Director, Program Management and Operations

Able is a product strategy and development studio. Our Vision is to build products that create a more inclusive and prosperous future for our people and partners (clients). Our teams consist of exceptional Product Designers, Software Engineers, Product Strategists, and Program Managers. 

Able is seeking a Director of Program Management and Operations to join our distributed team. This role is one of a small group of leaders who are part of our Executive Leadership Team, and reports directly to the CEO. It is a dynamic and essential role, and deserving of a unique person to fill it. 

Our Story

We were founded in 2013 as a product development hub for a family office of early stage companies. During the following years we grew in that model as we refined our craft. In the late 2010’s we began to win partners outside the family office ecosystem. 

In the early 2020’s we evolved our commercial strategy again, working through VC incubators and private equity firms across their portfolios. We built strategic relationships with both operators at the fund level and executives at the portco level.

In 2024, after significant experimentation with AI and gen AI specifically, we launched our new and current model: AI-Powered SDLC. By mid 2024 it became clear that AI tools and AI Agents – integrated through proprietary workflows – can have profound effects to improve and accelerate the software development process. We call this set of practices AI-Powered SDLC.

Our approach to incorporating AI into the SDLC is unique. While many offerings are designed to create efficiencies by replacing humans, our practices are designed to elevate the role of humans in the process. Machines + People (not machines or people). 

We call this approach Human Centered AI, and we believe that it is a formidable approach to building the best software the fastest. It optimizes the power of the technology, while future proofing and elevating the roles of product development professionals. 

The Builder Mindset

To be a successful executive at Able, you are fueled by the Builder Mindset. This mindset is driven to solve problems, to do things that have never been done before, to solve problems in unique and creative ways. 

Especially in the age of AI, ‘best practices’ are no longer good enough. We are building a unique company, and our future is being shaped by leaders who are inspired to think and act in new ways.

Some characteristics of the Builder Mindset:

• Comfort with ambiguity. Ambiguity is a puzzle served to us so we can create clarity. Perfect clarity is an ideal not a mandate. Solutions are rarely absolute.
• Flexibility through change. Change is constant. We must embrace it, and take control of it before it takes control of us.
• Ability to develop creative solutions to unique problems. Solving a problem with a first-of-its-kind solution is among the highest achievements.
• Ability to see how these creative solutions may or may not be repeatable or scalable. Sometimes these solutions can be implemented systematically, sometimes not. The key is knowing the difference between the two.
• Unrelenting collaboration. We are a team-based business and our best work is done when our individual talents come together collectively.

Your Responsibilities

This role is broad and contains leadership across several different components:

1. Program Management 

This should be the majority of the work. Program Management is one of our Disciplines, with Applied AI as a unifying organizational horizontal across the team.  The other disciplines include Product Strategy and Design and Engineering.  

The work here includes:

• 1. Evolve, articulate, and implement the vision for Program Management within AI-Powered SDLC. 
  • Our practices and processes are still relatively new, and will continue to evolve as the technology advances, and the market responds. 
• 2. Build, mature and guide the team to deliver
  • Leading the current team to learn, grow, and evolve to deliver AI-Powered SDLC is essential.
• 3. Lead the definition and articulation of our delivery practices
  • LLMs and agentic tools are changing fast. We need to stay ahead of the industry to deliver solutions that keep our partners ahead of the curve.

2. Partner Management and Development

All ELT members are actively engaged in partner management and development. Sometimes it is as Partner Lead – strategic and operational leadership of the partnership and work, sometimes as Executive Sponsor –