[Remote] Director of Product Management

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Xero is dedicated to making running a business beautiful by enhancing efficiency for small businesses. As the Director of Product Management, you will lead multiple product teams, solve complex product challenges, and drive key commercial and customer success metrics through effective team management.ResponsibilitiesBe accountable for all the equivalent product management responsibilities, at a product area level, including:Network across Xero to ensure the products within the portfolio connect to Xero’s strategy, objectives and futureDevelops trusting relationships with senior level stakeholders, where conversions lead to actionable outcomesArticulates a narrative to a diverse set of senior stakeholders to influence outcomesBe accountable for all the equivalent product management responsibilities, at portfolio / sub-portfolio(s) level, including:Understand the Xero context, map out the Xero landscape and identify related value streams that might create collaboration opportunities or dependenciesDefine customer vision, bring to life the long-term future state - the difference you're going to make in your customers' livesDefine scope and approach, define our approach to realising the vision, identifying the big bets we're going to make and the significant value drops to customers over time, including the outcomes we hope to achieveDeveloping a support strategy and plan, create low-fidelity solution concepts to explore the solution space and determine the right direction. De-risk assumptions of value, usability, feasibility and viability, in ongoing #testlearnrefine loops, increasing investment in solution only as confidence grows. Create high-level concepts to demonstrate the ideal future experience and set a north-star aspiration to guide future decision makingLaunch & monitor, align with Customer teams on launch timing, approach and specifics based on the agreed Customer Value Proposition. Lock in external messaging and other outward-facing assets. Run through a checklist of all the things that need to be considered when launching a new product or featureNurture iterative product improvementsTake responsibility for managing risks (in line with Xero Risk Management Standard) arising from non-functional concerns including security, privacy, regulatory change and compliance, accuracy, responsible data use and availability: consulting with stakeholders and leading trade-off decisionsNurture lifecycle management & sunsetting, and product improvements. Continuously monitor the performance of the product against key success measures and maintain an ongoing dialogue with customers to surface and prioritise new opportunities to optimise the product, while optimising existing featuresStandardise and improve product practice. Leaders actively support practitioners to develop their skills and succeed in their contributions to XPF Activities; they work with them to identify growth opportunities, and share their knowledge and experience in service of that growthDeliberately plan the work you are involved in, forecast key milestones and deliveries and track progress against the planProvide team leadership, shaping the team vision, culture, product team scope and ways of workingEnable and empower people to work autonomously where appropriate, providing guidance, coaching and mentorshipActively engage with your team members about their careers, manage performance and support their growth and developmentRecruit new Xero's as required, ensuring team members are high quality, fit Xero's culture, and are on-boarded effectivelyManage team compliance with Xero policies, processes and requirementsRole model exemplary leadership by developing leadership capabilities and upholding our Xero valuesSupport the growth and development of your direct reports, ensuring they have what they need to perform their roles and feel empowered and engagedFoster a safe environment for people to experiment and learnYou drive performance and results in your teamYou're responsible for the establishment of OKRs and your team's work is contributing to achieve OKRsYou deeply understand our customers and their problemsYou have strong relationships with your stakeholders who are engaged and have a thorough understanding of your vision, strategy and roadmapYou have an accessible, transparent, prioritised and well executed roadmap across a portfolio / sub-portfolio which focuses on value to Xero and the customerYou champion product initiatives, narratives and vision, driving alignment across teams and the organisationSignificant people leadership experience, with the ability to successfully motivate individuals and teams and develop individuals capabilitiesYour team members are able to see the big picture and connect their work and their team’s to strategyYou are an effective coach, asking the important questions, listening and having the real (if difficult) conversionsYour roadmap is being executed according to plan and you and your team are focused on the most important initiativesSupport your team to remove barriersYou build inclusive, resilient and psychologically safe teamsCollaborate internationally to create horizontal alignment across XeroYou demonstrate and amplify Xero’s ValuesLeads others in the use of best practice user research approaches and methodologies to generate powerful insightsMentors others in problem definition and articulation techniques to expertly define customer problemsCoaches others in techniques to create MVPs/MLPs, incremental solution decisions and solution definitions, to expertly solve customer problemsSupports others to run complex or detailed experiments leading to validation of solution optionsRuns education sessions for teams on a product/domain to increase depth of knowledge across XeroMentors others to develop product strategies and roadmaps that are compelling and align both business and product interestsPilots new systems that support the development of innovative ideas across productLeads a culture of courageous prioritization across teams and geographies to improve Xero’s product decision-making capabilityRefines and evolves Xero’s PM ways of working to continuously improve Xero’s approach to PMDesigns innovative release strategies and processes to reduce release lead time and impactsDevelops new internal approaches and tools to accurately identify and size markets / segmentsInterrogates and validates product-market fit to ensure products are commercially successful in the marketDrives Xero’s approach to product decision-making, to ensure decisions align to Xero’s short-term and long-term strategic prioritiesExpertly facilitates improvised conversations on any Xero-related issue, with senior level stakeholders, leading to an actionable outcomeSets the standard in articulating a narrative to a diverse set of senior stakeholders to influence outcomesEstablishes or improves cross-functional processes to enable connections that support exemplary product outcomesCoaches others in new analytical approaches to generate insights and improve the effectiveness of product decisionsTeaches others to meaningfully translate information and insights for different stakeholders and audiencesCollaborates across functions to integrate information from a variety of sources and teams and generate meaningful insightsClarity: See the big picture and connect the work our team does to strategy. Cascade the operating lan and enable communication and feedbackAlign & Engage: Be a good coach (ask good questions and listen to the answers). Have real, if difficult, conversations. Help your people remove barriers. Collaborates internationally to create horizontal alignment across XeroPerform: Build inclusive, resilient and psychologically safe teams. Drives performance and results. Grow your people and careersSkillsExtensive experience in implementing new and improved approaches to product practiceProven ability to drive strategic priorities and help others relate to and align with themDemonstrated experience collaborating with diverse and senior stakeholder groups to realise customer / commercial outcomesStrong track record of addressing customer needs through innovative use of technologyEffectively influenced outcomes at all levels in a variety of contextsExtensive experience in defining product roadmaps and long term planning at a Portfolio / Sub-portfolio(s) levelExtensive experience within industry sectors relevant to XeroPrevious experience at a Senior Manager levelProven people leadership and ability to successfully motivate individuals and teamsExtensive experience managing a large and/or complex global portfolio / sub-portfolio(s) to deliver customer / business outcomesRelevant graduate degree (preferably in a technology or business related field) from a top-tier institutionExperience leading and coaching other leadersExtensive experience in managing product teams, leading cross-functional teams and fostering an open, collaborative team environmentCompany OverviewXero is an online accounting software for small businesses that automating invoicing, bank reconciliations, and reporting. It was founded in 2006, and is headquartered in Wellington, Wellington, NZL, with a workforce of 1001-5000 employees. Its website is http://xero.com.Company H1B SponsorshipXero has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships, with 4 in 2025, 2 in 2024, 1 in 2023, 3 in 2022, 4 in 2021, 3 in 2020. Please note that this does not guarantee sponsorship for this specific role.