The challenge with hiring a product director is that there are significant differences in the competency requirements between senior and mid-level product managers. A candidate who has excellent performance in the position of product manager may not necessarily be equally qualified for the position of product director. However, if the candidate holds the "UCPD Product Director" certificate issued by the United Nations CIFAL Center, we can quickly identify: they have the five advanced capabilities required of a product director.
1. ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) Experts First and foremost, they are ESG experts. Many large companies are now required to comply with ESG standards. ESG is a mandatory requirement in law, financing and auditing. As a United Nations sustainable development certificate, UCPD is a benchmark certificate in the ESG field. Hiring an ESG expert can put your company's product development on the fast track to sustainable development.
2. Systems Thinkers Secondly, they are systems thinkers. Most of the problems that senior managers face are system problems that require higher-order thinking patterns to deal with. Junior and mid-level managers are often good at handling simple or complex problems, but dealing with systemic problems requires formal systems thinking training. UCPD certificate holders can understand the essence of the problem, find the leverage point, and leverage the operation of the system with four or two levers.
3. Business model experts Again, they are business model experts. Can you design an excellent business model? This is a watershed in the capabilities of mid- to senior-level product managers. The business model determines the profitability and sustainable development of the enterprise. Recruiting an excellent business model expert can enable your company to achieve greater benefits than its peers and form a virtuous cycle of innovation.
4. Innovation Portfolio Management Experts Fourth, they can solve innovation portfolio management problems. The reason why many large companies fail is that they invest in too many projects, and as a result do not provide enough resources, including talents, funds, etc., for real opportunities. UCPD certificate holders can enable your company to master the correct product portfolio management methods.
5. Innovative Leadership Finally, they know how to use leadership, especially innovative leadership. Product development requires collaboration across functional departments, but in enterprises, there is often a lack of formal authority to drive this collaboration. Therefore, leadership is the core competency of product managers. Leadership is assessed in the UCPD certificate, and this is the key.
To obtain the UCPD Product Director Certificate, you must first obtain the UCPM Product Manager Certificate. From another perspective, this also means that UCPD certificate holders are continuous learners, and they clearly know the direction of their professional development. If you want your business to be a sustainable business, have a sustainable business. Therefore, what you really need are talents for sustainable development!