Vice President, Product Management

Tantalus•Raleigh, NC

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Tantalus Systems (TSX: GRID) is a technology company focused on helping utilities modernize their distribution grids through data utilization across all devices and systems. They offer smart grid solutions encompassing intelligent devices, communication networks, data management, enterprise applications, and analytics. The company seeks individuals interested in solving complex technical problems and contributing to the electrification and decarbonization of society. Tantalus has operations in the United States and Canada, with offices in Burnaby (BC), Raleigh (NC), and Norwalk (CT). This role is for a Vice President of Product Management who will lead the vision, process, and performance of the product management function for electric utility solutions targeting the distribution grid. The candidate will be responsible for architecting the product organization's operations, including establishing a repeatable system for product planning, roadmap review, customer feedback, launch readiness, and outcome tracking. This leader will define departmental operations, priority setting, investment decisions, and outcome measurement across strategy, execution, customer value, and business impact. The role involves building and leading a best-in-class Product Management function and operating model, establishing governance, discipline, and leadership practices to translate customer needs, market opportunities, and commercial priorities into clear investment decisions and product outcomes. Collaboration with Product Development, Architecture, Customer Operations, Sales, Marketing, and Executive Leadership is key to elevating Product Management as a strategic capability that aligns market needs, product investments, and business outcomes. Deep expertise in electric utility domain, particularly distribution grid technology (metering, power measurement, AMI 2.0, ADMS, DERMS, outage management, load management, grid operations workflows, and related grid-edge/enterprise applications) is required. The successful candidate will combine market insight, technical credibility, and organizational leadership to build a high-performing product organization that translates utility needs into differentiated offerings and measurable business results. An entrepreneurial, creative, and forward-looking approach is essential, with the ability to think beyond conventional utility playbooks, anticipate market trends, and develop breakout strategies for a smaller, nimble organization to compete against larger incumbents through focus, speed, innovation, and customer value.

Requirements

15+ years of progressive experience in product management, product strategy, solution leadership, or related roles, with substantial leadership experience managing senior product talent.
Deep electric utility domain experience, with particular strength in distribution grid technologies such as metering, power measurement, AMI, ADMS, DERMS, OMS, grid analytics, or related operational platforms.
Demonstrated success defining product vision, building roadmaps, leading cross-functional execution, and delivering measurable business outcomes.
Demonstrated experience building, scaling, or transforming Product Management organizations and operating models.
Proven ability to influence executive stakeholders and lead complex cross-functional decision-making across technical, operational, and commercial teams.
Strong understanding of utility operations, utility modernization priorities, and the practical realities of deploying software and integrated solutions in regulated utility environments.
Proven experience building and leading teams, establishing process discipline, and influencing executive stakeholders across engineering, sales, marketing, services, and finance.
Strong technical fluency and credibility in software, data, grid applications, and integrated hardware-software solutions, including familiarity with platform-based architectures and ecosystem-oriented thinking.
Demonstrated ability to create differentiated product strategy in competitive markets, especially where a smaller company must out-focus or out-innovate larger players.
Bachelor’s degree in engineering, business, computer science, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.

Nice To Haves

Experience with enterprise utility software or grid operations platforms such as ADMS, DERMS, OMS, SCADA-adjacent applications, or distributed intelligence solutions.
Experience in consultative customer engagement, market development, or solution business case modeling in the utility sector.
Familiarity with platform business models, APIs, cloud or hybrid deployments.
Experience working with global utilities, regulatory stakeholders, or complex strategic partners.
Experience scaling products or product organizations in high-growth, resource-constrained, or challenger-company environments.
Strategic thinker with a clear point of view on the future of the distribution grid and how product organizations should operate.
Highly structured and disciplined in approach, with the ability to turn complex domain challenges into clear priorities and execution paths.
Strong credibility with utility customers and internal technical teams, with the ability to build trust across both business and technical stakeholders.
Entrepreneurial and creative mindset, with the ability to think beyond conventional approaches and identify where incumbents are slow or underperforming.
Able to translate market insight into focused, differentiated strategies that enable a smaller organization to compete effectively against larger players.
Strong executive presence with the ability to operate confidently across strategy, portfolio governance, and customer-facing discussions.
Comfortable moving fluidly between high-level strategy, operational execution, team coaching, and external market storytelling.
Demonstrated analytical rigor and sound judgment in decision-making.
Collaborative leader with the ability to influence and build alignment across highly cross-functional environments.

Responsibilities

Define and communicate a multi-year product vision and strategy for the company’s distribution grid technology portfolio, aligned to customer needs, market trends, regulatory dynamics, and company growth objectives.
Establish a clear point of view on portfolio direction across metering, power measurement, AMI 2.0, ADMS, DERMS, distribution operations, load / demand management, grid intelligence, and adjacent applications.
Translate utility industry challenges into product strategy, investment priorities, market requirements, and roadmap decisions.
Partner with executive leadership to align product vision with company strategy, financial goals, and go-to-market priorities.
Identify disruptive whitespace opportunities where a focused company can win through faster execution, stronger usability, easier integration, better analytics, or clearer economic value than larger competitors.
Develop product theses around the evolution of distribution utilities, particularly in grid digitization, distributed intelligence, software-driven operations, and converged data platforms.
Build, lead, and mentor a high-performing product management organization, including product managers and, where applicable, product owners or adjacent roles.
Define the department’s operating model, including product planning cadence, roadmap governance, customer discovery expectations, prioritization methods, and cross-functional decision-making forums.
Create a strong product culture grounded in customer insight, accountability, data-driven decisions, and close partnership with engineering, sales, marketing, services, and customer success.
Serve as the executive-level voice of product across functions to ensure the organization builds the right solutions for the market and the business.
Foster an entrepreneurial mindset focused on creative thinking, rapid learning, practical experimentation, and differentiated products.
Establish and continuously improve the Product Management operating model, including governance, prioritization frameworks, roadmap reviews, and executive decision-making processes.
Build organizational capability within Product Management through coaching, talent development, succession planning, and the establishment of best practices.
Serve as the primary bridge between customer needs, commercial priorities, and product development investments to ensure resources are allocated toward the highest-value opportunities.
Oversee the full product lifecycle from market discovery and business case development through requirements, launch, adoption, and post-launch optimization.
Prioritize investments with a small-company mindset, focusing resources where the company can create defensible differentiation rather than matching large competitors feature-for-feature.
Lead portfolio tradeoff decisions across innovation, technical debt, regulatory commitments, customer-specific requirements, and platform scalability.
Ensure strong product-management-to-engineering partnership so roadmap commitments are realistic, customer-centered, and commercially relevant.
Drive structured customer engagement with utilities, partners, consultants, and industry stakeholders to validate product direction and identify emerging needs.
Define and monitor clear product and portfolio success measures tied to adoption, customer value, strategic differentiation, and business performance.
Develop business cases and investment recommendations that balance customer value, strategic differentiation, technical feasibility, and financial return.
Facilitate executive-level discussions regarding roadmap prioritization, portfolio trade-offs, and product investment decisions.
Bring deep expertise in electric utility operations, especially distribution planning, engineering, reliability, outage management, DER integration, and grid modernization programs.
Maintain a strong understanding of utility buying processes, regulatory drivers, grid architecture, interoperability needs, and the operational realities of utility deployments.
Represent the company externally with senior utility leaders, industry analysts, partners, and at industry forums as a thought leader in distribution grid technology.
Inform go-to-market strategy, solution positioning, and value proposition development with a strong understanding of business cases and utility customer outcomes.
Bring practical ideas for how a challenger brand can break through in the market, including category creation, beachhead use cases, strategic partnerships, and solution packaging that resonates with utility buyers.