Director - Product Operations

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Director - Product Operations based in Canada.

This is a senior leadership opportunity focused on building and evolving the operating backbone of a high-growth Product and R&D organization.
You will define the frameworks, systems, planning cycles, and operating rhythms that help product teams execute with clarity and discipline.
The role combines strategic leadership, operational excellence, cross-functional influence, and continuous improvement.
You will lead a team while partnering closely with Product, Engineering, Design, Go-to-Market, Finance, and executive leadership.
A major focus will be scaling modern product operations through effective tooling, data-driven decision-making, AI-enabled workflows, and strong governance.
You will also shape product management enablement, organizational capabilities, and ways of working across distributed teams.
This is a fully remote position in Canada with significant scope to define and mature the Product Operations function.

• Own the Product Operations strategy, operating model, planning frameworks, and organizational rhythms that enable Product and R&D teams to operate effectively.
• Design and lead end-to-end planning cycles, including annual goal setting, quarterly planning, capacity reviews, and ongoing operating cadences, aligning Product, R&D, and Go-to-Market priorities.
• Anticipate organizational, delivery, and capability risks, develop proactive interventions, and provide strategic recommendations to senior product leadership.
• Own the product toolchain strategy, including planning, intake, and road mapping platforms, while establishing governance, data standards, transition plans, and adoption practices.
• Champion AI-powered workflows that improve product planning, documentation, decision-making, and execution.
• Transform complex operational data into clear executive-level insights and establish metrics that measure Product Operations maturity, delivery effectiveness, capacity, and organizational health.
• Support financial planning and budget operations by providing accurate operational inputs to guide investment and resource allocation decisions.
• Lead continuous improvement and structured change management across planning, intake, delivery, reporting, and enablement processes.
• Establish scalable product management practices through onboarding, enablement programs, capability-building initiatives, playbooks, templates, decision frameworks, and process documentation.
• Lead and develop a cross-functional Product Operations team, fostering accountability, capability growth, and operational excellence.
• Serve as a senior operational partner to Product, Engineering, Design, GTM, and Finance leaders, facilitating executive forums and proactively driving alignment.
• Identify opportunities to improve organizational effectiveness and ensure new tools, processes, and ways of working deliver measurable adoption and impact.

• Deep, progressive experience in Product Operations, Technical Program Management, or a closely related discipline within a B2B SaaS or software environment, ideally at Senior Manager or Director level.
• Demonstrated experience designing, building, and scaling Product Operations functions and operating models rather than simply managing established processes.
• Proven leadership experience, including direct people management, mentoring, capability building, and developing high-performing teams.
• Strong expertise in product planning frameworks, operating models, modern product tooling, governance, and organizational data standards.
• Executive-level communication and presentation skills, with the ability to turn complex operational information into concise, compelling recommendations and narratives.
• Exceptional cross-functional influence and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to align Product, R&D, Engineering, Design, GTM, and Finance without relying solely on formal authority.
• Strong systems thinking and strategic judgment, with the ability to create scalable frameworks that improve execution without unnecessarily adding complexity.
• Demonstrated change management experience, particularly in driving adoption of new processes, tools, and operating practices across large or distributed organizations.
• Strong hands-on familiarity with AI tools and AI-enabled workflows, including experience embedding AI into product planning, documentation, or operational processes.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, organizational, and decision-making skills.
• Experience in cybersecurity, email security, enterprise SaaS, organizational design, Go-to-Market coordination, product launches, or company-level operating models is an advantage.
• Professional credentials such as CSPO, PMP, Lean Six Sigma, or an MBA are considered advantageous.

• Base salary range of CAD $140,000–$210,000
  , depending on role scope, location, qualifications,…