Director - Products & Services, Animal Agriculture

LifeWorks, Inc.$150K — $180K *
US-AnywhereRemote in Calgary, AB
Food & Beverages
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 7+ years in leadership roles within Product Management, Data & Analytics, Technology, Engineering, or Operations.
  • Proven track record in developing and executing digital product strategies from idea to delivery.
  • Experience with technology transformation in dynamic, customer-focused settings.
  • Strong financial planning skills for business cases and capital investment management.
  • Familiarity with AI/ML integration in products or business operations, with a growth mindset on emerging AI tech.
  • Exceptional collaboration and relationship-building abilities across various organizational levels.
  • Knowledge of enterprise data governance practices.

Responsibilities

  • Build and mentor high-performing teams across Product Management, Data Services, IT, and Client Support.
  • Champion the use of AI and automation to enhance service delivery and productivity.
  • Oversee capital strategy and budget, including business case development and investment governance.
  • Develop and implement the product portfolio strategy to provide unmatched value to cattle producers.
  • Coach Product Managers on best practices in product discovery and cross-functional delivery.
  • Lead the data governance program to ensure quality and compliance of data management.
  • Ensure delivery of accurate reporting and analytics to support internal teams and customers.
  • Collaborate with Engineering, Operations, and Customer Success teams for effective product delivery.
  • Drive process optimization and continuous improvement in product development and internal services.
  • Provide strategic leadership for IT services to ensure reliable operations and user support.

Benefits

  • Opportunities for professional growth and advancement within a high-performing team.
  • Access to cutting-edge technologies and digital tools in the agricultural sector.
  • Engagement in innovative AI and automation initiatives that transform the industry.
  • Supportive environment fostering strategic thinking and continuous learning.
  • Work within a collaborative and cross-functional culture that values input at all levels.
Full Job Description
Take the next step in your career and lead our digital products, data services, and technology functions in Animal Agriculture, elevating our high-performing team and livestock solutions to even greater heights.

What you'll do

As the Director - Products & Services, Animal Agriculture, your primary responsibility will be to strategically lead and optimize our digital product portfolio, data governance, and technology operations. You will leverage your vision to elevate our high-performing team, drive capital efficiency, and ensure our technology investments support our team of experts and deliver meaningful value to customers while enabling long-term business growth. You'll lead a team of 32 across Product Management, Data Services, IT, and Client Support, managing the annual capital budget and technology investment portfolio, reporting to the VP-Animal Agriculture. You'll balance strategic planning (e.g., product strategy workshops, quarterly planning cycles) with hands-on leadership of your teams and cross-functional partnerships with Engineering, Operations, and Customer Success.

Your key responsibilities will include:

  • Build and mentor high-performing Product Management, Data Services, IT, and Client Support teams, fostering a culture of strategic thinking, innovation, accountability, and continuous learning.
  • Champion the adoption of AI and automation across the business unit, from embedding predictive and AI-powered workflows and intelligent automation into our product roadmap, to fostering team AI literacy, to identifying and executing operational AI automation opportunities that elevate service delivery and team productivity.
  • Own the business unit's capital strategy and annual capital budget, including business case development, investment prioritization, governance processes, forecasting, and monthly financial management.
  • Define and execute the product portfolio strategy, ensuring digital initiatives enable our veterinary and scientific experts to deliver unmatched value to primary cattle producers, while driving long-term business growth and technical alignment.
  • Coach and mentor Product Managers, establishing best practices for product discovery, requirements definition, prioritization, and cross-functional delivery.
  • Lead the organization's data governance program, establishing standards for data quality, stewardship, security, compliance, and master data management.
  • Ensure the timely delivery of accurate, reliable, and actionable reporting and analytics that support our internal stakeholders (our veterinarians, nutritionists, and other consultants) and our customers.
  • Coordinate, collaborate, and interlock with Engineering, Operations, Commercial, and Customer Success teams to successfully deliver new digital capabilities and continuously improve existing products.
  • Drive continuous improvement across product development, data operations, and internal technology services through process optimization and operational excellence.
  • Provide strategic leadership for internal IT services, ensuring reliable technology operations and effective end-user support.


What you bring
  • 7+ years of progressive leadership experience in Product Management, Data & Analytics, Technology, Engineering, or Operations leadership where you've directly managed cross-functional teams delivering complex technology solutions.
  • Demonstrated experience developing and executing digital product strategies from concept through delivery and managing complex product portfolios and technology roadmaps.
  • Demonstrated success leading organizational or technology transformation initiatives in fast-paced, customer-focused environments.
  • Strong financial planning capability, allowing for the development of business cases, capital investment planning, portfolio prioritization, and investment governance.
  • Experience deploying or leading teams that integrate AI/ML capabilities (e.g., predictive analytics, automation, or generative AI features) into products or business operations. Alternatively, demonstrated comfort and hands-on familiarity with generative AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, copilots, etc.) and a growth mindset around emerging AI technologies.
  • Exceptional relationship-building, collaboration, and influence skills at all organizational levels and across multiple cross-functional teams.
  • Working knowledge of enterprise data governance practices (e.g., establishing data quality standards, building data stewardship models, defining master data management).
  • Excellent organizational, strategic planning, presentation, and communication skills, with the ability to convey complex technical and strategic concepts clearly.
  • MBA or Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Data Science, Mathematics, Business, or a related discipline.


Great to Haves
  • Experience within the livestock sector, with a specific focus on cattle production (beef or dairy) or other production animals (e.g. swine, sheep, poultry), is considered a highly valuable asset.
  • Strong understanding of modern data architecture, cloud-based data platforms (such as Azure, GCP, or AWS), and enterprise analytics (including Snowflake, Tableau, or Power BI).
  • Demonstrated hands-on experience deploying or leading AI/ML initiatives (e.g., predictive models, automation, generative AI features) in product or business contexts.
  • Professional certifications in Product Management, Agile methodologies, cloud technologies, or analytics platforms are considered an asset.


About LifeWorks, Inc.

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