About | Nikki Schlesinger

Core Strengths

Product Planning

Roadmap development, feature prioritization, launch readiness, short vs. long-term trade-offs

Cross-Functional

Operating models, ownership clarity, executive communication

Monetization

Ads platforms, acquisition strategy, revenue impact

Operational Scale

Process design, workflow optimization, AI-enabled efficiency

Strategic Leadership

Direction setting, clear decision making under ambiguity

Stakeholder Engagement

Trust building, team alignment, and accountability with senior partners

My Approach

"I believe great program leadership is about creating clarity and accountability, and building trust across teams so people can move fast together."

When priorities, trade-offs, and success metrics are explicit, teams make better decisions. My job is to create clear strategies that drive both business and customer goals, align people around the work, reinforce ownership, and ensure teams understand the impact of what they're building.

The principle I keep coming back to: create meaningful products that genuinely delight consumers, with a team that finds real satisfaction in the everyday challenge of bringing those products to life. After 15+ years, I've learned that the teams who care deeply about both — the product and the people building it — are the ones who create something truly worth using.

I'm also actively integrating AI tools into how I work — from streamlining planning workflows to improving how I synthesize insights and communicate strategy. In a field where operational efficiency is a competitive advantage, I think about AI as a force multiplier for the work, not a replacement for judgment.

The Journey

2023 — 2025

DIRECTV

Senior Product Marketing Manager

Led campaign strategy, go-to-market execution, and cross-funnel advertising to drive 220K+ new subscribers quarterly in the Connected TV space — shifting product mix toward higher-margin streaming products and increasing streaming product awareness by 35%.

2020 — 2022

Spotify Advertising

Program Manager / Strategic Operations Lead

Led end-to-end product planning and launch readiness for Spotify's self-serve ad platform — including the Podcast Advertising launch with an 80+ person cross-functional team, driving $5M in initial revenue and contributing to $1.4B in total ad revenue (68% YoY) and building their first advertiser-facing marketing website. Selected as Operations Lead for the 100+ person Ads org, building the prioritization frameworks, planning cadences, and onboarding systems that became the standard operating model for the business.

2018 — 2020

Comcast NBCUniversal

Program Manager, Experience Design

Led program management for the Xfinity Digital Home web and native applications, driving cross-functional agile delivery across a team of 16 designers, including sprint planning, backlog grooming, feature prioritization, and OKR alignment.

2005 — 2017

American Express

Senior Product Manager / Senior Product Marketing Manager

Over a decade at American Express, I led product strategy, digital innovation, and global expansion initiatives across consumer and prepaid products. Launched new products from 0→1 - including a Personal Savings product that drove $1B in deposits, scaled acquisition platforms generating $3.5B in annual revenue and 700K new accounts, and led the launch of an international portfolio of travel cards across eight global markets generating $689M in revenue.