Head of Product Operations

Asana Asana · Enterprise · Vancouver, BC · R&D Exec & Ops

Head of Product Operations to build and run the operating system for the product organization, focusing on planning, decision-making, and shipping clarity, speed, and accountability. This role will own cadences, governance, metrics, and release management, acting as a liaison between R&D and customer-facing teams. The ideal candidate will have experience in product operations or management, with expertise in planning systems and cross-functional coordination, and a demonstrated ability to modernize workflows in AI-enabled environments.

What you'd actually do

  1. Own the product operating model—planning cadences, quarterly and annual planning processes, portfolio-level planning, roadmap governance, leadership review forums, decision logs, and accountability mechanisms—partnering with Product, Design, and Engineering leadership to improve decision quality and execution rigor.
  2. Build and run release management as a core function of Product Operations: design the systems, templates, intake mechanisms, and source-of-truth workflows that keep product information accurate and current, so marketing, support, success, sales, and other customer-facing teams are fully equipped to set clear customer expectations and answer questions before, during, and after launches.
  3. Establish and maintain clear standards—in partnership with PMs—for how product truth is captured, reviewed, and distributed internally, reducing ambiguity, duplication, and operational friction across the product ecosystem.
  4. Define and track the operating metrics that indicate product organization health and effectiveness, including planning quality, roadmap predictability, decision velocity, launch readiness, and execution follow-through.
  5. Define and evolve the engagement model between Product/R&D and cross-functional partners—forums, escalation paths, intake routes, decision rights, and handoffs—and coordinate cross-functional launch readiness and dependency management in partnership with TPM.

Skills

Required

  • 8+ years of experience in product operations, product management, strategy and operations, or a related discipline
  • Meaningful experience building operating systems in a complex product organization
  • Deep expertise in planning systems, governance design, operating cadences, metrics, and cross-functional coordination
  • Strong judgment on where product decisions belong versus where operational systems and governance should sit
  • Demonstrated ability to influence senior leaders and improve execution without owning every downstream function
  • Strong analytical and executive communication skills
  • Ability to turn ambiguity and fragmented inputs into clear recommendations, operating mechanisms, and actionable dashboards
  • Experience modernizing workflows, tooling, and team practices
  • Exceptional organization
  • Strong judgment
  • Independent drive necessary to navigate ambiguity successfully

Nice to have

  • Curiosity about AI tools and emerging technologies
  • Willingness to learn and leverage AI tools to enhance productivity, collaboration, or decision-making

What the JD emphasized

  • AI-augmented workflows
  • AI-enabled product environments