Head of Product

At Apalon, we are focused on building category leading best-in-class mobile subscription apps that make everyday life better. A unique blend of passion and skills are at the core of our company’s DNA, driving our team to produce top-rated, award-winning mobile experiences for millions of people around the world every year.  We specialize in the Weather, Gardening and Picture Editing categories with our well known and highly rated apps Clime, Weather Live, Blossom, and Pixomatic. 

Clime and WeatherLive are leaders in the large and attractive weather category with over 50% market share. Our strategy is to continue to evolve our weather products into easy to use, personalized experiences - embodying our slogan “Precise weather, precisely for you”. Blossom,our fastest growing product, grew over 400% in 2021, winning a Google Play’s Best Award in 2021 as well as a coveted Webby Award in 2022. By continuing to heavily invest in growth and branding initiatives, we believe Blossom has the potential to be the leading player in the fast-growing plant care category. Pixomatic,our photo editing app for creating vivid and unique content, grew over 300% in 2021 and is focused on making picture editing easy and fun for both business and recreational users no matter their skill level.

Apalon is a part of IAC (NASDAQ:IAC) in the Mosaic division. IAC (NASDAQ: IAC) builds companies. We are guided by curiosity, a questioning of the status quo, and a desire to invent or acquire new products and brands. From the single seed that started as IAC over two decades ago have emerged 11 public companies and generations of exceptional leaders. We will always evolve, but our basic principles of financially disciplined opportunism will never change. IAC is today comprised of category leading businesses including Angi Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI), Dotdash Meredith and Care.com among many others ranging from early stage to established businesses. IAC is headquartered in New York City with business locations worldwide

The role:

Apalon is seeking a hands-on executive to lead their Product Management and Design teams.  Reporting to the General Manager, the Head of Product will provide product leadership to the organization, leading and shaping the vision, direction, and roadmaps of Apalon’s applications, as well as providing strategic and operational leadership with respect to leveraging product innovation, technology and distribution to turn our applications into world-class, industry-leading brands and businesses.

The Head of Product will lead, coach and grow product management talent across the organization, and play a central role in attracting and hiring top-tier talent. You should have a proven track record of success building and scaling great, innovative products that have a big impact in the market and delight users, and in leading successful product organizations. We also expect you to have a passion for coaching and developing product talent.  As a senior leader in the organization, this person will influence broader strategy and drive innovative solutions that will transform Apalon as we know it today.

The highest priorities of this role:

• Lead vision, strategy and execution for Apalon’s products across platforms;
• Lead Apalon’s product managers in evolving and growing products through the ideation and implementation of innovative features, with the goal of providing a delightful, useful, unique experience, while increasing engagement, retention and monetization of users;
• Manage, coach and mentor a team of 8-10 Product Managers, act as an inspirational leader enabling them to produce their best work, and providing them with opportunities to level up their skills.  Additionally, manage Product Design and Research as well as Content strategy and execution;
• Set and reach high standards for product quality, usability and user satisfaction;
• Represent the product organization at the executive level  and build transparency around product roadmaps, initiatives and strategy;
• Implement processes that improve quality and speed of the development process;
• Manage communications with key stakeholders regarding product goals, and measure progress against those goals, including the setting and tracking of product OKRs and roadmaps;
• Feature  Measurement. Develop a real-time feedback loop to monitor products (features, design, usability). Ultimately leverage this feedback and integrate into a continuously improving experience;
  
• Define the Competitive Marketplace. Be part of developing a corporate understanding of Apalon’s business risks, competitive landscape, and industry-wide (or niche) opportunities;
• Thought Leadership. Be a visionary about what it takes to be the winner in our markets with evolving consumer expectations.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Strong track record of success in building, managing and scaling great products and product teams. Experience developing mobile apps preferred;
• Strong understanding of user retention, engagement and monetization drivers. Experience managing products monetized with in-app transactions and / or subscription a plus;
• Proven ability to create change, build process and make the decisions needed to get there;
• Proven leadership skills, including the ability to lead, develop and inspire product teams;
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills, with the ability to quickly evolve product strategy based on research, data and industry trends;
• Ability to make decisions in ambiguity, and back them up with data and strong reasoning;
• Demonstrated ability to drive to consensus, with a preference to work collaboratively;
• High attention to detail, including proven ability to manage multiple, competing priorities simultaneously;
• Willingness to roll up your sleeves and do what is necessary to create high-quality products;
• Comfortable with taking calculated risks;
• Ability to recognize customers and Industry trends, foresee future opportunities for the products, and build an inspiring product vision;
• Ability to understand and communicate, at a high-level, technical concepts related to mobile apps architecture, data & reporting and user experience;
• Superior verbal and written communications skills.

Required Experience:

• At least 10+ years relevant product management experience;
• At least 5 years of experience leading and mentoring product managers;
  
• Demonstrated experience with consumer mobile applications preferred;
• Demonstrated experience ideating and implementing successful, user-focused, revenue-generating product roadmaps;
• Experience with web funnels and applications, a plus.

What we offer 

• Freedom to make bold plans, and go execute those plans with your team;
• An ability to try new things, fail and learn;
• Competitive salary & bonus structure;
• Full health, vision, and dental benefits; with optional HSAs, optional life & disability insurance, and more;
• Paid parental leave, plus dependent care benefits;
• Tuition reimbursement policy;
• 401(k) with a 100% match of 10% of your salary (up to $10k/yr max), plus a Roth 401(k) option;
• The flexibility to be fully remote, or to enjoy a hybrid arrangement working out of our NYC headquarters or other global locations;
• Top of the line Apple hardware to equip you to do your best work, plus a home office reimbursement policy;
• Unlimited PTO to ensure your work/life balance is actually a balance;
• Continuous opportunities to grow, through professional & personal development via a dedicated training budget, and a bias for internal promotion and growth that we’ve demonstrated for years.
  

*We embrace diversity and strive to create an inclusive and equitable environment for all.