HEAD OF PRODUCT, DATA LAB

Job Summary:

As the Head of Product, you will be reporting to the Director of WRI’s Data Lab. In this position, will manage and mentor the Data Lab’s technical Product Managers and Specialists to create an effective, motivated team which consistently delivers on WRI project strategic objectives. You will work with senior leadership to define, cost, and resource new projects and will guide project teams throughout the project lifecycle to ensure smooth and timely delivery. You will ultimately own the Data Lab’s Digital product strategy, delivery approach, and the relationships with our suppliers. The ideal candidate will have a proven ability to forge positive relationships with internal and external stakeholders (e.g., WRI partners and vendors), combined with an impressive degree of enthusiasm and patience to solve problems and achieve success in a dynamic and evolving environment. In this role, you will have the opportunity to play a critical role in how we achieve these objectives by helping WRI’s programs, centers and international office develop robust, user-friendly, actionable data products. You will lead the development of a cohesive digital product strategy, and deliver real world impact with products like Aqueduct, Resource Watch and Global Forest Watch.

This position is a full-time, benefits-eligible, position anchored in one of WRI’s offices across the globe. The preference is for WRI’s offices in London, the Hague, Brazil, Mexico City, or Washington, D.C Global Office (open to remote).

Job Responsibilities:

Vision and Strategy:

• Define and deliver an overarching digital product strategy which incorporates the Data Lab’s range of external-facing software products
• Working in close collaboration with WRI’s Digital Communications Director, ensure WRI’s strategy for data products aligns well with those of WRI’s digital communications products (eg, content-driven experiences like WRI.org), ultimately summing to a holistic stance for the institute on digital products broadly
• Identify risks and strategic opportunities for digital products to achieve impact and further WRI’s mission, with an eye to the product success over time, emerging technologies and product trends more broadly
• Provide advice to program leads in the proposals for creating new digital products Manage the adjustment of the portfolio in response to progress, strategic objectives, financial/resource constraints, unanticipated delay and changing environments

Management & Mentoring:

• Manage and coach a growing team of Product Managers and the Product Specialists which report to them
• Provide guidance and advice to the projects/programs within the portfolio and to stakeholders
• Work with WRI’s Human Resources Department to establish a career path and mentorship opportunities for product staff to improve staff retention and job satisfaction
• Organize knowledge exchange internally within WRI and externally with relevant technology organizations (e.g., fellowships, exchange programs, training workshops, and hackathons, etc.)

Planning, Governance & Managing Change:

• Work with data product and platform leads across WRI programs to develop proposals that allocate sufficient funds and time for product development
• Monitor the pipeline of funding proposals and subsequent approvals for projects/programs
• ork closely with the Head of Engineering and platform leads to conduct regular reviews of the portfolio of WRI projects, maintaining coherence across the portfolio; understanding interdependencies; and taking advantage of opportunities to create synergy
• Assess confidence in the portfolio to deliver strategic objectives within constraints (time, cost, people, quality, organizational strain) and develop strategies with the team to address any issues
• Ensure lessons learnt from previous projects are captured, communicated, reviewed and applied
• Support the embedding of good practice and active learning of lessons by facilitating and coaching project delivery teams at key points of the project lifecycle (start-up, stages, transition to live, benefits realization, etc)
• Implement, manage and enhance the approach to Monitoring and Evaluation within the portfolio to ensure products deliver genuine real- world impact, working closely with WRI’s Managing for Results team
• Stakeholder management: Represent and advocate for the critical role of professional product development in engagements with WRI leadership, external partners, and funders
• Highlight the links between investment, delivery, benefits and strategic goals, and provide assurance that resources are prioritized accordingly
• Develop and sustain productive relationships with approved vendors to ensure high quality product delivery. Act as an escalation point for individual projects where necessary
• Advise on the development of requests for proposals (RfPs), scopes of work (SOWs) and the vendor selection process to ensure fair and effective procurement practices

Job Qualifications:

• Minimum of 15 years of full-time work experience
• Minimum of 8 years experience working on products, including 5 years managing product portfolios with budgets of $1m+. This experience should include: Defining product vision and strategy and leading a team to successfully execute the strategy. Stakeholder communication, including successfully rallying diverse groups of stakeholders around a vision
• Applying prioritization frameworks to ensure the best use of resources (Cost, time, people, etc)
• Analyzing the market landscape to identify risks and opportunities and adjusting course based on findings
• Leadership and mentoring of a team containing both managers and junior staff
• Specialist understanding of, and approach to, monitoring and evaluation to ensure product impacts– from strategy to realization
• Consistent application of product management best practices, directly and in coaching others with focus on practical results rather than just process
• An analytical approach to making decisions and familiarity with market trend data, financial projections/ modelling and application analytics
• Aptitude for coaching and mentoring others on product management and development best practices and approaches
• An appreciation of changing technology and working practices within the field of geospatial monitoring for environmental and developmental goals

Preferred

• Experience with managing complex data- driven geospatial products. A recognized project management qualification (e.g. Management of Portfolios [MoP], PRINCE2 Practitioner; PMDPro, PMP, PMI PfMP [Portfolio Management Professional]; MSP; APMP/PQ level, SCRUM or other agile certification) with demonstrable career development.

Potential Salary:
$130,000- $176,000 if based in United States. Salary is commensurate with experience and other compensable factors.

How to Apply:
Please submit a resume with cover letter. Resume and cover letter must be submitted in English to be considered. Applicants must apply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered.