Principal Product Operations Manager

Lightspeed Commerce•Boston, MA

About The Position

Lightspeed is a one-stop commerce platform that empowers merchants around the world to simplify, scale, and provide exceptional customer experiences. At Lightspeed, Our Product Operations team enables a high-performing, outcome-driven product organization by connecting strategy to execution, streamlining processes, tools, and communication, and fostering alignment across Product, Tech, and GTM – so teams can deliver better outcomes, faster. We are hiring a Principal Product Operations leader to amplify impact across our Product and Technology organization, with a focus on the Retail vertical. Reporting to the SVP of Product, Retail this principal-level individual contributor defines and evolves the product operating model, leads cross-functional initiatives, and drives step-change improvements in how we plan, build, launch, and learn. You will set cadence and standards, unify sources of truth and metrics, and partner closely with product and engineering leaders to turn strategy into predictable execution. What we’re looking for: A systems-minded operator who is equally strategic and hands-on. You are customer-obsessed, business-savvy, and comfortable owning complex programs from idea to adoption. You communicate clearly, influence at every level, and use data to guide decisions. If you enjoy transforming how organizations work and raising the bar on speed, quality, and clarity, we would love to connect!

Requirements

10+ years in Product Ops, PM, Program/Project Management, Biz Ops, or Consulting, including 5+ years working directly with product teams; SaaS experience is a plus.
Proven track record improving product execution and operational excellence through scalable processes and clear operating models.
Program leadership: set goals, align stakeholders, manage risks and dependencies, and drive outcomes at pace.
Excellent communicator who can influence executives and partner across Product, Engineering, Design/Research, GTM, and Operations.
Systems thinker with a bias to action who designs simple, scalable processes and follows through with high attention to detail.
Strong analytical mindset with experience in product data analytics, reporting, and deriving actionable insights.
Tooling savvy with Jira and Confluence; comfortable evaluating and rolling out tools for analytics, research, feedback, and documentation.
Change leader with a systems mindset and bias to action who drives adoption across global teams and operates effectively in fast-moving, ambiguous environments.

Responsibilities

Product operating model. Define and evolve how we plan, build, launch, and learn. Set the cadence, standards, and governance that make cross-functional work simple and predictable. Establish and continuously improve best practices, workflows, and governance models for seamless product execution.
Operational excellence at scale. Identify friction across the product lifecycle and replace it with clear workflows and scalable systems that raise speed and quality.
Lifecycle and launches. Make the path from idea to release seamless. Clear blockers, align partners, manage dependencies and risk, and ensure every launch is ready and on time.
Feedback loops and insights. Bring customer and GTM signals to the table, turn insights into roadmap inputs, and make product knowledge easy to find and use across the company.
Tooling and automation: Choose the right tools, lead evaluations and rollouts, and remove bottlenecks. Prototype better ways of working with AI and light automation. Roll up your sleeves and make it real..
Metrics and reporting: Define and track the KPIs that matter, publish/maintain key source-of-truth dashboards, and measure and iterate on ops effectiveness to continuously iterate your systems.
Change and communications. Be the change champion. Publish clear playbooks and templates, coach teams through new ways of working, and keep everyone aligned with concise, regular updates.
Product craft and enablement. Lead initiatives that enhance the quality, consistency, and innovation of product development practices, ensuring that product teams are equipped with the best tools, processes, and knowledge to excel in their craft. Support hiring goals, panels, and onboarding standards to raise the bar across teams.
Trusted advisor/partner to leadership. Serve as a strategic partner to Product leadership, providing insights and operational strategies to enable team/product success.