The Senior Product Manager (m/f/d) is responsible for the strategic oversight and governance of the organization’s R&D portfolio. This role focuses on ensuring financial discipline, adherence to milestones, and the consistent delivery of high-quality results across all R&D initiatives, acts as a key partner to the Portfolio Leader, maintaining rigorous tracking of L2 and L3 KPIs, including quality metrics, to drive performance transparency. The ideal candidate excels at distilling complex financial and technical data into actionable insights for executive-level decision-making.
Job Description
Key Responsibilities:
Oversee the health of the entire R&D portfolio, including long-term budget planning, in-year financial tracking, and milestone integrity.
Lead regular portfolio review rhythms to ensure all programs remain on track, providing visibility into risks, budget variances, and deliverable status.
Partner with the Portfolio Leader to define, track, and report on L2 and L3 KPIs, ensuring a focus on quality and operational excellence.
Review program financials to ensure budget compliance and provide data-driven recommendations for resource allocation and prioritization.
Establish and maintain rigorous portfolio governance, ensuring clear alignment between R&D output and strategic business objectives.
Synthesize complex program data into clear, concise executive updates for leadership reviews, R&D Councils, and other strategic forums.
Drive cross-functional collaboration to resolve systemic roadblocks and improve portfolio-wide processes.
Champion continuous improvement and lean principles to increase the efficiency of portfolio management and data reporting.
Required Qualifications:
Bachelor's Degree in a “STEM” major (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) or a business-related discipline from an accredited college or university, or equivalent work experience (4+ years in a technology-focused role).
Minimum of 8-10 years of relevant professional experience in portfolio management, project finance, or strategic program leadership.
Proven expertise in budget management, financial forecasting, and KPI reporting.
Valid work permit for Switzerland or citizenship of an EU/EFTA member state.
Full professional proficiency in English (both written and verbal)
Desired Characteristics:
Highly organized with data, tools, and communications; uses a systematic, data-driven approach to portfolio governance.
Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret complex financial data and performance metrics.
Excellent communication skills, with a proven ability to present and defend portfolio data to senior leadership.
Ability to work with high autonomy and maintain focus on strategic goals in a fast-paced environment.
Experience with lean methodology and a continuous improvement mindset.
Strong business acumen and judgment to navigate complex portfolio dependencies and prioritize competing initiatives.
Decisive, data-driven, and comfortable making independent recommendations in ambiguous situations.
