Product Manager - Platform / Core Services

As a Product Manager - Platform & Core Services at Acolad, your key responsibilities include defining and executing strategies for platform capabilities, managing a Product Owner, collaborating with engineering teams to make architectural decisions, and ensuring platform services are scalable and reliable. You'll also drive initiatives to enhance the developer experience, utilize data for decision-making, and stay informed about industry trends to influence platform strategy.

Candidates for the Product Manager - Platform & Core Services role at Acolad should have over 5 years of product management experience, particularly in platforms or developer-focused products. A strong understanding of cloud technologies, microservices architecture, and APIs is crucial. Leadership experience, the ability to translate business needs into technical requirements, and excellent communication skills are also essential.

Acolad offers a collaborative global environment where your role as a Product Manager - Platform & Core Services will greatly impact foundational technology that powers our linguistic ecosystem. You will have the opportunity to work with multicultural teams in a dynamic setting driven by AI, allowing for professional growth and innovation.

In the role of Product Manager - Platform & Core Services at Acolad, you will collaborate closely with engineering, DevOps, security, and other product teams. This teamwork is crucial for ensuring smooth integration of core services and delivering high-quality experiences for developers and stakeholders alike.

Acolad provides a comprehensive benefits package for the Product Manager - Platform & Core Services role, including flexible working hours, vacation entitlement that includes additional days for seniority, private health insurance, daily meal allowances, and transportation benefits. Additionally, employees enjoy breakfast at the office, fostering a strong community atmosphere.

In answering this question, share specific examples of your past platform management experiences, emphasizing metrics you've tracked, teams you've collaborated with, and successful projects you've led. Highlight your strategic mindset and how you've translated business needs into successful technical implementations to showcase your capabilities effectively.

Discuss your approach to prioritization, such as using frameworks like RICE (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort) or MoSCoW (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won't have), to evaluate tasks based on impact and alignment with company goals. Emphasize the importance of stakeholder input and metric analysis in your decision-making process.

Share a real-life example where differing opinions arose, explaining how you approached the conversation with empathy and a focus on the business objectives. Emphasize your ability to listen, negotiate, and find a common ground that satisfied both parties, showcasing your effective communication and problem-solving skills.

Mention specific KPIs significant to platform products, such as user engagement metrics, uptime, customer satisfaction scores, and API usage statistics. Explain how you track these metrics to inform product decisions and ensure the platform meets business and user needs and maintains high standards.

Discuss your strategies for staying updated with industry trends, such as attending conferences, networking with experts, conducting market research, and integrating user feedback. Explain how you utilize this information to iterate on product offerings and maintain a competitive edge.

Outline the key elements that contributed to the success of your product launch, such as a well-defined strategy, coordinated teamwork, effective marketing, and post-launch analysis. Highlight how you engaged with users pre-launch for feedback and adapted based on their needs.

Detail your experience with tools like JIRA, Trello, or Asana for task management, and Agile or scrum methodologies for development cycles. Describe your proficiency with tools for user feedback collection, analytics, and performance tracking, showcasing your comprehensive approach to product management.

Explain your strategies for improving the developer experience, including streamlining onboarding processes, providing detailed API documentation, creating self-service tools, and engaging with developer communities for feedback. This shows your commitment to optimizing their interaction with the platform.

Discuss your philosophy on mentorship, focusing on clear communication, setting achievable goals, providing constructive feedback, and fostering a supportive environment for growth. Emphasize the importance of empowerment and encouraging independent decision-making.

Explain your method for collecting user feedback, such as surveys, focus groups, or usability testing, and how you analyze this data. Showcase your ability to translate this feedback into actionable improvements, ensuring that user needs and concerns are prioritized in product development.