Join Adrienne Tan, Ken Sandy, Steven Haines, and Radhika Dutt as Board Members of the Association of Product Professionals. Applications are now open.
The Brief
The Association of Product Professionals is a new professional organization. Its charter is to advance the profession of product management, across companies, across industries, and around the world.
The reason for its formation is to counteract the numerous variations and approaches taken to the structure, purpose, and function of product management. This level of variability is counterproductive and results in poor product business results and a host of other challenges that impact corporate performance.
Many experienced product people can attest that the profession is fragmented. There is no formal common language to call our own. At best, there are loose definitions of job titles and job descriptions. Moreover, there isn’t a universal definition of “good product management”, making it difficult for organisations to create a suitable working environment for product people to work independently to solve problems and create products.
The Association aims to achieve this by working to align industry thought-leaders from around the globe to establish standards and best practices that can be applied to any company so they can focus on the products and portfolios that contribute to long-term growth.
To achieve this goal, the Association established an Advisory Board to represent the different voices of product management across all industries, product types and company sizes. The Advisory Board will guide and establish foundational principles and an operating framework that can be representative of our profession.
There are currently four charter board members of the Association of Product Professionals: Adrienne Tan, Steven Haines, Radhika Dutt, and Ken Sandy.
Seeking Passionate Board Members
We are currently seeking four additional Board members who are willing to join the Association and serve our profession tirelessly.
Here are some of the characteristics future board members would see in themselves (not all are required):
- A passion for product management and the benefit it brings to any organization.
- Experience at a sufficient level of an organization to understand the intricacies of organizational structure and effective business operations.
- Experience as a product leader with a span of control that would include multiple products, product lines, and at least 20 people in an incumbent’s span of control or influence.
- Varied industry or sector experience, including industrial/manufacturing, business services, and technology in a business leadership role.
- Recognized thought leadership through papers, social media, publications, etc.
- Curiosity to explore with others who operate in companies targeted by the board to learn about things that work, and things that don’t. In essence, an inclination to do independent research from which the board can learn.
- A willingness to participate in thoughtful, considered debate.
- A good network of contacts across a variety of industries and other associations.
- A strategic thinking leader; someone who processes a host of goings-on from across the global business landscape and can incorporate insights that help the board anticipate its future direction.
Time Commitment for a Board Member
Work on the board continues to take shape as we evolve. Board members will work to fine-tune the agenda of the board and its influence on the strategic direction of the association.
Attendance of at least one 60-90 meeting per month is required, plus other work items that are required as determined by the collective agreement by the board itself.
Consider this: the board is not a static care-taking group. It’s a dynamic team of thinkers who can help place APP as the only professional association and the standard-bearer for product management organizational excellence.
You will also be called upon to write about and speak on behalf of the Association of Product Professionals. Be prepared to be challenged by your peers, practitioners and thought leaders in the product profession. Most of all, you’ll come with an open mind and an ambition to change the product profession for all product people.
This is not for the faint of heart. But, the chance for impact at scale is worth it.
To be considered, please write a 300-word essay indicating why you think this Association is so important, and what you feel you could bring to the board and provide it to one of the current APP Board Members or submit it to the Directors of APP at applications@productprofessionals.com.
