Forward Deployed Product Lead

4M

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

4M Analytics is hiring a foundational product leader for its Utility Owners Business Unit. The role combines product management with hands-on AI-enabled software building. You will work directly with utility owner customers to understand their workflows, pain points, and business drivers, then prototype and validate solutions with them before partnering with Engineering to move proven concepts into production. You will define the strategy for winning the Utility Owners segment, including target sub-segments, positioning, and productization, and own commercial outcomes such as adoption, revenue, and land-and-expand. The role reports to the VP Product and partners closely with the CEO, Chief Growth Officer, and engineering leadership. No utility expertise is required, but the successful candidate is expected to rapidly learn the civil infrastructure, damage-prevention, and regulatory domains. The position involves travel to customer sites and 4M’s Austin, Texas offices as needed.

Requirements

• Relevant educational background such as a BA, BS, BE, or MBA; fields may include business, computer science, architecture, or industrial engineering.
• At least 7 years of experience spanning reputed management consulting and/or product management at a B2B SaaS, data, or AI-native company.
• Ability to independently design, prototype, and ship working software using modern AI tools.
• Ability to understand AI-generated software sufficiently to reason about it and correct it; this is required and cannot rely solely on vibe coding.
• Comfort operating in a 0-to-1, forward-deployed role shaping a new product and market with executives and customers without an established playbook.
• Ability to combine strategic problem decomposition with hands-on solution building.
• Strong communication skills and ability to translate between customer needs and engineering.
• Comfort working closely with the CEO and Chief Growth Officer and engaging directly with customers.
• Flexibility to travel to customer sites and the Austin, Texas office as needed.

Nice To Haves

• Prior engineering experience or a technical degree.
• Top-tier consultancy experience combined with hands-on product experience.
• A side project, startup, or open-source project built substantially with AI tools, ideally with a demonstrable example.
• Exposure to utility infrastructure, civil or damage-prevention work, or regulatory topics such as permitting, compliance, fines, and infrastructure-project risk.

Responsibilities

• Conduct continuous discovery with Utility Owner customers through calls, site visits, and workflow shadowing.
• Develop a first-hand understanding of customer pain points, workflows, and business drivers.
• Map the market, identify significant pain points and budget opportunities, and synthesize customer feedback into a scalable product roadmap and productization strategy.
• Define the Utility Owners segment strategy, including target sub-segments, positioning, and the market-entry wedge, in partnership with company and engineering leadership.
• Use AI-native tools to build working, demonstrable product prototypes and validate them with customers.
• Partner with Engineering to transition validated concepts into production-ready software and remain involved through the handoff.
• Define and track business outcomes for the segment, including adoption, revenue, and land-and-expand, in partnership with Growth.
• Learn the civil infrastructure, damage-prevention, and regulatory landscape sufficiently to work credibly with customers.
• Travel to customer sites and the Austin office as needed.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior