Cliffton Laird

In my capacity as Director of Product, I lead the strategic planning of our software roadmap, meeting directly with customers to gather insights and future feature requirements. I collaborate with stakeholders to translate customer needs into actionable software plans, ensuring that our products align with both immediate and long-term market demands. Serving as the Scrum Master for our development teams, I ensure that our agile processes run smoothly and projects are delivered on time. By blending customer feedback, internal research, and industry trends, I effectively shape the direction of our software and hardware product lines.

Additionally, I manage in-house manufacturing and shipping teams to ensure seamless final assembly and quality assurance of products initially manufactured overseas. Partnering with engineering, I forecast future hardware needs and contribute to hardware design and improvements. My hands-on experience has given me a deep understanding of supply chain processes, allowing me to solve complex operational challenges and optimize efficiency.

• Oversaw product design and roadmap and coordinated aspects of development and rollout.
• Worked collaboratively with developers, senior-level stakeholders and partners to collect data on deficiencies and provide solutions to long-standing issues.
• Met strict deadlines, coordinating moving parts in product team and orchestrating well-designed flow.
• Conceptualized long-range product roadmaps and strategically designed according to market data and research.
• Identified productivity bottlenecks and devised innovative solutions while remaining conservative with resources.
• Translated information highly technical in nature to investors and senior staff and aligned product strategy with market.
• Streamlined production processes for enhanced efficiency and reduced operational costs.

• Communicated effectively with team members to deliver updates on project milestones and deadlines.
• Developed product documentation to communicate upcoming features and products to internal teams.
• Collaborated with sales teams to develop effective training materials that drove increased product knowledge among staff members, resulting in higher close rates.
• Coordinated design meetings and decisions with internal departments and teams.
• Analyzed metrics to measure product performance.
• Collaborated with sales, marketing, and support teams to launch products on time and within budget.

• Increased sales revenue by implementing strategic inside sales initiatives and building strong customer relationships.
• Championed continuous improvement culture within the sales organization by regularly soliciting feedback from team members, identifying areas for improvement, and implementing actionable changes.
• Delivered comprehensive product knowledge training sessions for both new hires and existing team members to ensure consistent messaging across all touchpoints with customers.
• Maintained in-depth knowledge of industry trends, competitor offerings, and market dynamics to ensure the company''s value proposition remained relevant and compelling to potential clients.