Sr. Product Manager - Option and Sustaining Portfolio Planner

The Option and Sustaining Portfolio Planner manages priorities and lifecycle decisions for Lenovo ISG server options and sustaining releases. The role turns customer and business needs into clear portfolio plans.

Working across server platforms and option categories, the planner improves sustaining processes, oversees release readiness, and coordinates lifecycle planning. The role works with server and option Product Managers to resolve trade-offs, clarify ownership, and improve delivery and customer outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

Portfolio Priorities and Decisions

• Set priorities for server options and sustaining work, balancing customer need, business value, quality, security, supply continuity, feasibility, and lifecycle impact.
• Recommend clear decisions on scope, timing, deferral, replacement, and retirement in collaboration with Product Managers and delivery teams.
• Turn cross-functional input into practical plans with clear trade-offs, dependencies, owners, and decisions.

Process Improvement

• Improve sustaining processes, decision-making, execution speed, predictability, and transparency.
• Identify gaps, duplicate work, unclear ownership, and bottlenecks, then establish practical roles, criteria, measures, and escalation paths.
• Use lessons learned, analytics, automation, and AI-assisted tools to create repeatable improvements.

Release and Lifecycle Management

• Oversee sustaining releases across supported server platforms and option categories.
• Combine demand, dependencies, resources, material readiness, validation, and customer commitments into clear release plans.
• Track milestones, risks, and decisions, and provide concise status and recovery recommendations to leadership.
• Manage server options and sustaining content from introduction through transition, withdrawal, and end of support.
• Align lifecycle milestones with platform roadmaps, supply, certification, service readiness, and customer transitions.
• Simplify the portfolio and maintain continuity through clear replacement plans, documented impacts, and assigned owners.

Collaboration and Governance

• Represent Product Management in cross-functional reviews and maintain a clear view of priorities, risks, dependencies, decisions, and owners.
• Drive alignment across Product Management, Development, Architecture, Quality, Operations, Supply Chain, Services, and Commercial teams.
• Resolve conflicts in requirements, ownership, priority, and timing, and ensure agreed actions are driven to closure.
• Translate complex issues into concise product and business guidance for leadership.

Data, Tools, and Operational Discipline

• Maintain reliable portfolio data and reporting for backlog, release readiness, lifecycle actions, risks, decisions, and ownership.
• Use planning, analytics, and automation tools to improve traceability, expose bottlenecks, and support decisions.
• Resolve inconsistencies across teams, regions, or systems to maintain a single source of truth

Basic Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in server, infrastructure, product management, portfolio management, programm management, or technical leadership.
• Strong understanding of enterprise server products, options, supply chain, quality, service, and lifecycle management.

• Proven success in cross-functional leadership, process improvement, and portfolio decision-making.
• Experience working across global, cross-functional organizations
• Demonstrated ability to manage ambiguity and drive decisions to closure

Technical & AI Fluency

• Working knowledge of server architecture and major option areas such as processors, memory, storage, networking, accelerators, power, cooling, firmware, and operating systems.
• Able to assess feasibility, dependencies, validation needs, execution risk, and lifecycle impact with technical and operations teams.
• Comfortable using planning, analytics, automation, and AI-assisted tools to improve decisions and execution.

Leadership and Impact

• Influences outcomes across functions through expertise, clarity of thinking, and delivery ownership
• Drives alignment and accountability in complex, matrixed environments
• Ensures decisions are understood, executed consistently, and deliver intended business outcomes
• Contributes to a high-performing, collaborative, and effective team environment