Director, Product Strategy

Proto leads innovation and transformation efforts for large organizations, often through the creation of new products, services, and platforms. The work involves understanding user needs, system behavior, and technical possibilities, and using that understanding to define viable directions, concepts, and solutions that unlock new value and growth potential.

The Director, Product Strategy leads this work by structuring complex problem spaces and driving decision-making across uncertainty. The role requires fluency in design and technology, as well as strategy: shaping product and experience concepts, evaluating technical implications, and guiding teams toward solutions that are both ambitious and buildable. Directors engage directly with the work and ensure that direction is grounded in real constraints while still opening up new possibilities.

What you will do:

• Frame opportunities: Define the problem space, objectives, and decision criteria that guide product and experience work;
• Model systems and behavior: Develop system-level views of users, behaviors, constraints, and dependencies to inform solution design;
• Shape 0-1 solutions: Work with commercial strategy, design, and technology leads to define product, service, and experience concepts and guide them through prototyping and piloting and into execution;
• Enable teams: Lead, coach, and develop direct reports and project teams, setting clear expectations, providing feedback, and raising the quality of work over time;
• Lead client decision-making: Facilitate working sessions and present work to executive audiences clearly and directly, using narrative, evidence, and concrete artifacts to support decisions;
• Integrate cross-disciplinary insight: Synthesize inputs across disciplines to build shared understanding and inform direction;
• Advance the practice: Contribute to internal methods, frameworks, and external points of view that improve clarity, consistency, and quality across engagements.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of relevant experience in product strategy, experience strategy, service or systems design, innovation consulting, product leadership, or venture-building contexts;
• Undergraduate and/or graduate degree in engineering, design, economics, social sciences, or a related discipline preferred;
• Proven ability to own complex projects end-to-end, including setting direction and being accountable for outcomes;
• Experience turning ambiguous challenges into structured recommendations that inform product, investment, or organizational decisions;
• Experience partnering with design and engineering teams to develop product concepts, with enough technical fluency to engage credibly on constraints and tradeoffs;
• Proven ability to lead senior stakeholders through uncertain or high-stakes decisions;
• Exceptional analytical, synthesis, and communication skills, with a track record of producing clear, decision-oriented narratives and artifacts;
• Ability to stay focused under pressure, manage multiple priorities, and deliver high-quality work even when things are unclear or timelines are tight;
• Good judgment and low ego. Able to stay calm under pressure and handle disagreement constructively.

In New York City, the base salary for this position is $170,000-$190,000. Individual compensation varies based on job-related factors including years of relevant skills and experience, level of responsibility, and qualifications. This position is based out of the New York office and reports into our Partner, Managing Director of Experience. 

Proto is a New York based company with offices at 120 Broadway, 34th Floor. Our staff is encouraged to work-from-office on days of their choosing based on personal preferences, collaboration moments, client meetings, and all-company gatherings. We also support workplace flexibility and have made work-from-anywhere available to all staff (within a 3-hour time zone of eastern standard time zone). Our core business hours are generally 9:30am-6:00pm EST; however, due to our client service model and collaborative working culture, individual working hours fluctuate to reflect client deadlines and deliverables.

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