Head of Product

About Ideally

The research industry is being rebuilt from the ground up and Ideally is building the platform at the centre of it.

A $30bn market is shifting away from slow, agency-led research toward always-on software that enables faster, repeatable decisions at a fraction of the cost. AI is accelerating this change, automating workflows that once required specialists and putting powerful insight tools directly into the hands of the people who need them.

Ideally is building the decision engine for modern marketing teams, combining consumer data and AI agents that generate insights and recommend actions within a centralised platform. We're enabling consumer understanding to be used early and often in creative and commercial decisions.

We're one of New Zealand's fastest-growing startups, recently closed a Series A, and are scaling into the US. This is an opportunity to define a category, not just contribute to one.

Why work at Ideally

Ideally is a high-performance, high-care environment built for people who want to do the most meaningful work of their career.

We move fast, set a high bar, and expect people to take ownership of outcomes, not just execution. As the company evolves, so will the role. You will be expected to adapt quickly, focus on what matters most, and operate with sound judgement in ambiguous situations.

You will work closely with a small group of highly capable leaders across Product, Engineering, Product Science, and Research to build something category-defining.

About this role

As Head of Product, you will lead the vision and development of an AI-native product that fundamentally changes how research is done while directly driving commercial outcomes for Ideally.

This is a leadership role reporting to the CEO. You will be close to customers, deep in product decisions, and accountable for both strategy and execution. You will define what we build, why it matters, and how we win.

You'll lead a high-performing product team to operate as a high-velocity system that ships, tests, and learns quickly from real customer behaviour.

What outcomes you'll deliver

• Turn complex research into simple, intuitive product experiences that customers rely on for real decisions
• Build valuable capabilities with our rich dataset
• Drive consistent product usage, retention, and measurable commercial impact
• Define a clear, differentiated product strategy and translate it into decisive execution
• Own and continuously evolve a product roadmap based on real usage, data, and emerging AI capabilities
• Operate a high-velocity product and engineering delivery system focused on speed of learning and quality of outcomes
• Establish clear product metrics and use them to drive performance across adoption, engagement, retention, and revenue
• Build and lead a high-performing product team with strong ownership, accountability, and judgement

What you'll bring

• Proven experience operating at a senior product leadership level in high-growth environments
• A track record of building and scaling successful B2B SaaS products
• Strong product judgement and the ability to make high-quality decisions with incomplete information
• Experience with or deep intuition for AI-native and data-driven products
• The ability to operate at both strategic and hands-on levels without losing effectiveness in either
• Experience building, leading, and raising the bar of high-performing teams

Core capabilities

Agentic AI, data science and modelling, SaaS pricing and commercial thinking, behavioural research and UX, and research methodology literacy.

System or tool proficiency

Figma, Linear, vibe coding platforms, and product analytics tools.

Where you'll work

This role is based in Auckland, working closely with Ideally's leadership, Product, Engineering, Product Science, and Research teams.

What we offer as perks

• Competitive rewards and upside, including salary and meaningful ESOP
• Growth and progression, with stretch opportunities and exposure as we scale
• Flexibility and autonomy, with a hybrid model and focus on impact rather than hours
• Support that matters, including paid parental leave, fertility support schemes, and wellbeing resources
• A fun, social environment, including our annual company-wide offsite ThinkFest

Perks are table stakes for us. What truly defines Ideally is our high-performance, high-care culture, the calibre of people, the ownership they're given, and the chance to help shape an industry.

Who should apply

This role is suited to someone who wants to build a category-defining product and is comfortable with the pace, ambiguity, and expectations that come with that.

If this excites you, we'd like to hear from you, even if your experience doesn't perfectly match every requirement. We care more about judgement, capability, and how you think than a checklist of credentials.

We also know from research that female and non-binary applicants are less likely to apply unless they feel 100% qualified. If that's you, please take this as your nudge to apply anyway. Focus on the bullet points that reflect your strengths and experience, not the ones that don't.