Product & Customer Experience Director

About the Role

Join a dynamic leadership position responsible for overseeing product and customer experience strategies across a diverse group portfolio. Engage with executive leadership, government partners, and portfolio companies to create impactful economic platforms in the UAE by leveraging data, digital technologies, and AI within a framework rooted in integrity and partnership.

Primary Responsibilities

• Own and direct product portfolio strategy aligned with the group’s growth ambitions.
• Drive innovation by prioritizing and launching new products and services.
• Continuously review and optimize portfolio performance through market and customer insights.
• Implement stage-gate processes to manage product development from ideation to launch.
• Develop detailed product roadmaps that clearly outline strategic actions.
• Lead the end-to-end customer experience strategy across physical, digital, and service channels.
• Map customer journeys to identify friction points and opportunities for differentiation.
• Establish brand experience standards that apply across all customer-facing divisions.
• Create and utilize customer segmentation and personas to guide product, experience, and marketing strategies.
• Transform product and customer experience concepts into effective digital products including apps, websites, with a focus on UX/UI design.
• Serve as the strategic liaison connecting product, marketing, sales, and operations to unify customer offerings.
• Build robust business cases linking product and experience investments to commercial success.
• Represent product and CX initiatives at executive and portfolio company levels.
• Collaborate across teams including marketing, digital, design studios, IT, and development to execute projects.
• Recruit, develop, and lead a talented team specializing in product and customer experience disciplines.
• Partner strategically with portfolio leaders to integrate standards while accommodating differing business models.
• Advocate for the customer voice within senior management discussions.
• Effectively contribute to task forces and cross-functional project teams.

Key Deliverables

• Comprehensive group product portfolio strategy.
• Innovation pipeline and roadmap development.
• Product roadmaps that translate strategy into actionable plans.
• Holistic customer experience frameworks for end-to-end journey enhancement.
• Consistent brand experience guidelines across all touchpoints.
• Detailed customer journey maps with actionable improvement plans.
• Customer segmentation and persona frameworks to optimize engagement.
• Executive dashboards monitoring product and CX performance.

Success Metrics

• Performance and innovation rate of the product portfolio.
• Customer satisfaction and experience scores.
• Consistency of brand experience across channels.
• Speed to market for new product introductions.
• Direct commercial impacts deriving from product and CX initiatives.
• Adoption rate of shared standards within the portfolio.

Desired Qualifications and Experience

• Extensive senior leadership background in FMCG or consumer-centric environments with strong grounding in product and brand management, plus portfolio strategy.
• Demonstrable success managing complete product lifecycles from inception through optimization.
• Proven expertise in establishing or enhancing customer experience functions across various touchpoints including retail, digital, and services.
• Experience navigating holding company or multi-business-unit organizational structures.
• Comfort and effectiveness working in task forces and cross-disciplinary projects.
• Regional experience in the GCC is advantageous but not mandatory.
• A bachelor’s degree in a related field; advanced or professional qualifications are welcomed for senior applicants.
• Fluency in English is mandatory; Arabic language skills are an added advantage.

Core Competencies

• Strategic management of product portfolios and innovation pipelines.
• Expertise in customer journey analysis and brand experience design.
• Strong commercial insight including P&L management and customer research.
• Ability to manage cross-functional stakeholders and deliver multi-channel CX experiences.
• Implementation of stage-gate methodologies and product roadmaps.
• Development and application of customer segmentation and personas.
• Familiarity with digital product design including applications, websites, and UX/UI principles.