Lead Product Manager Infrastructure and Operations

Company Overview

Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (BSAM), headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, and Bridgestone Europe, Middle East and Africa (BSEMEA), headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, operate collectively as a "Bridgestone West" strategic region. This region services the strategic business needs of teams across the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa. BSAM and BSEMEA are subsidiaries of Bridgestone Corporation, globally headquartered in Japan. Bridgestone and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market a wide range of Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand products and solutions to address the needs of a broad range of customers and industries.

Job Category

Information Technology

Position Summary

The Lead, Product Manager for Infrastructure & Operations, will lead the strategy, execution, and continuous improvement of store technology platforms across a network of 2,200+ retail locations. This role is responsible for ensuring high availability, performance, and scalability of infrastructure and operational technologies that power store operations, voice/telephony, edge systems, and tight collaboration with Retail Networking Leaders and Enterprise IT platform owners.

This Lead, Product Manager position operates at the intersection of technology transformation and retail operations, partnering closely with Retail Operations business leadership, cross-functional IT teams and external vendor partners to modernize legacy environments while maintaining operational excellence across all the Retail Tire and Service network of stores. The role includes direct leadership of two Product Owners (Tech Ops and Voice) and requires strong financial, vendor, and executive communication skills.

We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role so if you are an applicant on an F1 visa or STEM or OPT or some other form of temporary employment authorization, we will not be able to consider your application for this role and your application will be declined.

Responsibilities

Product Strategy & Execution

• Define and execute the product roadmap for infrastructure and store operations technology, aligned to broader retail IT transformation goals.

• Balance modernization initiatives (SD-WAN, edge compute, cloud connectivity, voice platforms) with run-the-business stability (KTLO)

• Drive adoption of resilient, scalable, and secure architecture across all store locations.

• Partner with architecture and engineering teams to ensure decoupled, flexible infrastructure platforms.

• Manage replacement cycle strategy and roadmap for assets at all store locations.

Store Infrastructure & Operations Ownership

• Ensure the adoption and usage of Tiered Support Process and Help Desk tools.

• Work with Incident Management group to monitor and manage the health of the stores

• Own performance and uptime of hardware and services:

• Store hardware - PC's, servers, tablets, phones, credit card machines, etc

• Store networking (LAN/WAN, SD-WAN, firewalls)

• Voice/telephony platforms (e.g., RingCentral or equivalent)

• Edge infrastructure supporting SaaS POS and store systems

• Store networking (LAN/WAN, SD-WAN, firewalls)

• Strong strategic planning and collaboration with Retail Networking Leaders and Enterprise IT platform owners

• Ensure store resilience, including offline capabilities and failover strategies

• Define and create operational and trend reporting aligned to SLAs, SLOs, and operational KPIs across all locations

Leadership & Team Management

• Lead and develop 2 Product Owners:

• Product Owner - Tech Operations

• Product Owner - Voice & Communications

• Set clear priorities, outcomes, and accountability for product teams

• Foster a product-oriented mindset within infrastructure and operations domains

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with:

• Retail Leaders and Strategy team

• Various networking teams

• Cybersecurity teams

• Store Operations and Field Support

• Many 3rd party MSP's and other external vendors

• Align infrastructure capabilities with store experience, uptime needs, and business priorities

• Act as the primary liaison between technical teams and business stakeholders

Financial & Vendor Management

• Own budget planning, forecasting, and cost optimization for infrastructure and operations products

• Manage vendor relationships and contracts (hardware, telephony, managed services, etc)

• Drive cost efficiency and value realization, including reducing site dispatches and improving remote support capabilities

Executive Communication & Governance

• Present roadmaps, performance metrics, risks, and investment strategies to executive leadership

• Translate complex infrastructure topics into clear business outcomes

• Support governance forums (Steer Committee, project portfolio reviews, quarterly planning)

KEY SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

• Experience in retail, automotive services, or field operations environments

• Familiarity with platforms like Fortinet, SD-WAN solutions, and cloud-managed networking

• Exposure to Agile / SAFe delivery models

• Effective cross-functional communication

• Problem-solving under pressure, especially during incidents

• Continuous improvement mindset

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 6-10+ years in product management, infrastructure, or IT operations (retail or multi-site environments preferred)

• Proven experience supporting large-scale distributed environments (1000+ locations)

• Strong understanding of:

• Networking (SD-WAN, routing, switching, firewalls)

• Voice/telephony platforms

• Store/edge infrastructure

• Experience managing budgets, vendors, and contracts

• Demonstrated ability to present to and influence executive leadership

• Experience leading small product teams or junior product managers/product owners

• Strong prioritization skills balancing innovation vs operational stability

• Ability to operate in complex, cross-functional environments

• Data-driven mindset with focus on SLAs, uptime, and performance metrics

Minimum Qualifications

Typically requires a minimum of 8 years of related experience with a bachelor's degree; or 6 years and a master's degree; or a PhD with 3 years of experience; or equivalent work experience

At Bridgestone, you are Free to Be

We believe people can only provide superior service and quality to others when they bring their whole self to work. We believe in championing all perspectives, individuals and teams because we understand the importance of seeing the world and our business through many different lenses. We are building a team as diverse as the world we serve. So, show us what you are made of, because who you are is what we need.

What we offer

At Bridgestone, what really matters is to foster co-creation opportunities and empowering you to be creative and curious to make mobility safer, more efficient, and more sustainable for future generations. Whatever role you fill, when you represent Bridgestone, you are a valued teammate, and part of our larger mission to "Serve Society with Superior Quality", for that, we offer you more than just a competitive compensation; we will provide you:

• A supportive and engaging onboarding experience to ensure a smooth transition into our team.

• The opportunity to develop and grow, through training and regular mentorship.

• Corporate Social Responsibility activities.

• A truly global, dynamic and challenging work environment.

• Agility and work/life effectiveness and your long-term well-being.

• A diverse and inclusive team.

Bridgestone is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. It is our policy to consider for employment all individuals regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.

Employment Eligibility

If hired, a Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification must be completed at the start of employment. Temporary work authorization or the need for sponsorship may disqualify you from employment.