VP of Data Product

Come work at Smarter Sorting!
Smarter Sorting is the leader in Product Intelligence.
We create data on what products are – their physical and chemical attributes – such that they can be better classified and better connected to the world of rules that surrounds them. Compliance, sustainability, logistics, marketing claims, product design, everything. If you know more about a product, you can do better with it. That’s our guiding light.
To do this, we need a VP of Data Product who owns our Data Product.
This person must be experienced and creative and think computationally. They must become deeply obsessed with the data that defines products and innovating to provide better product-handling decisions to our current customers (retailers, consumer brands) and future customers (everyone). They must love measurement. And they should probably have a good sense of humor.

About the Role:

• The VP of Data Product shapes and executes the plan that drives our data innovation, then plugs into the other departments – Customer Experience, Sales, Customer Service – to realize the full value of their team’s work.
• Report to: VP of Customer ExperienceTheir reports are: the Data Product Team

Customer and Industry Knowledge:

• Deeply understand how our customers use our data (e.g., their data systems and Master Data Management, third-party integrations)
• Understand the impact of our data on our customers (what it automates, the business value, measurement of our data’s impact)
• Conversant in the regulatory landscape and its impact on our customers (waste, transportation, fire codes, etc.)

Product Definition:

• Own the Data Product Roadmap that defines the work we do on our API, Classifications and Machine Learning. This is the number one responsibility
• Set prioritization of features and release dates, all the usual stuff
• Work closely with the Customer Experience team to ensure the Data Team’s work makes their designs come alive
• Own the customer-facing documentation of our API. How it works, how to get connected, the definition of each field, etc.
• Documentation as Product Marketing. We want to show the sausage-making (fine, data-making). By defining how an ML model to predict flashpoint works, we can sell more – to our own team and to our customers
• Demo frequently. Turn our data innovation into a constant barrage of screencasts, Slacks and emails to showcase our work. Brag, have fun, keep people informed. Showing work-in-progress internally and to our customers is critical for our culture and for evolving product definition.

Execution:

• Lead a team of analysts and engineers to execute the work
• Insist on creativity and humor in the service of get-shit-done
• Communicate, politic, wrestle and celebrate with other departments
• Measurement. Own the dashboard that shows key metrics for all our normalized attributes, classifications and custom business rules. The dashboard measures the speed and confidence in our classifications, as well as the value per classification (e.g., a product classified for a Fire Code Exception creates a $23,774/year value per retailer)
• Basically realize all the work in the Product Definition chunk

Your First 3 Months:

• Learn waste, transportation and fire code regulations
• Learn how our classification engine works
• Meet our customers and listen to them
• Rewrite the documentation for our API Product (this is the best way to learn everything). This includes documentation of each classification, how to get started, how to connect, how it all works.
• Manage our integration with GS1 Data Pools

Your First 6 Months:

• Onboarding over
• Take ownership of the Data Product roadmap and team
• Launch and manage The Dashboard That Measures Everything. 
• Thanks to you, every product has a Smarter Sorting Score – a single metric that measures its ability to navigate the retail enterprise

Your Skills + Experience:

• 5+ years Product Management experience
• 5+ years at a company where the product is data
• 5+ years of actual data analysis (e.g., not delegation, but actually querying and computational thinking and wrestling data messes into deliverables)
• 5+ years working directly with customers
• Excel
• SQL
• Data visualization software (Tableau a plus)

Your Benefits & PerksCompetitive Compensation Packages401k programMedical, dental & vision insurance Short-term disability insuranceGenerous Parental LeaveUnlimited Paid Time OffContinuing Education SponsorshipBi-Annual All-Hands, Volunteering & Special Events (with baby goats in attendance)Unlimited snacks & drinks
About UsAt Smarter Sorting, we are transforming the world through Product Intelligence. Our mission is to create a smarter, more connected world by revealing the underlying chemical and physical truths, and possibilities, of consumer products.
We provide retailers and suppliers the critical data points they need to best manufacture, move, market, sell, and handle products throughout the supply chain. From sustainability to eCommerce to regulatory compliance and everything in between, Product Intelligence is delivered when and where it is needed. At our core, we believe that when you know more, you can do better - for business, for consumers, and for the planet.
We are a team of data geeks, circular economy nerds, and math and chemistry wizards. We live and breathe the mission and values of Smarter Sorting every day, and are excited to be a part of something that just might change the world.