Product Operations Director

About the Job:

Zone & Co is scaling, and we need an architect to build our "Product Operating System." We are looking for a visionary Head of Product Operations who has seen "what good looks like" at a world-class technology organization but is hungry to build it from the ground up in a dynamic, unstructured startup environment. You will not just manage processes; you will serve as a force multiplier for the entire R&D organization. You will be the strategic right hand to product leadership, translating high-level business vision into operational reality.

What You'll Do:

The Head of Product Operations will lead the strategic alignment and operational efficacy of the Product organization. This role moves beyond simple workflow management to orchestrate the rhythm of the business. You will act as the connective tissue between Product, Engineering, Customer Success, and GTM, ensuring that our growth does not come at the cost of clarity or quality. You will bring a "best-in-class" mindset—introducing frameworks, data rigor, and leadership behaviors found in top-tier tech companies—while adapting them to the agility required at Zone. You will build a culture of psychological safety, clear communication, and relentless execution.

Architecting the "Product OS"

• System Design: Move beyond ad-hoc improvements to design and implement a scalable "Product Operating System" that governs how we discover, plan, build, and launch products.
• Strategic Rhythm: Own the cadence of the product organization (QBRs, Roadmap Reviews, Release Planning), ensuring these are high-leverage decision-making forums, not just status updates.

Strategic Alignment & Visibility

• Source of Truth: Define and own the "Single Source of Truth" for product data. Move beyond basic KPI tracking to provide predictive insights on product health, delivery velocity, and market impact.
• Executive Interlock: Act as a strategic advisor to the C-suite, providing visibility into operational risks and resource allocation to ensure we are betting on the right initiatives.

Culture & Enablement

• Continuous Learning: Institutionalize post-mortems and retrospectives not as "blame games," but as engines for continuous improvement.
• Change Management: Lead the organization through growth and change with empathy and clarity, minimizing friction during pivots or scaling phases.

How You'll Do It:

Operational Architecture:

• Architect and scale the end-to-end product lifecycle process, from "fuzzy front-end" ideation to post-launch optimization, ensuring it is lightweight enough for speed but robust enough for scale.

Data-Driven Decisioning:

• Establish a sophisticated metrics framework (e.g., Say/Do Ratios, Cycle Time, ARR impact) that enables leadership to make objective, data- backed trade-off decisions.

Cross-Functional Orchestration:

• Dismantling silos between Product, Sales, and CS. Ensure that customer feedback loops are systemized and directly influence the product roadmap.

Launch Excellence:

• Transform "release management" into a strategic GTM advantage. Partner with Product Marketing to ensure internal readiness matches external ambition.

Tooling & Stack Strategy:

• Evaluate and consolidate the product tech stack (Jira, Productboard, etc.) to ensure tools serve the workflow, not the other way around. Leadership DNA (Competencies)

Visionary & Strategic:

• You can zoom out to see the 3-year horizon but zoom in to unblock a ticket. You have a clear vision for how a product org should run and can communicate it effectively.

Empowerment over Micromanagement:

• You build systems that allow teams to operate autonomously. You trust smart people to do their jobs and focus on removing obstacles rather than dictating tasks.

Psychological Safety:

• You create an environment where risks are taken, and failure is viewed as data. You encourage diverse perspectives and debate without consensus-seeking.

Influence Without Authority:

• You can align cross-functional VP-level stakeholders (Engineering, Sales, Marketing) around shared goals without needing a direct reporting line.

What You'll Need:

Experience: 8-10+ years in Product Operations or Product Management with at least 3+ years in a leadership capacity.

The "Hybrid" Background:
Must have experience at a "Branded" / Tier-1 Tech Company (e.g., FAANG, Salesforce, Shopify, etc.) understanding what "great" looks like at scale.
Must also have experience in a Start-up / Scale-up environment, proving you can build structure from chaos without bureaucratic bloat.

Operational Mastery: deeply familiar with modern product frameworks (Outcome-based roadmaps, OKRs, PLG motions).

Communication: Elite communication skills; able to distill complex operational challenges into clear narratives for the executive team.