Senior Manager, Product Operations

DataDirect Networks (DDN) is a global market leader in AI and high-performance data storage innovation. The Senior Manager, Product Operations will lead strategic planning processes, drive cross-functional initiatives, and build operational infrastructure to enhance decision-making within the product and engineering teams.

Responsibilities:

• Own and orchestrate the annual and quarterly strategic planning cycle for the Product and R&D organization, including goal-setting (OKRs/MBOs), investment prioritization, and portfolio review
• Partner with CPO, VP Product, VP Engineering, and Finance to develop multi-year product investment strategies and resource allocation frameworks
• Translate business strategy into actionable operating plans; maintain a live view of strategic commitments, resource coverage, and trade-offs
• Lead preparation of quarterly business reviews (QBRs), board deck inputs, and executive strategy off-sites
• Identify, scope, and personally drive high-priority cross-functional initiatives that cut across Product, Engineering, Finance, Sales, and Customer Success
• Design the operating model for strategic programs: define charters, assign DRIs, establish decision rights, and govern execution through structured reviews
• Lead organizational effectiveness initiatives: process redesign, tooling modernization, and ways-of-working improvements that measurably increase team output
• Act as a trusted strategic advisor to product and engineering leaders, surfacing insights, challenging assumptions, and driving clarity on prioritization
• Enhance product operations function: product launch readiness, go-to-market coordination, release management, and feedback loop integration
• Define and track a product and R&D performance scorecard — covering velocity, quality, time-to-market, and investment efficiency — with monthly reporting to senior leadership
• Partner with Finance on headcount planning, vendor spend governance, and ROI analysis for R&D programs
• Establish scalable operational playbooks and templates used across the product and engineering teams
• Build strong working relationships across R&D, Sales, Finance, and Marketing; serve as the connective tissue across organizational boundaries
• Communicate program status, strategic progress, and operational health clearly to C-level executives and board stakeholders

Requirements:

• 12+ years of experience in product operations, strategy & operations, program management, or management consulting within a B2B technology company
• Demonstrated experience owning and leading strategic planning processes (annual planning, OKRs, portfolio reviews) at a VP or C-level-adjacent scope
• Proven track record designing and driving cross-functional strategic initiatives from ambiguous starts through measurable outcomes
• Strong business and financial acumen: comfortable with P&L visibility, headcount planning, and investment frameworks
• Exceptional executive communication skills — can write a compelling strategy memo, run a QBR, and present to a board
• Experience managing and developing direct reports and influencing without authority across senior stakeholders
• Bachelor's degree required; MBA or advanced degree strongly preferred
• Background in infrastructure software, data storage, HPC, or AI/ML platform companies
• Experience at a high-growth technology company or in a corporate strategy / management consulting role
• Familiarity with Agile at scale, SAFe, or lean product development frameworks
• Experience working with geographically distributed product and engineering teams