Director, Product Management

Overview

First Merchants Bank is seeking a Director, Product Management to join our team! This position will lead the strategy, development, and performance of the product portfolio for the line of business. Partner closely with executive leaders, Finance, Marketing, Digital, and Operations to define and execute the product vision, ensuring offerings are competitive, customer-centric, and aligned to strategic growth priorities. Serve as the primary owner of product financial performance, including revenue, profitability, and return metrics, while proactively monitoring marketplace dynamics to identify opportunities to enhance value, deepen customer engagement, and drive sustainable growth.

Oversee a team of product managers to deliver a disciplined product management practice that continuously advances product capabilities and strengthens overall business performance.

• Lead the development and execution of the product strategy and multi-year roadmap for the line of business, ensuring alignment with enterprise strategic objectives, growth targets, and customer needs. Partner with senior and executive leadership to define product positioning, branding, segment strategies, and differentiated value propositions.
• Oversee comprehensive product lifecycle management, including market research, business case development, competitive analysis, pricing strategy, feasibility evaluation, launch planning, and ongoing performance optimization to drive revenue growth, cost efficiency, and relationship deepening.
• Serve as the primary owner of product financial performance, including revenue, profitability, and return metrics. Develop proformas, forecasts, and financial models that support strategic decision making. Identify optimization opportunities and recommend changes to pricing, fees, features, and portfolio mix to maximize financial outcomes.
• Develop, manage, and report on product and portfolio performance metrics, providing actionable insights to senior leadership across Finance, Sales, Operations, Marketing, Digital, and Risk. Continuously assess product health, segment performance, and competitive dynamics to inform strategic adjustments.
• Lead and develop the product management team, providing coaching, performance feedback, and professional development to build a high-performing, analytically strong, customer-centric discipline. Oversee team pipelines, capacity planning, and delivery expectations.
• Collaborate with cross-functional partners including Operations, IT, Digital, Marketing, Finance, Sales, Risk, and Procurement to define priorities, align roadmaps, coordinate delivery schedules, and ensure optimal use of enterprise resources. Lead technical and non-technical teams through planning, development, testing, and launch of product initiatives.
• Ensure strong marketplace intelligence and customer insight gathering, including analysis of trends, competitive landscape, client feedback, surveys, and focus groups, to identify emerging needs and opportunities for differentiation or revenue expansion.
• Identify and evaluate product and feature opportunities tailored to priority customer segments such as Stable Mass and Mass Affluent by analyzing needs, behaviors, profitability profiles, and competitive gaps to ensure offerings align with segment-specific growth strategies.
• Oversee vendor relationships related to product delivery, partnering with Procurement to evaluate vendor capabilities, negotiate contracts, ensure performance, and align vendor roadmaps to product strategy.
• Ensure compliance with industry regulations and internal policies, partnering with Risk, Compliance, and Internal Audit to evaluate risks associated with new or enhanced product initiatives, and presenting recommendations in alignment with enterprise risk tolerance.
• Lead major initiatives, integrations, and change management efforts related to the product portfolio, ensuring strong planning, communication, execution, and stakeholder alignment across functional teams.
• Act as a key spokesperson for the product portfolio, communicating vision, strategy, value propositions, and performance to internal stakeholders and external partners where appropriate.

• Bachelor's degree in business, finance, management or a related field.
• A minimum of eight (8) years of experience in product management, product strategy, financial performance management, or related roles within financial services, including demonstrated ownership of product profitability, pricing, and portfolio performance.
• A minimum of five (5) years of leadership experience managing strategic, analytical, and/or product management teams, with proven ability to develop talent, lead cross-functional initiatives, and drive enterprise-level outcomes.

• Strong financial acumen with experience in P&L management, forecasting, pricing, and performance analytics.
• Master's degree.
• Project management experience or Agile related certification.

• Base…