Director of Product Management - Agentic Platform Enablement Experience (APEX)

Director of Product Management, Agentic Platform Enablement Experience (APEX) Remote - US Overview: Pax8 is the global AI and cloud Marketplace for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Pax8 connects service providers and technology companies on a unified platform to discover, buy, sell, deploy and manage technology solutions for SMBs. More than 47,000 IT partners and 800,000 SMBs rely on Pax8 for expertise, automation and real-time insights to stay productive, protected and prepared for the AI economy. Learn more at . Position Summary: Join Pax8 as the Director of Product Management for Agentic Platform Enablement Experience (APEX), the most senior technical product leader for our agentic platform surfaces - agent SDKs, tool use and orchestration, the internal developer platform, and the autonomy and trust experience that makes agentic capability safe to adopt. This is a principal-caliber individual contributor role with people leadership attached: you set product strategy and launch bars for non-deterministic systems yourself, you stay hands-on in product and engineering repos, and you manage, coach, and grow a team of product managers doing the same work. You work at the research-product interface - reading model evals and capability reports directly, defining the autonomy spectrum per capability, and setting the trust, safety, and governance standards that ship with every autonomous capability. You partner closely with Engineering, Design, Data, Security, Trust & Safety, and executive leadership to deliver capability that has no established precedent, and you build the organizational capability that sustains it. Essential Responsibilities (includes, but is not limited to): Own end-to-end product strategy, roadmap, and launch criteria for the APEX platform surfaces (agent SDK, tool use and orchestration, developer platform, autonomy and trust UX) across a 1-6 quarter horizon; contribute to the portfolio strategy above it Set and own launch-readiness criteria for non-deterministic systems in partnership with Engineering, Security, Research, and Design; make the ship vs hold call yourself Define the autonomy spectrum per capability (human-in-the-loop, AI-assisted, agentic) and the trust and control experience that makes it legible to the people using it Identify and mitigate misuse and risk pre-launch; define the monitoring, audit trail, and rollback that ships with every autonomous capability Personally build prototypes, scripts, and evaluation harnesses to test product decisions, working inside engineering and product repos and internal SDKs as a peer user Be a daily, hands-on user of the platform you own; file precise, implementable bug reports and behavior-change requests Instrument adoption, quality, and safety metrics from day one; run experiments and A/B tests to prove impact rather than assert it Manage, coach, and develop a team of product managers; own development plans and performance conversations for each PM, and raise the craft bar for technical, data-driven product judgment on agentic systems Hire and develop AI-fluent, technically credible product managers; partner with your leader on staffing plans, resourcing needs, and headcount justification Translate vision and portfolio strategy into sequenced, actionable roadmaps tied to business OKRs; own domain-level OKRs and report clearly on progress, risk, and trade-offs Make build/buy/partner decisions for capabilities within APEX, with explicit ROI reasoning Build trusted relationships with peers in Engineering, Design, Data, Security, Marketing, and GTM; secure cross-functional alignment on the APEX strategy and keep it coherent with adjacent domains Ensure responsible AI, ethics, compliance, and legal reviews are completed for products in your domain, following company standards Represent the platform internally and externally: enablement, developer relations, launch communications, and public launches that build credibility for Pax8 in the agentic space Use AI tools and agents in daily work, and model that practice for the team Skills & Experience: Core Skills & Experience: At least eight to ten (8 – 10) years of experience in product management or an equivalent role At least three (3) years of experience leading product managers, including experience growing a team Engineering background required: prior professional experience as a software engineer, or an equivalent track record driving technical product direction from inside engineering; comfortable writing code personally at prototype quality (prototypes, scripts, eval harnesses) without handing it to an engineer first Track record delivering product capabilities on a developer-focused platform (APIs, SDKs, CLIs, developer tools), backed by pointable evidence: launch posts, press coverage, changelogs, or documentation you shipped Track record of leading multiple products that drive measurable outcomes, and of leading a significant product, platform, automation, or process transformation Data-driven by nature: designs and runs experiments, instruments adoption and quality metrics from day one, and can show a record of moving them, not just launching features Scrupulous about value for Pax8 and our partners; able to articulate and defend expected ROI Excellent communication, organizational, and people skills; can present a clear narrative to senior leadership Comfortable with ambiguity; adapts quickly and keeps the team oriented when priorities shift Agentic Platform Depth: Deep, firsthand fluency with how frontier models and agentic systems behave - tool use, planning, multi-step execution, and common failure modes - and with the current agentic platform landscape (agent SDKs, computer-use interfaces, orchestration frameworks) Able to read model evals and capability reports directly and translate them into launch bars, acceptance criteria, and roadmap decisions Sets safety, authority, and escalation boundaries for autonomous capability, and can defend those boundaries to engineering, security, and executive audiences Reached via Breadth (coherence across several interdependent, complex product areas) or Depth (sole expert in one hard, fast-moving product problem) - same level, either route AI Skills & Experience: Daily experience with tools like Claude, Microsoft Copilot, GitHub Copilot, Atlassian AI, Figma (design collaboration and AI product research), Pendo (AI product analytics and research collaboration) - with a working view of where each fits in the product workflow Solid understanding of AI capabilities and limitations, including cost, latency, and quality trade-offs Use enterprise-approved AI tools for daily productivity, and redirect the team away from unapproved tools Apply data classification and privacy principles when using AI, and hold the team to the same Practice responsible AI: recognize bias, fairness, and transparency requirements and build them into acceptance criteria Effective prompting and context-setting - clear instructions, context, iterative refinement - and share what works across the team Own the responsible AI ethics review for customer-facing AI products within your domain Measure AI product outcomes: accuracy, user satisfaction, adoption, and business impact Own and apply the company AI standard within your domain: human-in-the-loop, AI-assisted, and agentic decisions are deliberate, documented, and consistently applied AI Proficiency Expectation: Expert Preferred Skills: Multiple years of professional experience as a software engineer prior to moving into product, beyond the minimum engineering background required above Has personally built agentic evaluations (SWE-bench-style suites, LLM-judge rubrics, model-behavior regression harnesses), not just commissioned them Direct experience with research and design teams as a daily collaborator, not a periodic stakeholder Took a research result or internal prototype into a production product used at scale Defined a new product category or UX pattern with no established precedent (early agentic UX, autonomous coding tools, computer-use interfaces) External visibility in the agentic product space: talks, published product thinking, recognized contribution to industry framing of autonomy, trust, or agent UX What Success Looks Like: The APEX product vision and strategy are clearly communicated and visibly aligned to business outcomes. Agentic capabilities ship with explicit authority, safety, and escalation boundaries, and with the monitoring, audit trail, and rollback that make them operable. Launch bars for non-deterministic systems are defined, applied consistently, and trusted by Engineering, Security, and executive leadership. Adoption, quality, and safety metrics exist from day one and show measurable movement. Build/buy/partner decisions within the domain are grounded in measurable value. The product management team is AI-fluent, technically credible, well-coached, and growing against clear development plans - with at least one PM ready for the next level. Engineering, Design, Data, Security, and senior stakeholders have clarity on priorities, trade-offs, and delivery expectations. Escalations to your leader are the exception, and they arrive with a recommendation attached. Required Behaviors: Compassionate Candour - We aim to assist others with candid, actionable feedback. Seek to Understand - Be open, curious and committed to learning. We Before Me - Actively collaborate and seek out diverse perspectives to ensure a win for Team Pax8. Do What You Say - Take ownership and honor your commitments; prioritize and deliver. Light Up Learning - Be brave and try new ideas; be vulnerable and share your failures so everyone can learn from our mistakes. Driven by Passion - Connects personal passion to Pax8 mission, resilient in face of adversity and uncertainty in pursuit of mission. Education & Certifications: B.A./B.S. in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent hands-on engineering experience. Product management certification preferred. Trust and Hiring: At Pax8, we care deeply about building genuine, trust based relationships — starting with how we hire. To protect our business, our teams, and our customers, we use a range of measures throughout the recruitment process to help confirm authenticity and prevent fraud. These safeguards are designed to be fair, respectful, and proportionate, and may evolve as risks change. By applying, you acknowledge that we take steps to verify identity and representation during hiring. If you're applying as your authentic self, you have nothing to worry about — we're excited to meet you. We also use thoughtfully applied AI-enabled tools to support our hiring process. These tools may assist with tasks such as reviewing or prioritising applications, but hiring decisions are made by our people. More information is available in our Recruitment Privacy Notice. If you have questions about how we hire or would prefer not to have your application supported by these tools, you can opt out at any part of our process. Everyone Belongs Here: We encourage you to apply even if you don't meet 100% of the criteria. We're committed to diverse perspectives, inclusive hiring and sharing your transferrable skills. To fulfil this role, you must hold valid right to work in United States. Why You'll Love Working Here: Benefits Competitive compensation package Annual bonus opportunity Employee stock options Comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage 401(k) retirement plan with employer match Flexible paid time off Paid volunteer time Wellness initiatives and employee assistance programs Continuous learning and development opportunities Dedicated professional development resources Collaborative remote-first culture Access to innovative technologies and AI-powered learning tools Compensation Range: $215k - $250k (open to candidates outside of this range with exceptional talent) *This is a proactive opportunity posting, allowing us to connect with exceptional talent for anticipated future openings within Pax8. Grow With Us: There's extensive room for a talented individual to grow at pace — whether that's advancing quickly in this role or exploring one of the many opportunities across our global organisation. You'll have access to our internal development hub designed to accelerate your skills and stretch your potential. Alongside specialist Learning & Development trainers, you'll also tap into AI powered tools, "born in the cloud" mentors, and cross continent collaboration that broaden your perspective and sharpen your expertise. We'll give you the space, trust, and the right projects to help you thrive — and full visibility of what it takes to reach your next level. About Pax8: Our mission is to build the managed intelligence marketplace and empower small businesses to do more with smarter technology. We are a fast-growing, dynamic, and high-energy organisation with a start-up feel, allowing you to make a meaningful impact on the business. Culture is also important to us, and at Pax8, it's business, and it IS personal. We are passionate, creative, and unconventional. We work hard, keep it fun, and expect the best! We Elev8 each other. We Advoc8 for our partners. We Innov8 continuously. We Celebr8 life. Background Checks: As part of our hiring process, we are required to undertake pre-employment checks on all candidates that are successful in their application with Pax8. As part of these checks Pax8 will request ID verification, reference requests and qualification checks (additional checks may be completed for certain countries, such as criminal and financial). All checks are completed by our third-party provider, First Advantage. Once checks have been completed all candidates will receive a copy for their records. Equal Opportunities: Pax8 are an equal opportunities employer and welcome individuals who are in possession of the appropriate requirements to work within the country you have applied for. Offered individuals will be asked to undertake identity, security compliance and reference checks. Your privacy is important to us. Your data will be held in accordance with local best practices and processed only in accordance with our recruiting processes. Privacy notice: At Pax8, we care deeply about building genuine, trust‑based relationships — starting with how we hire. To protect our business, our teams, and our customers, we use a range of measures throughout the recruitment process to help confirm authenticity and prevent fraud. These safeguards are designed to be fair, respectful, and proportionate, and may evolve as risks change. By applying, you acknowledge that we take steps to verify identity and representation during hiring. If you’re applying as your authentic self, you have nothing to worry about — we’re excited to meet you. Perks: At Pax8 we believe that your Total Rewards should include a benefits package that shows how much we value our greatest assets. All FTE Pax8 people enjoy the following benefits: 401(k) with Company Match Medical, Dental & Vision Coverage Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Employer-Paid Life, AD&D, Short-Term Disability & Long-Term Disability Insurance Flexible Open PTO Paid Sick Leave Paid Parental Leave RTD EcoPass (eligible Colorado-based employees) #LI-KC #LI-Remote