Director, Product Management

Job Description: Define and communicate the multi-year vision and roadmap for Support Core as both a platform and shared product experience layer Transform core systems into AI-forward, composable components that power consistent experiences across Zendesk Own both: Platform capabilities (APIs, services, infrastructure, integration interfaces) and Shared product experiences built on top of those platforms (e.g., search experiences powered by retrieval architecture) Design a modern, AI-native engineering experience by designing platform abstractions and integration surfaces that enable fast and scalable integration with all Zendesk products, including acquisitions Drive AI-native platform capabilities across Support Core Lead and develop a team of five product managers across Ticketing, Search, Email, and Lists Partner closely with Engineering to modernize system architecture, improve reliability and performance, and reduce complexity Influence the broader Core Services platform strategy and align investments with company-level goals Establish outcome-driven planning, strong execution discipline, and clear executive communication Requirements: Experience leading platform or infrastructure product teams in high-scale SaaS environments Experience owning both platform capabilities and shared product experiences Strong technical fluency - comfortable engaging deeply in distributed systems, APIs, search/retrieval architecture, cloud-native systems, and integration patterns Demonstrated experience building or enabling AI-powered systems (LLM integration, search and retrieval, ML-backed features, AI infrastructure, or developer tooling) Strong understanding of modern AI-native development patterns and AI-assisted engineering workflows Experience designing systems that serve as a shared foundation across multiple products or business units Proven ability to lead and scale senior product managers Strong strategic thinking combined with operational rigor Exceptional communication and executive influence skills High ownership mindset and ability to drive clarity in complex, ambiguous environments Benefits: health insurance retirement plans paid time off flexible work arrangements professional development bonuses