Product Strategy to operate at the center of this transformation. Small team. Large scope. High accountability. Shape the future of one of the world's most iconic companies as it becomes a software-and services-led business Operate at massive scale with real customers, real constraints, and real impact Sit at the intersection of Product, Technology, Design and Strategy Influence decisions that matter, and see them through to reality

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or equivalent advanced degree strongly preferred.
• 12+ years of experience in Product Management, Corporate Strategy, or Management Consulting, with a specific focus on digital products or automotive technology.
• Elite Communication Skills: You are a master of the written word and the visual presentation. You can command a room of senior executives and can turn a 50-page technical document into a 3-slide executive summary.
• Operational Resilience: Demonstrated ability to manage time effectively in a high-pressure environment. You have a track record of delivering high-quality work on a weekly executive cadence.
• Cognitive Agility: You can zoom in to the details of a specific feature set and zoom out to the 5-year corporate strategy in the same conversation.
• Influence Without Authority: You can align diverse stakeholders (Engineering, Design, Finance, Marketing) behind a single narrative without needing to be their direct manager.

Nice To Haves

• Background in Management Consulting (McKinsey, Bain, BCG) creating deliverables for Fortune 100 clients.
• Deep experience with PRFAQ / Amazon-style working backwards methodologies.
• Design proficiency: The ability to not just write the story but visualize it (wireframing concepts or high-end presentation design).

Responsibilities

• As the Director of Product Strategy, you will be the primary architect of the narrative that drives investment and resource allocation across the enterprise.
• You will work hand-in-glove with the Head of Product and Chief of Staff to prepare the organization for high-stakes reviews with the Executive Leadership Team (ELT).
• Own the Portfolio View: You will define the portfolio-level product strategy across Ford’s digital ecosystem (Connected Services, Software Platforms, Data Experiences). You will evaluate product-market fit and customer value, ensuring our "Good-Better-Best" bundling strategy is commercially viable.
• Pressure-Test Major Bets: You will not just accept roadmaps; you will rigorously pressure-test major product bets and long-range investment themes. You will partner with Finance and Product Leaders to stress-test business cases, ensuring decisions are grounded in data, customer reality, and execution feasibility.
• The Insight System: Build and maintain a portfolio insight system, including KPI trees, leading indicators, and early-warning signals. You will synthesize second-order conclusions (i.e., "If we do X, then Y happens three years from now") to guide capital allocation.
• Own the Board Narrative: You will own a meaningful share of ELT (Executive Leadership Team) and Board-level product strategy narratives. You will synthesize complex inputs—technical architecture, P&L models, and market dynamics—into simple, compelling stories told with conviction.
• Clarity Over Complexity: You have a high tolerance for ambiguity but an obsession with clarity. You will ensure that leadership discussions result in clear decisions, not endless analysis. You will translate ambiguity into crisp options, tradeoffs, and specific recommendations.
• Run the Strategic Engine: You will establish and run the strategy operating cadence, including quarterly portfolio reviews (QBRs), decision logs, and follow-through mechanisms. You will ensure strategic decisions translate into execution plans with clear ownership.
• Orchestrate the "Run of Show": You will manage the rhythm of the business, ensuring pre-reads are distributed and stakeholders are aligned before the meeting. You are the guardrail against "analysis paralysis," driving the organization to move with the velocity of a startup.
• Build, Buy, or Partner: You will drive "Build vs. Buy vs. Partner" recommendations with clear strategic rationale. You will shape the ecosystem strategy, supporting partnership evaluation and long-term value creation without getting bogged down in commercial negotiations.
• Intelligence Loop: Establish a continuous market and competitive intelligence loop. You will track external signals, platform shifts, and partner moves to identify threats we haven't seen and opportunities we haven't seized.
• High-Leverage Team: Build and lead a small, elite product strategy team. You will model a pragmatic, builder-oriented mindset that is allergic to performative strategy.
• Trusted Thought Partner: Act as the strategic right hand to the Global Head of Digital Product. You will influence diverse stakeholders (Engineering, Design, GTM) to drive consensus without needing to be their direct manager.

Benefits

• Immediate medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back-up childcare and more
• Family building benefits including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility treatments, and more
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members and management leases
• Tuition assistance
• Established and active employee resource groups
• Paid time off for individual and team community service
• A generous schedule of 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
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees