Senior Director Product Management, - Hotel

Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) is a global leader specialized in the travel management business with revenues in excess of $20B. CWT serves companies of all sizes in more than 150 countries and territories. The company operates 50 wholly owned markets with additional partner countries over and above this. CWT is one of the largest travel management companies in North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America. The company employs approximately 18,000 people and processes 61 million booking transactions a year.

RoomIt is the recently launched hotel distribution division of CWT. This is your opportunity to join an exciting new technology startup that also has the backing of a major business travel company. We are looking for the first generation of people to help us pioneer a new path for companies and their employees to purchase hotels for business travelResponsible for significant strategic shaping the future of CWT products, defining the product vision and strategy and overall business value.

Owns the efficient and predictable deployment of the company's development resources, and manages customer commitments and delivery schedules to the overall success of the organization. Responsible for managing the software development, testing, support, and roadmap for of all CWT products. Delivers an integrated software platform to create a flawless customer experience.

• Executes and directs the core business strategy for our consumer or internal facing products owned by the Product Management team. 
• Oversees the development and communication of product deliveries and priorities that fulfill the needs of our customers and internal/external stakeholders.
• Ensures the timely delivery of enhancements to our current (and future) systems.
• Directs the product roadmap and release schedule, negotiating and meeting delivery schedules with major partners, directing the software development team, establishing and maintaining high quality releases, and overseeing the customer support team.
• Expert understanding of industry trends to support product managers in defining industry leading products.
• Ensures products are aligned and support company goals and objectives.
• Directs teams on lean product methodologies and continuous product discovery process and adoption of techniques.
• Ensures teams delivering solutions that are valuable, usable and feasible and have support from our business stakeholders.
• Ensures products have an instrumentation and analytics strategy that allows teams to build a thorough understanding of product usage, improvement opportunities and the value of new features delivered.
• Communicates plans clearly throughout organization across all levels, gains executive and C-level buy-in to plans.
• Determines how much to invest on different products/projects and how to prioritize within a portfolio to hit a business target.
• Builds, manages, develops and inspires a highly talented team of successful Product Managers.

Experience & education:

• Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree; OR appropriate combination of education and experience.   
• 12 years' relevant experience required.
• Progressive experience within the software industry; brand management, marketing, or product/project management.
• Track record of exceeding expectations leading product management processes including: visioning, customer/competitor research, strategic planning, business modeling, and product definition.
• International experience, both in terms of working in a globally distributed team with many different cultures and internationalization of the products is a plus.
• Experience communicating at C-level.
• Proven experience growing businesses in the consumer space.
• Experience building and defending financial models.
• Experience communicating information concisely and clearly across geographies and teams.
• Experience inspiring, managing and developing a product team.
• Experience driving adoption of modern product management techniques within an organization.

Languages

• Ability to communicate effectively in English, both written and verbal

Knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs)

• Strong leadership skills and the ability to influence cross-functional partners.
• Demonstrated analytical skills.
• Talent management skills.
• Influence skills.
• Ability to drive long term strategy.
• Ability to champion change