Director of Product

Position description

At Upwardly Global, we envision a world where everyone, including newcomers such as immigrants, refugees, and asylees, can fully contribute to society and thrive. Our vision is bold and is supported by our fearless spirit and unwavering commitment to a diverse and inclusive culture that ensures newcomers aren’t excluded from opportunity and can thrive in the US job market. Year after year, we help thousands of foreign-born skilled job seekers transition from poverty and exclusion to quality, thriving-wage careers by delivering inclusive job-readiness training, organizational capacity building, and inclusive employment service delivery and hiring expertise to our partners in key markets across the country.

About the Role

We’re looking for a Director of Product who is equal parts visionary and builder — someone who obsesses over user experience, thrives on collaboration, and isn’t afraid to take a strong point of view. We want someone who can see the big picture, dive into the details of user flows and supporter journeys, and translate business needs into products that people love to use.

You’ll bring both technical credibility (to make smart build vs. buy calls and lead integrations) and product leadership (to prioritize, manage vendors, and scale a team). Above all, you know how to deliver: getting the right product out the door quickly, with quality, and with measurable impact.

What You’ll Do

• Shape the Vision
• Craft and own the product vision and roadmap — and translate it into features, functionality, and user experiences that drive real outcomes.
• Map user flows and supporter journeys, always asking: is this simple, intuitive, and impactful?
• Know when to push for bold bets and when to optimize or save.
• Systematically gather and analyze market and product insights from customers, competitors, end-users, and internal teams to inform strategic product development priorities and decisions

Lead with Technical Depth

• Make smart calls on build vs. buy, grounded in a strong technical understanding.
• Oversee integrations with CRM, payment platforms, analytics tools, and other core systems.
• Speak the language of engineers, architects, and business leaders alike.

Execute

• Simplify complex business workflows into clear specs, user stories, and deliverables.
• Prioritize features by impact, not noise, and keep the team focused on what matters most.
• Drive rapid iteration, shipping high-quality products that scale.

Champion Collaboration

• Partner deeply with business stakeholders to understand workflows, challenges, and opportunities.
• Build trust across teams by being transparent, decisive, and solutions-oriented.
• Keep everyone aligned and energized around the product vision.

Build and Lead Teams

• Manage a small product team, bringing out their best work.
• Manage vendors and partners with a sharp eye for value and accountability.
• Set a culture that balances creativity, collaboration, and speed.
• Decide with Data
• Define the metrics that matter: adoption, retention, ROI, and more.
• Use analytics to inform choices and validate direction.

Qualifications

What You Bring:

• 10+ years in product management, including 5+ years leading teams.
• Experience with LMS/LXP platforms strongly preferred
• Experience in building products for learning communities or developed solutions for skill building and job readiness is a plus.
• A portfolio of products where you’ve shaped the vision, shipped at scale, and made a measurable impact.
• Strong technical background: APIs, integrations, data models, and SAAS.
• Deep love for user experience: mapping journeys, designing flows, and the details that make products usable and engaging.
• Experience collaborating with executives, engineers, designers, and business stakeholders, and a reputation for being both opinionated and easy to work with.
• Comfort managing budgets and trade-offs: when to invest, when to buy, when to cut.
• Fluency in agile practices, discovery methods, and analytics.
• A strong point of view, paired with humility and openness to input.
• A passion for our mission and the role our products can play in supporting the immigrant job seeker experience.

Why Join Us:

This role is for someone who wants to make a mark. You’ll shape products that are the backbone of our work with immigrants, refugees, and partners. You will work with a diverse, international team of smart, mission-driven people who value clarity and collaboration. If you thrive on translating vision into reality and are passionate about user flows, data, and impact, we’d love to talk.

Application instructions

Please be sure to indicate you saw this position on hiringnearme.org