Director Of Application IT Product Management (customer Experience)

Director of Application IT Product Management (Customer Experience)

Palo Alto Networks is seeking a Director of Application Product Management to lead the strategic vision and transformation across key domains—including Entitlement & Consumption Management, New Product Introduction, Licensing & Provisioning, and Customer Support & Success.

In this high-impact leadership role, you will define and execute a holistic product strategy spanning the broader licensing and provisioning ecosystem. Your work will directly influence both our Product and Global Customer Service (GCS) organizations.

Leveraging deep expertise in product licensing, entitlements, and consumption-based models, customer success, customer support, you will translate business objectives into a clear and actionable Application Product Roadmap. Your solutions will enable scalable operations, enhance customer experience, and drive adoption across internal and external user journeys.

Success in this role will require first-principles thinking to break down complex problems and architect innovative, AI-enabled solutions that streamline processes and accelerate value delivery.

This role reports to the Senior Director of Application IT within the CIO organization. You will lead a team of high-performing Application Product Managers and work in close partnership with executive leaders across all business functions to drive strategic initiatives, streamline operations, and deliver measurable business impact.

This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of how we deliver customer value—championing innovation, driving operational excellence, and creating seamless, scalable experiences across the enterprise.

Your impact:

• Define and own the product vision, strategy, and roadmap for the full portfolio spanning Entitlement & Consumption Management, New Product Introduction (NPI), Licensing & Provisioning, and Customer Support & Success. Ensure alignment with broader business objectives while identifying opportunities for competitive differentiation and transformational impact—especially in support of consumption-based revenue models and enhanced pre- and post-sales experiences.
• Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing team of Application Product Managers, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement. Provide strategic direction, coaching, and career development to elevate individual and team performance.
• Act as a trusted advisor to executive stakeholders across Product and GCS organizations. Leverage strong business acumen and influencing skills to shape strategic decisions and direction for customer experience (CX) operations through a combination of technology, data, iterative UI/UX design, rapid prototyping, and business process optimization. Translate complex technical concepts into clear business value to drive alignment on priorities.
• Drive seamless integration of New Product Introductions (NPIs) into the post-sales experience by partnering closely with Product, cross-functional IT teams, and the Strategy organization to ensure a connected and scalable delivery model.
• Champion the adoption of advanced AI technologies across the CX portfolio, with a focus on embedding intelligent support capabilities directly into the in-product experience, elevating customer engagement and issue resolution.
• Collaborate with IT Architecture and Engineering leaders to ensure solutions are built with architectural integrity, scalability, security, and long-term maintainability in mind—anticipating evolving needs in a consumption-based business environment.
• Oversee the entire product lifecycle across the CX, NPI, Licensing, and Provisioning portfolio—from ideation and discovery to development, launch, adoption, and continuous improvement. Establish strong governance and delivery frameworks to ensure timely and reliable execution, including initiatives that streamline quoting and provisioning processes.
• Lead a data-driven product management approach, defining success metrics and KPIs to guide decision-making. Leverage analytics, market trends, and customer feedback to continuously improve product offerings and maximize business value.
• Identify and drive transformation of complex business processes using modern technologies to enhance operational efficiency, reduce friction, and elevate both the customer and employee experience.

Your experience:

• 15+ years of experience in IT Application Product Management, with deep domain expertise in Licensing, New Product Introduction (NPI), and post-sales processes, demonstrating a strong record of strategic leadership and progressive responsibility.
• 7+ years in senior leadership roles, successfully overseeing teams of Product Managers and managing complex, strategic portfolios—preferably within high-growth SaaS environments.
• Demonstrated first-principles thinking, with a history of delivering breakthrough solutions that challenge conventional industry norms and drive transformative outcomes.
• Extensive expertise in Licensing, Entitlements, and Consumption models, with hands-on experience in platforms such as Service Cloud, Gainsight, and related GTM/CX technologies.
• Advanced proficiency in AI-driven solutions, including generative AI, intelligent automation, and cloud-native AI/ML pipelines, with a proven track record of delivering tangible business value through innovative AI initiatives.
• Strong grasp of AI tooling and infrastructure, and practical experience integrating AI capabilities into enterprise workflows.
• Experience leading large, distributed global teams, driving cross-functional collaboration, and fostering high-performance cultures.
• Proven success in optimizing IT product strategies for consumption-based revenue models, with a focus on improving end-to-end sales processes and streamlining quoting and provisioning experiences.
• Expertise in data architecture and analytics, including the ability to define measurement frameworks, derive insights from complex data sets, and guide data-informed decision-making.
• Solid understanding of enterprise software security, compliance, and governance frameworks, particularly within regulated industries.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Business Administration, or a related field is required. MBA or advanced degree preferred.
• Change management certification or demonstrated success leading organizational transformation initiatives is highly desirable.
• Must be in SF Bay area to be onsite.