Sr. Director Commercial & Industrial Product Strategy

Valvoline•Cincinnati, OH

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Director Commercial & Industrial Product Strategy is responsible for Valvoline Global Operations’ commercial and industrial product strategy and serves as a conduit between regional business units and the supply chain to drive organizational growth. The role uses global processes—including Innovation Master Plan creation, New Solutions Development, and target margins—to build cross-functional collaboration and implement three pillars of product strategy: Product Discovery (identifying unmet customer needs), Product Planning (creating the innovation roadmap), and Product Development (the New Solutions Development Process). The leader directs a team of Product Managers located in key growth regions. The Heavy Duty Product Strategy team owns the global product portfolio. The Global C&I Strategy Leader regularly connects with the Valvoline Leadership Team, including regional leaders, the Chief Operating Officer, and the Chief Brand Officer, and collaborates with regional Marketing Directors, R&D, Global Equity, and Global Pricing. The position is on-site four days per week, Monday through Thursday. Valvoline Global Operations is an affiliate of Aramco and describes its work as developing automotive and industrial solutions and sustainable solutions for the future. Its new Global Headquarters is planned to open in downtown Cincinnati in spring 2027.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Engineering, or another related field.
At least 10 years of experience in product marketing, commercialization, or a relevant role.
Strong understanding of product lifecycles, commercialization, and developing five-year product growth strategies.
Experience translating technical or engineering concepts into compelling business and marketing strategies.
Background in marketing, brand strategy, product marketing, or a related commercial discipline.
Proven ability to partner with creative, media, and social agencies to develop and execute marketing campaigns.
Experience conducting or managing market research, including defining research objectives, developing research approaches, and translating insights into actionable recommendations.
Ability to collaborate with regional teams to adapt global messaging and marketing strategies to local market needs.
Strong cross-functional collaboration skills across marketing, product, engineering, sales, agencies, and international stakeholders.
Strategic thinking skills to connect customer and market insights with product positioning, growth opportunities, and commercial outcomes.
Familiarity with the stage-gate process.

Nice To Haves

MBA preferred.

Responsibilities

Use market, enterprise, and business-unit data to build a vision for the future of the global commercial and industrial product portfolio.
Drive consumer research by creating research plans to identify unmet needs and answer business questions that can unlock innovation pathways.
Continuously ideate in response to strategic business questions.
Evaluate the competitive landscape and identify portfolio gaps and claims opportunities.
Create a long-term product portfolio vision and develop a five-year innovation roadmap covering products, packaging, and portfolio, aligned with corporate and business-unit strategies.
Maintain the innovation roadmap in response to market and business-unit trends and help prioritize product-related projects.
Maximize portfolio profitability by identifying and maintaining regional target margins.
Serve as the center of excellence for Valvoline Global Operations innovation.
Follow the New Solutions Development stage-gate process for all new initiatives and create gate documents for products on the Innovation Master Plan.
Lead global initiatives to drive international harmonization of the Valvoline product portfolio.
Connect Valvoline segments to deliver consistent solution branding and product promises for customers and consumers.
Conduct Strategic Portfolio Reviews on annual timelines to assess strategic fit against competition and identify market opportunities for innovation refinement.
Create compelling packaging visual stories that support customer and consumer selection and de-selection while fitting the Valvoline portfolio.
Own the creation, development, and deployment of new innovation concept artwork.
Create consumer and customer value propositions, align key claims, and qualify visual concepts.
Own product naming and collaborate with Equity and Marketing on packaging solutions that fit the brand and product story.
Develop team members, manage international direct reports, and create annual goals and development plans.
Ensure the global team follows project management processes and provides clear agendas, project timelines, and meeting recaps.
Respond to escalated project issues that impede delivery and help coordinate solutions.