Senior Director, Digital Product Management

About the Role

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.

Responsibilities

• 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.

Qualifications

• 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.

Skills

• 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.

Pay Transparency: The expected pre-tax pay for this position is not specified. Actual pay may differ depending on relevant factors such as prior experience and geographic location.

Benefits: 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).