Associate Director, Product Management Operations

Watchmaker Genomics is a genomics company hiring an Associate Director of Product Management Operations. The role will lead the Product Management Operations team and strengthen analytics, systems, processes, and cross-functional operating mechanisms across NGS, molecular diagnostics, enzymes, and product portfolios. Key areas include demand planning, pricing analytics, product health, quality, lifecycle operations, and custom product portfolio management.

Responsibilities:

• Lead, mentor, and develop the Product Management Operations team, building a scalable cross-portfolio capability that provides operational leverage to the Product Management organization
• Develop and continuously improve Product Management processes, tools, systems, metrics, and operating practices to increase efficiency, consistency, visibility, and scalability
• Lead product and portfolio performance analytics, integrating relevant commercial, operational, financial, and quality data to identify trends, risks, opportunities, and actions
• Support Product Management business and portfolio reviews by establishing consistent analytics and surfacing meaningful trends in product performance, demand, pricing, margin, quality, and other indicators of portfolio health
• Lead the Product Management organization's contribution to demand planning and forecasting across standard and custom products, working with Product Managers, Operations, Finance, and Commercial Operations to develop a well-informed product demand view
• Support pricing strategy and decision-making through structured pricing analytics, including ASP and margin trends, pricing frameworks, and scalable governance processes, in partnership with Product Management, Finance, and Commercial Operations
• Lead the operational processes that support product health and Product Care & Quality (PCQ), including trend monitoring, cross-functional coordination, action tracking, and escalation of issues requiring Product Manager input or product decisions
• Provide operational leadership for the custom product portfolio, supporting intake, evaluation, planning, cross-functional execution, forecasting, pricing inputs, and ongoing lifecycle management in close partnership with Product Managers and Commercial stakeholders
• Coordinate operational activities across the product lifecycle, including on-market changes, product documentation, stability and regulatory requirements, customer communications, and discontinuation or end-of-life activities
• Represent Product Management in relevant cross-functional systems, data, and process initiatives, ensuring product and portfolio requirements are understood and incorporated into business processes and systems
• Identify opportunities to standardize, simplify, and automate recurring Product Management operational activities as the portfolio and organization scale

Requirements:

• The candidate should have a Bachelor's degree with at least 12 years of relevant experience in product management, product operations, portfolio operations, commercial operations, or a related role
• Strong analytical and quantitative skills, with the ability to integrate product, commercial, operational, financial, and quality data into clear business insights
• Demonstrated experience in product or portfolio operations, including areas such as product performance, demand planning, forecasting, pricing analytics, lifecycle management, or business planning
• Strong understanding of product lifecycle management and the cross-functional requirements associated with managing on-market products in a quality-driven environment
• Demonstrated track record of improving processes, systems, tools, and operating practices and turning fragmented or ad hoc work into scalable, repeatable approaches
• Strong cross-functional leadership and influence skills, with the ability to align teams across Product Management, Commercial, Operations, Finance, Quality, Regulatory Affairs, and IT
• Experience with business systems and analytical tools, including advanced proficiency in Excel and familiarity with ERP systems, Power BI, Sales Force and other supporting tools
• Strong business judgment and commercial acumen, including the ability to understand the implications of pricing, demand, product performance, quality, and portfolio complexity
• People leadership experience with the ability to coach, develop, and effectively lead a small team
• Excellent organizational, problem-solving, interpersonal, and communication skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and bring structure to ambiguous situations
• Self-motivated, proactive, and capable of independent decision-making in a fast-paced and evolving environment
• Bachelor's degree in life sciences, engineering, business, marketing, or a related field required
• 12+ years of relevant experience in product management, product operations, portfolio operations, commercial operations, or a related field
• Experience in biotech, life sciences, genomics, molecular diagnostics, or another technically complex and quality-driven environment is highly desirable
• Advanced degree such as an MS or MBA preferred
• Demonstrated people leadership experience; 2-4 years of direct people management or equivalent functional leadership experience preferred
• Experience in biotech, life sciences, genomics, molecular diagnostics, or another technically complex product environment preferred