Senior Director, Product & Innovation

Willmeng Construction•Phoenix, AZ

3h•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Director, Product & Innovation leads Willmeng’s first product organization and reports to the Chief Innovation Officer. The role partners with the CIO to establish product vision and strategy, then creates the operating structure, processes, and team needed to take products from idea through fully supported, adopted release. The leader oversees an AI-first engineering team and Product Managers embedded in Finance, Business Operations, and Construction Operations. Most products serve Willmeng’s internal estimators, project teams, and field staff. The position is office-based at Willmeng’s Arizona headquarters. The Senior Director owns product strategy and execution across internal software initiatives, validates proposed value with end users, establishes return-on-product measures, and defines product-stage criteria. The role builds product and engineering practices, including product management documentation, Agile processes, specifications, backlog management, sprint cadence, and QA. It also establishes a formal product development lifecycle and ensures products have measurable outcomes, adoption goals, and ongoing support and maintenance plans. The position manages the Dev Team Lead and Product Managers, coaches and develops the team, and recruits additional Product Managers as the organization grows. It collaborates with the CIO, CFO, CBO, operations leadership, engineers, and other business leaders to align product priorities with operational and executive needs. The role also develops working knowledge of Willmeng’s construction business, including estimating, preconstruction, field operations, and project delivery in technical markets.

Requirements

Background in software development or technical product management.
Fluency in Agile methodology.
Working knowledge of application architecture sufficient to discuss technical tradeoffs with engineers.
Experience building proprietary in-house software for internal stakeholders.
Track record of taking products beyond pilot or alpha to fully supported, adopted releases, including examples of ongoing product maintenance.
Ability to translate executive vision and strategy into concrete processes and structure in close partnership with the CIO.
Energy for day-to-day coaching and mentorship, with strong communication skills.
Disciplined follow-through and a structured approach to completing a roadmap.
Ability to partner with senior executives, including the CEO, CFO, and CBO, and translate functional priorities into product decisions.

Nice To Haves

Coding background.
Experience in a general contractor or construction-adjacent business; construction fluency may also be developed on the job.

Responsibilities

Partner with the Chief Innovation Officer to refine product vision and strategy, translate it into a roadmap for internal software initiatives, and own execution.
Validate the intended value of initiatives with end users before committing engineering resources; document objectives and measure outcomes at launch and throughout the product lifecycle.
Build and apply a return-on-product framework that accounts for financial, operational, and human outcomes.
Define product stages such as MVP, alpha, beta, and general availability, including criteria for progression.
Lead and coach the Dev Team Lead and Product Managers.
Develop the engineering team’s product and engineering practices, including specifications, backlog management, sprint cadence, QA, and use of AI capabilities.
Build Willmeng’s product management discipline, including PRDs, user stories, acceptance criteria, and shared team vocabulary.
Recruit, hire, and develop additional Product Managers as new verticals are added.
Establish a formal product development lifecycle from idea through specification, build, alpha, beta, and supported release.
Introduce lightweight, appropriately sized Agile practices for the in-house team.
Partner with the Dev Team Lead and engineers on application architecture decisions, considering roadmap fit and long-term maintainability.
Define measurable product success criteria and ensure each product has a support and maintenance plan, with adoption as the standard for completion.
Manage Product Managers embedded in Finance, Business Operations, and Construction Operations, and ensure priorities reflect those functions’ needs.
Partner with the CFO, CBO, operations leadership, and other business leaders to map products under development to business priorities.
Report to the Chief Innovation Officer on product portfolio health, adoption, and return.
Build working fluency in estimating, preconstruction, field operations, and delivery in technical markets such as semiconductor, data center, and healthcare.
Apply product management practices such as discovery, prioritization, feedback loops, and outcome-based road mapping to Willmeng’s internal customer base.

Benefits

Employee Stock Ownership Plan
Discretionary annual bonus
401k with employer match
Employee medical, dental, and vision insurance fully covered for employees, with dependent coverage available at 50% coverage by Willmeng
Flexible Time Off Policy
9 paid company holidays
Three consecutive weeks of parental bonding leave, with an additional 3–5 weeks of disability leave for delivery recovery
Spacious break rooms with healthy meals and snacks provided at no additional cost
Team-building activities, including volunteer opportunities
100% employee ownership