Title: Director, Product Management- Enterprise Systems
San Jose, CA, US, 95128
Job Summary
We are seeking a Director of Product Management to own NetApp’s AFF portfolio and the next-generation engineered systems that will carry it forward. This is a people-leader role with end-to-end ownership of strategy, roadmap, lifecycle, competitive positioning, and business outcomes for a core part of NetApp’s Enterprise Storage business.
This Director works at the intersection of systems hardware, ONTAP data services, and go-to-market execution—partnering with engineering, supply chain, finance, product marketing, and sales. The charter covers shipping AFF systems as well as engineered systems with shared architectures.
The role combines strategic leadership with operational accountability: defining multi-generation systems strategy, leading a team of product managers, and driving new product introduction, generation transitions, and lifecycle discipline across a major revenue portfolio.
Job Responsibilities
Leadership & Team
• Lead, develop, and coach a team of product managers responsible for AFF systems and next-generation platform programs.
• Set team priorities, operating cadence, and delivery standards; serve as the point of accountability for the AFF franchise.
• Represent the portfolio to senior leadership; communicate strategy, tradeoffs, and business performance clearly.
Product Strategy & Roadmap
• Own product strategy for NetApp’s AFF systems, including how those offerings are positioned relative to one another and to the broader portfolio.
• Define and drive next-generation strategy for engineered systems with shared architectures used across multiple product lines: where we invest, how common designs serve multiple markets, and how we transition customers and the field.
• Develop and maintain multi-generation roadmaps with clear prioritization across performance and capacity tiers, form factors, and technology transitions.
• Track business metrics such as adoption, mix, capacity growth, and economics, and translate them into roadmap, pricing, and go-to-market actions.
New Product Introduction & Lifecycle
• Drive concurrent new-product programs across shipping systems and next-generation architectures, from requirements through qualification, general availability, sustaining, and end of life.
• Ensure product requirements for engineering, operations, and planning are clear, prioritized, and aligned to launch commitments.
• Own lifecycle discipline across the portfolio—generation transitions, configuration optimization, and sustaining strategy.
Customer, Market & Competitive
• Synthesize requirements from enterprise customers, the field, and partners into platform priorities and design decisions.
• Own competitive positioning for the portfolio; convert gaps into requirements and actions that improve win rates.
• Connect platform investments to customer outcomes and business impact through clear business cases and prescriptive positioning.
Go-to-Market & Cross-Functional Execution
• Partner with product marketing and the field on messaging, positioning guidance, and enablement so the portfolio is simple to sell and deploy.
• Be the point of accountability across engineering, supply chain, operations, finance, marketing, and sales for the AFF systems portfolio.
• Influence architecture and system-level decisions that span multiple product lines and generations.
Qualifications
Required
• 12+ years of product management or technical product planning experience in enterprise infrastructure, storage, or related hardware/software domains.
• 5+ years leading product managers or equivalent people-leadership of a technical product team.
• Proven ownership of a high-revenue hardware and/or systems product line, including roadmap, new product introduction, lifecycle, and business outcomes.
• Strong understanding of enterprise storage architectures, including all-flash systems, file and block protocols, and modern data-center infrastructure.
• Experience partnering with engineering on next-generation system definition, including architectures shared across more than one product line.
• Experience driving cross-functional execution across engineering, supply chain, operations, finance, and go-to-market.
• Executive presence and the ability to represent complex platform and business tradeoffs to senior leadership.
Preferred
• Familiarity with NetApp ONTAP or comparable unified storage platforms, and how system hardware enables performance, density, and supportability.
• Experience with storage economics, mix across performance and capacity offerings, and platform generation transitions.
• Experience positioning storage for AI, virtualization, mission-critical applications, and other enterprise workloads.
Compensation:
The target salary range for this position is 227,800 - 338,800 USD. The salary offered will be determined by the candidate's location, qualifications, experience, and education and may be outside of this range. The range is based on 'On Target Earnings’ (OTE) representing the total potential earnings, which is the sum of the base salary and potential commission earned when performance targets are achieved. Final compensation packages are competitive and in line with industry standards, reflecting a variety of factors, and include a comprehensive benefits package. This may cover Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Retirement or Pension Plans, Paid Time Off, various Leave options, employee stock purchase plan, and/or restricted stocks (RSU’s). These offerings are subject to regional variations and governed by local laws, regulations, and company policies. We will provide detailed information about the specific benefits for your region during the recruitment process.
Nearest Major Market: San Jose
Nearest Secondary Market: Palo Alto
Job Segment:
Outside Sales, Supply Chain, Marketing Manager, Product Marketing, Product Manager, Sales, Operations, Marketing