Product & Delivery Operations Lead

Key Responsibilities

• Assess current product delivery processes and identify systemic bottlenecks impacting velocity, quality, predictability, and business outcomes.
• Establish visibility into delivery performance through measurement of lead time, cycle time, throughput, release frequency, defect trends, and delivery predictability.
• Prioritize and execute improvements that enhance delivery reliability and reduce friction across teams.
• Analyze delivery risks, dependencies, and escalating issues to proactively address obstacles before they impact commitments.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on efficiency, quality, and predictable execution.
• Evaluate and improve collaboration models between Product Management, Engineering, QA, Infrastructure, and business stakeholders.
• Identify gaps in planning, requirements readiness, testing strategies, release preparation, and cross-team communication.
• Establish best practices that improve handoffs, reduce rework, and create greater alignment throughout the delivery lifecycle.
• Promote clear Definition of Ready, Definition of Done, release governance, and quality standards across teams.
• Facilitate working sessions that drive alignment, clarity, accountability, and shared ownership of outcomes.
• Improve overall product development cohesion by creating repeatable, scalable operating practices.
• Define, implement, and maintain product, delivery, quality, and operational performance metrics.
• Develop reporting mechanisms and executive dashboards that provide visibility into team performance and business outcomes.
• Track product adoption, release effectiveness, delivery performance, quality trends, and operational health indicators.
• Identify opportunities and risks through analysis of delivery and product data.
• Present actionable insights and recommendations to leadership teams.
• Audit product backlogs to ensure alignment with business objectives, strategic priorities, and team capacity.
• Improve backlog quality through standardized requirements, story-writing practices, acceptance criteria, and readiness standards.
• Partner with Product Managers and Product Owners to ensure work is prioritized according to business value and customer impact.
• Establish governance processes that improve transparency, prioritization consistency, and execution readiness.
• Ensure dependencies, risks, and technical considerations are appropriately captured and addressed during planning.
• Drive continuous improvement in backlog health, prioritization, and delivery planning practices.
• Serve as a trusted strategic partner to Product, Engineering, QA, Infrastructure, and Business leadership.
• Facilitate alignment across multiple product teams and development pods.
• Coordinate operational initiatives that improve delivery performance and organizational effectiveness.
• Identify organizational gaps, process inefficiencies, and operational risks impacting team success.
• Influence change across teams without direct authority through strong communication, collaboration, and data-driven recommendations.
• Build credibility as a go-to leader for delivery excellence, operational effectiveness, and execution improvement.
• Support teams with requirements clarification, release readiness planning, delivery coordination, and operational improvements.
• Partner with leaders to implement scalable processes supporting future growth.
• Drive adoption of delivery best practices, continuous improvement methodologies, and Agile principles.
• Facilitate retrospectives, improvement workshops, and operational reviews that lead to measurable outcomes.
• Ensure teams have the tools, processes, and visibility needed to execute successfully.
• Champion a culture of accountability, transparency, ownership, and continuous learning.

Required Qualifications

• Experience in Product Operations, Delivery Management, Program Management, Technical Program Management, Product Management, Agile Transformation, Engineering Operations, Consulting, or related disciplines.
• Demonstrated success improving delivery predictability, team performance, and operational effectiveness in software product organizations.
• Experience working closely with Product, Engineering, QA, and business stakeholders in Agile delivery environments.
• Proven ability to identify bottlenecks, diagnose root causes, and implement sustainable process improvements.
• Experience establishing and managing KPIs, OKRs, operational metrics, and executive reporting frameworks.
• Strong understanding of product development lifecycles, release management, Agile delivery, and quality practices.
• Experience influencing stakeholders and driving organizational change without direct authority.
• Exceptional communication, facilitation, analytical, and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong systems-thinking mindset with the ability to connect operational improvements to business outcomes.
• Demonstrated ability to operate independently in ambiguous environments and drive initiatives from concept through implementation.