VP of Product Strategy & Operations - AI + SaaS Scale-up - London (Hybrid)

Stax Recruitment is partnering with a fast-growing global SaaS client to appoint a VP of Product Strategy & Operations, a pivotal role at the heart of their product organization.

This isn’t a coordination role. This is a leadership position for someone who builds systems from ambiguity, creates structure at scale, and treats internal operations like a product—delivering clarity, accountability, and quality across a distributed product and engineering team.

You’ll drive how the product organization operates—defining end-to-end rhythms, optimizing cross-functional execution, and ensuring everything shipped aligns with product vision, business goals, and customer needs. Operating within a hub-and-spoke model, you’ll act as the connective tissue between strategy and execution—centralizing visibility and empowering pod-level autonomy.

If you’re a product leader with a bias toward action, who thrives on creating clarity in complex environments, and has the systems thinking to scale without bloat—this role was made for you.

Key Responsibilities

• Operationalize the Product Engine: Own and evolve the operating model from idea to release. Define the rituals, artifacts, and processes that enable speed without compromising craft.
• Productize Internal Workflows: Leverage the company’s internal platform to automate and streamline coordination, reviews, and roadmap execution. Treat internal ops like a customer-facing product.
• Drive Cross-Functional Clarity: Partner across Product, Engineering, Design, Customer Success, and GTM to ensure aligned priorities, sharp definitions, and transparent tracking of deliverables.
• Own Review & Release Discipline: Define clear stage gates across planning and delivery. Create strong inter-team “contracts” that balance autonomy with shared accountability.
• Simplify to Scale: Identify systemic friction points. Reduce complexity, eliminate unnecessary dependencies, and resolve blockers before they escalate.
• Make Data Actionable: Define and refine live dashboards for visibility into resource allocation, velocity, readiness, and roadmap alignment. Make operational health obvious, not opaque.
• Lead and Grow a Small Team: Manage a small team of program managers, instilling a builder mindset and operational rigor while equipping them with modern, AI-native tools and approaches.

Candidate Profile

• Previous experience as Head of Product, CPO, or senior product operator in a high-growth tech environment
• Demonstrated ability to build scalable, lightweight operational systems that people adopt—not avoid
• Strategic systems thinker with a builder’s mindset; views internal ops as a product with users and measurable value
• Highly attuned to cross-functional dynamics; strong influence across design, engineering, and GTM
• Ability to challenge, coach, and drive clarity—not just facilitate meetings
• Experienced in mentoring and scaling globally distributed program or product ops teams
• Comfortable working across global time zones; UK-based is strongly preferred to align with core collaboration windows
• Experience with or strong enthusiasm for AI-native workflows and how they can streamline operations

Why This Role

This is a rare opportunity to define the operating system of a modern, AI-forward product company—without resorting to heavyweight process or top-down management. You won’t be managing PMs directly, but you’ll shape their velocity, clarity, and execution quality.

If you thrive on turning chaos into systems, enjoy the nuances of scale without bloat, and believe that great product operations are a product—you’ll find this role both challenging and deeply rewarding.

Seniorities and Employment

• Seniority level: Executive
• Employment type: Full-time
• Job function: Product Management
• Industries: Software Development

Location: London, England, United Kingdom (Hybrid)