Director, Product Line Management

Director, Product Line Management

A leading optical technology company is seeking a Director, Product Line Management to lead high-speed optical transceiver product lines within its datacenter and communications business. This is a high-impact opportunity for a technical product-line leader who enjoys owning business outcomes, shaping next-generation hardware strategy, working closely with engineering, and partnering with hyperscale, AI infrastructure, datacom, and networking customers.

This is a true Product Line Management / PLM role, not a software product management or project management position. The Director of Product Management will act as the "CEO of the product line," owning product strategy, roadmap, revenue, gross margin, customer engagement, design wins, cost reduction, lifecycle execution, and cross-functional alignment.

The role is tied directly to some of the most important technology shifts in infrastructure, including AI data centers, high-speed networking, optical interconnects, GPUs, switches, and emerging optical architectures such as Extra Dense Pluggable Optics / XPO and Co-Packaged Optics / CPO.

Key Responsibilities

• The Director of Product Line Management will be responsible for leading and supporting product-line strategy, execution, and business performance, including:
• Own revenue, gross margin, backlog, cost reduction, roadmap execution, and overall product-line financial performance.
• Manage high-speed optical transceiver product lines serving datacenter, hyperscale, AI infrastructure, datacom, and networking markets.
• Act as the business owner for assigned product lines, balancing customer needs, technical tradeoffs, profitability, manufacturability, cost, schedule, and long-term roadmap priorities.
• Build business cases for R&D and Cap Ex investments.
• Monitor R&D and Cap Ex spend and track return on invested capital against approved business cases.
• Participate in annual budgeting, long-range planning, and 5-year product and revenue strategy.
• Help define revenue, profitability, market share, and product-growth targets.
• Partner closely with R&D and engineering teams to guide technical direction, product architecture decisions, and execution priorities.
• Translate customer and market requirements into differentiated, technically feasible, and profitable product offerings.
• Drive design wins with hyperscale, datacenter, AI infrastructure, datacom, switch, ASIC, and networking customers.
• Partner with Sales and Product Marketing on customer engagement plans, market positioning, launch strategy, sales tools, and product collateral.
• Manage product lifecycle activities from concept through development, qualification, production ramp, cost reduction, and end-of-life planning.
• Support Operations with forecasting, revenue planning, order allocation, supply alignment, capacity planning, and manufacturing readiness.
• Work with Operations, NPI, Supply Chain, component suppliers, and contract manufacturers to drive cost-reduction initiatives.
• Monitor the competitive landscape and identify market trends in optical transceivers, optical interconnects, CPO, XPO, datacenter optics, and high-speed connectivity.
• Influence cross-functionally across Sales, R&D, Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, Legal, Marketing, customers, suppliers, and manufacturing partners.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a technical business leader who combines optical hardware expertise with true product-line ownership. This person likely began their career in engineering, optical design, R&D, field applications, or technical sales before moving into product line management or commercial product leadership.

This is a great fit for someone who wants more than a narrow product execution role. The company is looking for someone who can own the outcome, not simply track milestones. The right candidate will be comfortable leading through influence, working with highly technical teams, engaging sophisticated customers, and making business decisions that affect revenue, margin, roadmap, investment, and customer success.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering required.
• 10+ years of experience in Product Management, Product Line Management, engineering leadership, technical business leadership, or a closely related function.
• Product Line Management / PLM experience strongly preferred.
• Experience with optical transceivers, optical communications, photonics, datacom hardware, high-speed networking, or related technologies required.
• Strong understanding of datacenter, hyperscale, AI infrastructure, networking, or optical interconnect markets.
• Ability to own business outcomes such as revenue, gross margin, roadmap, cost reduction, design wins, customer engagement, and product lifecycle performance.
• Strong technical foundation with the ability to engage credibly with R&D and engineering teams.
• Ability to understand optical transceiver architecture, customer requirements, roadmap tradeoffs, manufacturability, cost, margin, performance, and schedule…