Description
We are looking for a Product Chapter Lead to own the craft, capability, and career development of Product Managers/Owners across our squads. In our agile operating model, Product Managers sit within cross-functional squads day-to-day but belong to the Product Chapter for standards, growth, and quality of practice. The Chapter Lead ensures product management is practiced consistently and at a high standard across the organization, while actively coaching, evaluating, and developing the people who do it.
- Lead and develop the Product Management chapter: coach, mentor, and grow Product Managers/Owners across multiple squads and product areas.
- Define and uphold product management standards, frameworks, and best practices (discovery, prioritization, roadmapping, stakeholder management) applied consistently across squads.
- Own performance management for chapter members — goal setting, regular feedback, performance reviews, and career progression planning — independent of which squad they are currently embedded in.
- Lead hiring, onboarding, and capability-building for the Product Management discipline, ensuring the chapter has the right skills and depth for current and future product needs.
- Act as a senior escalation point and sounding board for Product Managers navigating complex stakeholder, prioritization, or delivery challenges within their squads.
- Partner with Squad Leads/Engineering Leads and business stakeholders to ensure product decisions are grounded in strong practice, not just individual judgment.
- Drive cross-squad alignment on product strategy, ensuring individual squad roadmaps ladder up to a coherent overall product direction.
- Facilitate knowledge-sharing and community of practice sessions (chapter meetings, retrospectives, playbooks) to raise the bar across the whole product function.
- Identify systemic gaps in product delivery or ways of working across squads, and lead initiatives to close them.
- Represent the Product Management discipline in leadership forums, contributing to org design, resourcing, and product operating model decisions.
Requirements
- 7–10+ years of experience in product management, including experience leading, coaching, or managing a team of Product Managers/Owners.
- Prior experience operating in a chapter-based or matrixed agile organization (e.g., Spotify-style squads/chapters/tribes) is strongly preferred.
- Proven track record of developing product talent — mentoring PMs to grow their craft, not just managing their day-to-day delivery.
- Strong grasp of product discovery, prioritization frameworks, and roadmapping practices, with the credibility to set standards others follow.
- Experience partnering with engineering, design, and business stakeholders across multiple concurrent product initiatives.
- Excellent coaching, feedback, and performance management skills, with the ability to have direct, constructive conversations.
- Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, comfortable operating at both squad level and leadership level.
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Technology, Engineering, or a related field; advanced degree a plus.
