Vice President, Product Management

Vista Equity Partners is seeking a Vice President of Product Management to join the Product & Technology (P&T) Value Creation team. This role is designed for a seasoned product executive - ideally a former or sitting Chief Product Officer - who has built, scaled, and shipped commercial software in complex enterprise or technology environments. This leader will work across Vista’s portfolio to elevate product strategy, operating rigor, and execution maturity. The VP will partner closely with portfolio company executives (CEOs, CPOs, CTOs, CROs), Vista deal teams, and internal functional leaders to drive durable product-led value creation. This is not a portfolio “advisor” role. It is an operator’s role, focused on setting standards, driving change, and holding teams accountable to outcomes. 

Product Strategy & Value Creation 

• Partner with portfolio company leadership to define and refine product vision, strategy, and roadmaps aligned to Vista’s investment thesis and value creation plans. 
• Drive adoption of best-in-class product management practices across portfolio companies, with a strong emphasis on commercial outcomes (ARR growth, retention, expansion, pricing leverage). 
• Assess product-market fit, portfolio rationalization, platform strategy, and build/buy/partner decisions. 
• Translate market, customer, and competitive insights into actionable product priorities. 

Operating Model & Execution Excellence 

• Establish and scale product operating models that emphasize accountability, speed, and measurable impact. 
• Drive consistency in product discovery, roadmap planning, delivery, and lifecycle management across portfolio companies. 
• Introduce and reinforce metrics-driven product management (e.g., OKRs, North Star metrics, outcome-based roadmaps). 
• Ensure tight integration between Product, Engineering, Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success in highly matrixed environments. 

People Leadership & Capability Building 

• Coach, mentor, and develop CPOs, VPs of Product, and senior product leaders across the portfolio. 
• Assess product leadership talent; support hiring, succession planning, and organizational design. 
• Act as a trusted thought partner and “force multiplier” for portfolio product leaders navigating scale, transformation, or turnaround scenarios. 

AI-Enabled Product Transformation 

• Leverage modern AI-powered product tools and workflows (e.g., Figma, Lovable, and emerging AI-assisted discovery, design, and delivery platforms) to improve product velocity and quality. We're watching the PM function get fundamentally reimagined in real-time. You should have strong takes on what's hype versus what's actually compressing cycle times - whether that's AI-assisted discovery, design-to-code workflows, or automated insight generation. 
• Guide portfolio companies in responsibly integrating AI into product development processes and, where applicable, into customer-facing product capabilities. 
• Help modernize the PM function through automation, enhanced customer insight, and faster experimentation. 

Stakeholder Management & Influence 

• Operate effectively in complex, matrixed environments with multiple stakeholders and competing priorities. 
• Serve as a senior representative of the P&T function with Vista deal teams, investment professionals, and portfolio company boards when appropriate. 
• Provide clear, fact-based perspectives - grounded in experience - on product risks, opportunities, and trade-offs. You should be comfortable telling a CEO their roadmap is underwater and have the credibility to help them fix it. 

• 15+ years of product leadership experience, with a significant portion at the executive level. 
• Former or current Chief Product Officer (or equivalent senior product leadership role) at a technology or large enterprise software company. 
• Demonstrated track record of building and shipping commercial software at scale. Not PRDs that became shelfware - actual software that customers paid for and renewed. 
• Deep experience leading multi-level product organizations, including managers of managers. 
• Proven success operating in matrixed environments with strong cross-functional dependencies. 
• Strong commercial orientation - understands how product decisions translate into revenue, margin, and enterprise value. 
• Experience working with private equity–backed businesses is strongly preferred. 
• Exceptional judgment, executive presence, and ability to influence without direct authority. 

What Success Looks Like 

• Portfolio companies demonstrate materially improved product clarity, execution velocity, and commercial impact. 
• Product leaders across the portfolio view this role as a trusted, high-value partner - not a check-the-box advisor. 
• Product management functions mature from feature delivery to outcome-driven, customer-centric organizations. 
• Vista’s P&T organization continues to be a differentiator in diligence, post-close execution, and long-term value creation.

The annualized base pay range for this role is expected to be between $350,000 - $375,000. Actual base pay could vary based on factors including but not limited to experience, subject matter expertise, geographic location where work will be performed and the applicant’s skill set. The base pay is just one component of the total compensation package for employees. Other components may include an annual cash bonus and a comprehensive benefits package. 

Vista is a leading global investment firm that invests exclusively in enterprise software, data and technology-enabled organizations across private equity, credit, public equity and permanent capital strategies. The firm brings an approach that prioritizes creating enduring market value for the benefit of its global ecosystem of investors, companies, customers and employees. The focus of Vista’s Value Creation Team is to accelerate the corporate maturity of its companies – building software businesses that excel in product superiority and operational efficiency. Their collective counsel and resources allow companies to unlock opportunity, scale their business and grow sustainably to deliver value to all stakeholders. Further information is available at vistaequitypartners.com. Follow Vista on LinkedIn @Vista Equity Partners or X @Vista_Equity.