Senior Director - Digital Product Management

The Opportunity:

The Senior Director, Digital Product Management is accountable for how product management is performed across VWR’s digital organization, including the vision, standards, operating model, governance, and talent systems that enable a scalable, high-performing discipline. This leader oversees the practice and its leaders rather than a single product area, translating enterprise and digital strategy into a multi-year direction for product management while shaping portfolio investment, capacity, and delivery priorities. As the organization matures, the role may extend into adjacent experience disciplines, including UX / Design, to ensure a coherent, customer-centered approach to end-to-end digital product delivery.

How you will thrive and create an impact

• Own and evolve the vision, philosophy, and operating model for the Product Management practice, including how digital products are discovered, prioritized, delivered, and measured.
• Set and steward product standards, methodologies, governance, and tooling; improve consistency and quality across teams as the organization scales.
• Translate enterprise and digital strategy into a multi-year direction for the product discipline, aligning practice investment, organizational capacity, and priorities to business needs.
• Represent product management at the executive level and partner with Engineering, Data, Commercial, and business leaders to shape digital strategy, portfolio investment, and roadmaps.
• Lead the discipline’s contribution to measurable commercial, customer, and operational outcomes; establish performance measures and communicate trade-offs to executive leadership.
• Own the talent and capability architecture for product management, including job families, leveling frameworks, career paths, hiring standards, talent calibration, succession planning, and leadership development.
• Lead and develop Directors of Product Management and, as scope expands, UX / Design leaders; build a strong leadership bench and set clear cultural, performance, and ethical expectations.
• Build, structure, and resource the product and experience organization in partnership with the Chief Digital Officer and the HR team.
• Extend practice leadership across UX / Design and cross-functional delivery to enable an integrated, end-to-end approach to digital product development.
• Advance product and UX maturity by benchmarking against industry practices, implementing modern operating models, including AI-enabled ways of working, and leading the organizational change required for adoption.
• Champion customer-centricity, outcome orientation, and data-informed decision-making across the discipline.

What we're looking for

• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or other advanced degree preferred.
• 12–15+ years of progressive product management experience, including substantial experience leading product leaders and managing managers or directors.
• Demonstrated success building, scaling, and maturing a product practice or organization, including its operating model, standards, governance, and talent frameworks.
• Experience leading complex, cross-functional digital initiatives and influencing senior executives.
• Proven ability to connect product practice maturity and investment to measurable business and customer outcomes.
• Experience leading or closely partnering with UX / Design and other experience disciplines; comfort operating across a combined product and experience remit preferred.
• B2B, eCommerce, and/or distribution industry experience preferred.
• Experience implementing modern product operating models and AI-enabled ways of working preferred.
• Experience designing job architectures, leveling frameworks, and career paths for a professional discipline preferred, in partnership with HR.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Enterprise-level product management expertise, including product discovery, prioritization, delivery, measurement, governance, and portfolio planning.
• Strategic leadership and executive influence, with the ability to translate business strategy into a practical product and experience vision.
• Strong organizational design and talent leadership capabilities, including workforce planning, leadership development, calibration, and succession planning.
• Ability to lead through influence across Engineering, Data, Commercial, UX / Design, People, and business teams in a complex matrixed environment.
• Deep understanding of customer-centered design, product and UX maturity, outcome-based planning, and data-informed decision-making.
• Strong business and financial acumen, with the ability to evaluate investments, balance tradeoffs, and connect organizational capabilities to measurable results.
• Exceptional communication, change leadership, coaching, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Ability to establish high standards, build alignment, and create a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and ethical leadership.

Disclaimer:

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of employees assigned to this position. Avantor is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

Why Avantor?

Dare to go further in your career. Join our global team of 14,000+ associates whose passion for discovery and determination to overcome challenges relentlessly advances life-changing science.
 
The work we do changes people's lives for the better. It brings new patient treatments and therapies to market, giving a cancer survivor the chance to walk his daughter down the aisle. It enables medical devices that help a little boy hear his mom's voice for the first time. Outcomes such as these create unlimited opportunities for you to contribute your talents, learn new skills and grow your career at Avantor.
 
We are committed to helping you on this journey through our diverse, equitable and inclusive culture which includes learning experiences to support your career growth and success. At Avantor, dare to go further and see how the impact of your contributions set science in motion to create a better world. Apply today!

Pay Transparency:

The expected pre-tax pay for this position is

Actual pay may differ depending on relevant factors such as prior experience and geographic location.

EEO Statement:

We are an Equal Employment/Affirmative Action employer and VEVRAA Federal Contractor. We do not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religious creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected Veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state/province, or local law.

If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact us by email at [email protected] and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Requests for accommodation will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Please note that only inquiries concerning a request for reasonable accommodation will be responded to from this email address.

For more information about equal employment opportunity protections, please view the Know Your Rights poster.

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3rd Party Non-Solicitation Policy:

By submitting candidates without having been formally assigned on and contracted for a specific job requisition by Avantor, or by failing to comply with the Avantor recruitment process, you forfeit any fee on the submitted candidates, regardless of your usual terms and conditions. Avantor works with a preferred supplier list and will take the initiative to engage with recruitment agencies based on its needs and will not be accepting any form of solicitation.

Avantor offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, and vision coverage, wellness programs, health savings and flexible spending accounts, a 401(k) plan with company match, and an employee stock purchase program. Employees also receive 11 paid holidays, accrue 18 PTO days annually, are eligible for volunteer time off and 6 weeks of 100% paid parental leave (except in states that offer paid family leave). These benefits may not apply to employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement or those subject to other eligibility rules.