Product Director

About the Role

Motivo is seeking a Product Director to lead a portfolio of complex engineering and product development programs. You will manage a team of direct-report Project and Product Managers to deliver creative solutions, cultivate deep client partnerships, and drive sustained business growth. As a member of the leadership team, you will also champion continuous improvement across Motivo’s people, processes, and tools. If you are a builder who thrives in ambiguity and can translate a big-picture vision into concrete, client-ready solutions, we want you on our team.

What You’ll Do

1. Client Management & Business Development (40%)

Success at Motivo starts with deep client empathy. We manage our projects to build long-term relationships, not short-term wins. We have a reputation for being just as dedicated to our clients’ missions as their internal team - going the extra mile to ensure they are successful.

• Relationship Management: Act as the senior escalation point across all engagements to ensure a top-tier client experience (CX).
• Client Strategy: Establish the strategic direction for business unit accounts, integrating market trends and client insights into long-term portfolio planning.
• Business Capture: Collaborate with Business Development to onboard new clients, and lead negotiations to close major follow-on contracts.

2. Organizational Leadership (30%)

The Product Director is a force-multiplier, leading a diverse team of professionals.

• Team Guidance & Mentorship: Structure, support, and mentor a team of 3–6 project and product managers, making key resource and project assignments.
• Personnel Management: Define staffing needs, set clear performance expectations, identify skill gaps, support development plans, and proactively resolve performance shortfalls.
• Process Optimization: Identify, document, and scale core PM processes and cross-functional tools to ensure continuous operational improvement.
• Corporate Citizenship: Cultivate an internal culture of collaboration while expanding Motivo’s external footprint through community and non-profit connections.

3. Project & Product Management Oversight (30%)

At Motivo, Project & Product management have overlapping but distinct responsibilities. Product Managers have a specific focus on helping clients define product features and development roadmaps, typically in early-phase engagements. The Project teams handle much of the day-to-day management during project execution. As the team lead, the Product Director is responsible for oversight, approvals and continuous improvement of the team’s project and product management functions.

• Planning & Execution: Oversee project planning complexities, approve PM estimates, and develop recovery strategies for major deviations or overruns.
• Quality & Reporting: Support reporting workflows to maintain high stakeholder satisfaction, tracking how reporting impacts client engagement.
• Contract & Scope Management: Review and approve Change Orders and PM contracts while collaborating internally to improve governance templates.
• Resource Loading: Balance PM workload and project assignments, partnering with HR to resolve resource constraints.
• Strategy & Roadmapping: Mentor Product Managers on early-phase product roadmapping, feature definitions, and client alignment communications.

Qualifications
Required

• Experience: 8+ years of progressive leadership in engineering, design, NPI, or product development.
• Client Focus: Proven history managing senior stakeholder relationships, handling executive escalations, and delivering excellent CX.
• Leadership: Success building, mentoring, and managing high-performing teams, shaping culture, and resolving personnel challenges.
• Systems Builder: Ability to formalize and scale operating systems, processes, and cross-functional governance frameworks.
• Commercial Acumen: Experience negotiating major follow-on contracts, managing scope creep, and optimizing portfolio profitability.
• Communication: Strong written and verbal skills capable of bridging technical teams, corporate management, and client executives.
• Travel: Ability to travel domestically up to 20% of the time.

Preferred

• Experience in complex hardware sectors (automotive, aerospace, robotics, autonomous systems, energy).
• Strong familiarity with engineering workflows, product lifecycles, and NPI complexities.
• PMP Certification or an MBA (or equivalent exposure to business cases and startup economics).
• Forward-thinking approach to integrating Gen AI tools into workflows to drive team efficiency.
• US Citizenship or Permanent Residency (due to export-controlled industries).

Who you are

Maybe you’re a startup product leader who has shipped complex hardware, but now you’re ready to turn your hard-won insights into more stable, repeatable success across new and interesting industries. Maybe you’re an engineering or operations leader at a traditional company or technology giant, feeling weighed down by slow-moving bureaucracy and a lack of creative imagination. Maybe you’re an empathetic consultant who is looking for a healthier, more sustainable environment than the cutthroat “up-or-out” grind. Whoever you are, if you’re a builder who thrives in ambiguity and loves mentoring a team, we are excited to have you come join us.

Benefits

We’re convinced that the team and the projects are hands-down the best part of working at Motivo. To support that, we offer a solid benefits package, including high-quality insurance, a 401(k) match, generous vacation time, and our Monday–Thursday 4/10 workweek. We offer profit-sharing bonuses, which are tied to overall company performance, because we believe in winning together; we’re transparent about the company’s numbers, and when our hard work drives financial success, employees may share in the upside.

• Base Salary Range: $140,000 - $160,000
• Salary is dependent on experience, knowledge, and interview performance.