Product Development Operations Director

Position Summary We are seeking a Product Development Operations Director — a strategic, cross-functional leader responsible for driving operational excellence across our Product and Engineering organization. This role sits at the nexus of strategic planning, process optimization, agile transformation, and data-driven governance, to enable high-velocity delivery of high-quality products in a dynamic ad-tech landscape. You will own the operating cadence of our product development lifecycle — from portfolio planning and roadmap execution to metrics-driven performance governance. You will champion automation and Generative AI as force multipliers for operational efficiency, and you will be the connective tissue that ensures our teams plan better, execute faster, and learn continuously. This is not a traditional project management role. This is a systems thinker and operational strategist role for someone who thrives on designing the machinery that makes great product development organizations run. Role and Responsibilities KEY RESPONSIBILITIES 1. Operating Cadence & Portfolio Planning Design, implement, and own the  end-to-end operating cadence  for the product and engineering organization — including annual planning cycles, roadmap reviews, and executive stakeholder readouts. Drive  portfolio-level planning  processes that align product strategy with business objectives, resource capacity, and technical dependencies. Establish and manage  intake, prioritization, and trade-off frameworks  to ensure the highest-impact work is funded and sequenced. Facilitate  cross-functional and cross-site roadmap alignment  across Product, Engineering, Design, and Business stakeholders. 2. Process Optimization & Automation Identify, design, and implement  process improvements  across the product development lifecycle — from ideation through release and post-launch review. Champion  automation-first thinking  — eliminate manual, repetitive operational overhead through workflow automation, scripting, and intelligent tooling. Leverage  Generative AI (GenAI)  capabilities to accelerate operational processes including (but not limited to): Automated status reporting and stakeholder communications AI-assisted sprint/release documentation Predictive analytics for delivery risk and capacity forecasting Build and maintain  playbooks, templates, and standardized workflows  that create consistency without stifling team autonomy. 3. Agile Transformation & Delivery Excellence Lead and evolve  agile practices  (scrum, SAFe etc.) across multiple product and engineering teams to optimize for speed, quality, and predictability. Partner with Engineering Leadership to drive  continuous improvement  in delivery velocity, cycle time, lead time, and flow efficiency. Build Agile Community of practice that serves as a grassroots engine for learning, alignment, and continuous improvement around Agile practices. 4. Tooling & Technology for Operational Excellence Manage the operational tech stack , ensuring consistent tooling adoption (e.g., Jira, Confluence) and maintaining data accuracy and governance. Own the  product development toolchain strategy  — evaluate, implement, and optimize tools for portfolio management, collaboration, documentation, and reporting. Stay current on emerging  AI/ML-powered DevOps and product ops tooling  and bring forward recommendations for adoption. 5. Analytics, Metrics & Governance Define and maintain a  product development metrics — including KPIs for delivery performance (velocity, throughput, cycle time, defect rates), planning accuracy, and operational health. Build and own  executive-grade dashboards and reporting  that provide real-time, data-driven visibility into roadmap execution, resource utilization, and risk. Establish  governance mechanisms  — review cadences, escalation paths — that ensure accountability. Report regularly to senior leadership on  portfolio health, delivery performance, and operational maturity  with actionable insights and recommendations. 6. Cross-Functional Leadership & Change Management Serve as the  operational connective tissue  between Product, Engineering, Design, Data, QA, and Business stakeholders. Lead  change management  for new processes, tools, and ways of working — driving adoption through influence, communication, and demonstrated value. Build and foster a  culture of operational discipline, transparency, and continuous improvement . [If applicable] Build, lead, and develop a team of  Program Managers, Delivery Managers, or Product Operations Analysts . Required Core: 10+ years  of experience in product operations, program management, technical program management, agile delivery. 3+ years  in a leadership or senior individual contributor role driving operational excellence across  multiple product/engineering teams   Deep expertise in  Agile/Lean methodologies  (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, Lean Portfolio Management) with hands-on experience in agile transformation. Demonstrated experience designing and implementing  planning cadences, portfolio management processes, and governance frameworks  at scale. Proven track record of leveraging  automation, tooling, and data analytics  to drive operational efficiency and eliminate waste. Hands-on experience with  product/project management tools  (Jira and Confluence) including advanced configuration, reporting, and integrations. Strong  analytical and quantitative skills  — comfortable building metrics frameworks, dashboards, and deriving insights from delivery data. Excellent  communication and facilitation skills  — ability to operate effectively from the team level to the C-suite. Experience working in  fast-paced, high-growth environments  with rapidly evolving priorities. Technical: Experience building  automated reporting pipelines  — pulling data from multiple sources (Jira, Git, CI/CD, spreadsheets) into unified dashboards and stakeholder-re