Director, New Product Incubation and Innovation (NPI)

Description

 

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About the Role

We are seeking a visionary and execution-focused leader to drive our New Product Innovation & Introduction (NPII) function. This role sits at the intersection of incubation, innovation, and go-to-market execution, responsible for identifying, validating, and scaling new SaaS products that expand our portfolio. You will lead a cross-functional team spanning product management, engineering, design, and GTM functions, ensuring that new offerings move efficiently from ideation to market launch.

This is a high-impact, high-autonomy role that requires both strategic foresight and operational rigor—balancing experimentation and agility with structured execution. You will work closely with executive leadership to shape the company’s future growth, leveraging insights from customer needs, market trends, and emerging technologies. The ideal candidate has deep experience in both startup-like incubation environments and enterprise-grade product scaling, thrives in ambiguity, and knows how to navigate both early-stage iteration and structured commercialization.

What You’ll Do:

• Lead end-to-end new product innovation and introduction (NPII) – From ideation and validation to scaling and market launch.
• Identify and incubate new SaaS product opportunities by analyzing market trends, customer pain points, and emerging technologies.
• Establish and run a structured incubation process, ensuring rapid iteration, customer validation, and technical feasibility before full-scale investment.
• Drive cross-functional alignment across product, engineering, design, marketing, sales, and customer success to ensure seamless execution.
• Develop and implement go-to-market (GTM) strategies for new products, including positioning, pricing, and initial sales motions.
• Create business cases and secure internal buy-in from executive leadership for new initiatives, balancing innovation with commercial viability.
• Recruit, mentor, and lead a high-performing team focused on driving new product development and introduction.
• Define key success metrics and ensure disciplined execution to move products from incubation to scalable, revenue-generating businesses.
• Build the plans and execute the transition of new products into the core GTM once product market fit and repeatability has been established.
• Act as a champion for innovation culture, fostering an environment of creativity, rapid learning, and continuous improvement.

What We’re Looking For:

• Proven track record in both innovation and execution, with experience leading new product incubation and introduction within a SaaS or enterprise software company.
• 10+ years of experience in product management, engineering leadership, corporate innovation, or a related field, with a strong mix of 0?1 product development and scaled GTM execution.
• Experience navigating both startup and enterprise environments, with the ability to move fast while managing risk in a larger organizational setting.
• Strong strategic and analytical thinking, with the ability to identify market opportunities, validate new ideas, and build compelling business cases.
• Deep technical and product expertise, with a background in launching software products that solve complex customer problems.
• Excellent cross-functional leadership skills, with the ability to align diverse teams—including engineering, design, marketing, sales, and customer success—toward a shared vision.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with a bias for action, able to drive rapid iteration, make data-driven decisions, and pivot when necessary.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, including experience presenting to executive leadership and securing buy-in for new initiatives.
• Experience with GTM strategy and execution, including pricing, packaging, and early customer acquis