Director of Product Job Description Examples
Interested in what the director of product job description looks like? Well, you’re in the right place.
The director of product manager is the most critical non-C level position in a tech company. This is because product companies depend on the strong products that teams create. But you need a strong product manager to keep up with high standards. The director of product is responsible for maintaining the standard of product managers.
That said, the director of product has the primary responsibility of staffing and coaching product managers. The product manager is responsible for empowering product teams to provide valuable and viable solutions.
As the director of product, it’s of vital importance to ensure that the product is consistent with the company’s overall objectives and strategies. Product directors are accountable for bringing differentiated products to the market, representing a feasible business opportunity and satisfying demand.
Understanding the role of a product director helps to determine whether this is a suitable career path for you. The director of product management leads the entire product lifecycle of a business’ product development. As a director of products, you become accountable for the design, manufacturing, and distribution of goods, from concept to launch.
Product directors consult with stakeholders and test clients to gain insight into a product’s effectiveness. This allows them to both ascertain their concerns and make suggestions for improvement.
While the scope of work is broad, the daily responsibilities include creating strategic goals, evaluating ideas, and prioritizing features. As well as designing and communicating product roadmaps and analyzing progress.
In this article, we include several product director job description examples for different industries and some essential skills new directors of product may need for the job. Feel free to modify these for your recruiting purposes.
Director of Product Job Description Example 1 – Financial Services
As with any other industry, the director of product management aims to coach and grow the team. There is a close alignment and partnership between the product and engineering departments. This is due to launches requiring a level of participation from everyone at the company. Thus, product directors look for legal, sales, marketing, operations, and financial support.
Product leadership is divided into three main components. These include clear product vision, building and growing an exceptional team, and driving organizational focus and alignment.
A great product leader creates opportunities for everyone at the company to submit ideas and share insights. This allows employees to produce a longer-term product strategy and introduce regular all-hands roadmap reviews. This guarantees that everyone in the company understands where the business is heading.
The Director of Product is Expected to:
- Work with product leaders to remove roadblocks.
- Learn about the company’s consumers, merchants, internal teams, competitors, and the market.
- Create, assess, update, and communicate a clear product vision and strategy.
- In close partnership with the chief technology officer (CTO) define and follow robust product development processes and practices, along with other teams in the company.
- Evaluate growth options, assess new opportunities, and identify bottlenecks. This includes turning strategy into cross-functional aligned tactics.
- Ensure that the product and executive team have a shared vision of how the product is and evolves in the future.
- Build and grow exceptional teams by hiring, onboarding, coaching, and enabling them to bring products to market.
Requirements
- At least 8 years of experience in software, XYZ-technology, e-Commerce, marketing, or product management.
- 5 years or more of leadership experience across multiple sites and in an international environment.
- Great people skills in combination with great assertiveness.
- Strong analytical, strategic, and coordination skills.
- Leadership and entrepreneurship traits that people are comfortable following.
- High-level motivational skills for the management of virtual teams.
Director of Product Job Description Example 2 – Website Design
A good product director balances user needs and business goals while questioning and validating assumptions. The director of product management emphasizes the importance of research and evidence-based decision-making. Product directors are aware of product problems and solution design patterns, both in and out of the industry, and this informs them on whether to emulate or innovate.
The Director of Product is Expected to:
- Lead the product design team initiatives. This covers end-to-end design, including user research, competitive research, interviews, conceptual planning for features and product ideas, design, prototyping, and wireframing.
- Work with engineers and project managers to check for viability and feasibility.
- Negotiate compromises or alternatives with project managers and engineers.
- Iterate on products using feedback and analytics from actual usage by clients.
- Keep the design system consistent and robust.
- Run design reviews, workshops, and one-on-ones.
- Mentor and condition designers.
- Work with human resources to recruit and grow the team. This allows them to coordinate with the vice president of product to execute the roadmap and plan for future quarters.
Requirements
- Proven track record of providing new and innovative solutions to enhance product lines.
- Strong intuition for product interaction design and user experience.
- 7+ years experience in one or more of the following: System Design, Package Design, or PCB process.
- Create graphic wireframes and give interface directly to the UI team.
- Software development experience as a developer and manager.
- Participation in all stages of the software development lifecycle, and experience with Agile software methodologies.
Director of Product Job Description Example 3 – Digital Marketing
A good director of product management understands, enhances, and provides input on the company’s goals and strategies. Great product directors identify, align with, and drive opportunities. It is their primary responsibility to be fast to pivot when changes occur. When issues and challenges arise, product managers and teams rely on the director of product management.
The Director of Product is Expected to:
- Analyze key performance indicators (KPIs) ranging from conversion rates to revenue per visitor. This helps them understand opportunities or misses.
- Plan activities with stakeholders, including engineering, design, data, leadership, media, and external partners.
- Focus on the roadmap and pipelines to ensure they are on track to meet company goals.
- Know how to identify root causes fast, provide solutions, and communicate clear explanations.
- Be a central source of information about the company’s lending products.
- Lead a team of product managers focusing on regular product development and new product initiatives, A/B tests, and optimizations.
- Lead teams focusing on long-term projects to migrate and update the lending framework to a microservice-oriented architecture.
- Hold meetings for recaps on current product tests, sales initiatives, and KPI reviews.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or Engineering.
- 8 years or more of software experience, e-Commerce, XYZ-technology, marketing, or product management.
- Sound knowledge and understanding of business and technology.
- Strong verbal and written organizational, analytical, and communication skills. This entails the ability to lead and influence through persuasion, patience, and applying energy.
- Track record of building and leading high-performing product management teams.
- MBA from a top-tier program.
Director of Product Job Description Example 4 – Online Services
A great director of product understands the “why” behind how users use the product and the data they collect. Product directors turns that knowledge into a cohesive product strategy and roadmap. The director of product management mentors product managers to help them understand the data and their users. This gives them the ability to craft stories and hypotheses that they communicate with the team.
The Director of Product is Expected to:
- Help conduct user research, craft user surveys, and build user tests to get insights on prototypes that the team created.
- Monitor data in Google Analytics, Heap, and other internal reporting dashboards to understand how users interact with the product.
- Write requirements and participate in Agile development rituals like sprint planning meetings with the development team.
- Iterate the product to meet user needs better.
- Solve the product’s pain points while growing the business and meeting company objectives.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering or Computer Science.
- 7+ years experience in one or more of the following: System Design, Package Design, or PCB process.
- Software development experience as a developer and manager.
- Participation in all stages of the software development lifecycle and experience with Agile software methodologies.
- The ability to use tools to create insights to improve the product, and demonstrated analytical skills
- Sound knowledge and a solid understanding of business and technology.
Director of Product Job Description Example 5 – IT
A good director of product management in the technology industry takes on challenges and works to find solutions. But they are also flexible enough to make changes based on customer feedback and current trends. Developing great software takes skilled planning and forethought. These product directors are adaptable and know when to think outside the box.
The Director of Product is Expected to:
- Collaborate with a team of engineers to analyze data.
- Discuss the product roadmap with significant clients.
- Maintain transparency within the software company.
- Make sure the whole team is on the same page.
- Be accountable for the end-to-end product experience, product management, and design teams.
- Work on product strategy for both short and long-term outcomes.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or Engineering.
- Working knowledge of data querying tools and languages – SQL/R/Python.
- 7+ years experience in one or more of the following: System Design, Package Design, or PCB process.
- Software development experience as a developer or manager.
- Participation in all stages of the software development lifecycle. As well as experience with Agile software methodologies.
- Sound knowledge and thorough understanding of business and technology.
Director of Product Job Description Example 6 – Healthcare Management
The director of product management needs to be aware of the big picture and industry trends. But it is of equal importance to be mindful of the details of individual products. The director of product management is conversant and quick to learn about the tradeoffs of a given technology. This understanding enhances product decision-making and gains the trust of engineering teams.
The Director of Product is Expected to:
- Be responsible for the company’s operating system technology products.
- Understand what is happening in the market, industry, or on a topic the team is considering for the product roadmap.
- Manage operations and ensure that teams maintain maximum velocity.
- Work with a cross-functional team in operations, legal, executive, analytics, and application users.
- Learn what is essential to application users and figure out how to deliver a product that meets their needs.
Requirements
- 8+ years of experience in software, XYZ-technology, eCommerce, product management, or marketing.
- Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or Engineering.
- Experience leading a category or product team.
- Strong intuition for product interaction design and user experience.
- Economic sciences, technician, or engineering training with additional training in business administration.
- A Product Management certification.
Director of Product Job Description Example 7 – Work Program
A good director of product’s primary focus is to ensure that they align the entire product organization. They also build the right features that give value to the customers.
The director of product management is exceptional at business strategy, being inspirational, and understanding the long-term picture. At the same time, they are good at the operational side and making things happen.
The Director of Product is Expected to:
- Lead the product organization.
- Guide teams with numerous products at different phases in the product lifecycle.
- Talk with customers to gain additional insights about their businesses.
- Work with engineering and design teams to develop new features.
- Work with marketing, sales, and customer success to launch a new product. Help them better understand what’s next on the product roadmap.
Requirements
- Minimum eight years of software experience, e-Commerce, XYZ-technology, marketing, or product management.
- At least five years of leadership experience in an international environment and across multiple sites.
- Excellent communication skills to communicate with the business development team and senior management.
- Strong strategic, analytical, and coordinating skills.
- Possess inspirational leadership and entrepreneurship qualities.
- High-level motivational and leadership skills to manage virtual teams.
