Director, Product Strategy
About The Position
Proto leads innovation and transformation efforts for large organizations, often through creating new products, services, and platforms. Its work involves understanding user needs, system behavior, and technical possibilities to define viable directions, concepts, and solutions that unlock new value and growth potential. The Director, Product Strategy leads this work by structuring complex problem spaces and driving decision-making amid uncertainty. The role requires fluency in design, technology, and strategy to shape product and experience concepts, evaluate technical implications, and guide teams toward solutions that are ambitious and buildable. Directors engage directly with the work and ensure direction is grounded in real constraints while opening up new possibilities. The position is based out of Proto’s New York office and reports to the Partner, Managing Director of Experience. Proto encourages employees to work from the office on days of their choosing based on personal preferences, collaboration needs, client meetings, and company gatherings. Work-from-anywhere is also available to all staff within three hours of the Eastern time zone. Core business hours are generally 9:30 a.m.–6:00 p.m. EST, though individual hours fluctuate with client deadlines and deliverables.
Requirements
- 10+ years of relevant experience in product strategy, experience strategy, service or systems design, innovation consulting, product leadership, or venture-building contexts.
- Proven ability to own complex projects end-to-end, set direction, and be accountable for outcomes.
- Experience turning ambiguous challenges into structured recommendations that inform product, investment, or organizational decisions.
- Experience partnering with design and engineering teams to develop product concepts, with sufficient technical fluency to engage credibly on constraints and tradeoffs.
- Proven ability to lead senior stakeholders through uncertain or high-stakes decisions.
- Exceptional analytical, synthesis, and communication skills, with a track record of producing clear, decision-oriented narratives and artifacts.
- Ability to stay focused under pressure, manage multiple priorities, and deliver high-quality work when situations are unclear or timelines are tight.
- Good judgment, low ego, ability to remain calm under pressure, and ability to handle disagreement constructively.
Nice To Haves
- Undergraduate and/or graduate degree in engineering, design, economics, social sciences, or a related discipline preferred.
Responsibilities
- Define problem spaces, objectives, and decision criteria for product and experience work.
- Develop system-level views of users, behaviors, constraints, and dependencies to inform solution design.
- Work with commercial strategy, design, and technology leads to define product, service, and experience concepts and guide them through prototyping, piloting, and execution.
- Lead, coach, and develop direct reports and project teams by setting expectations, providing feedback, and improving work quality.
- Facilitate working sessions and present work clearly to executive audiences, using narrative, evidence, and concrete artifacts to support decisions.
- Synthesize cross-disciplinary inputs to build shared understanding and inform direction.
- Contribute to internal methods, frameworks, and external points of view that improve clarity, consistency, and quality across engagements.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
Education Level
No Education Listed
