Product Manager

About the role

This Product Manager role at the Stellar Development Foundation involves shaping the product strategy and roadmap for a specific area within the Stellar network. The work focuses on enhancing blockchain technology to provide more equitable access to the global financial system. Key responsibilities include engaging with users, developers, and partners to understand their needs and translating these insights into actionable requirements and a compelling product vision. The role requires balancing immediate network demands with long-term strategic goals.

The successful candidate will collaborate closely with engineering and design teams to ensure the timely delivery of high-quality products. A significant aspect of the role involves leveraging AI tools for accelerated discovery and delivery, including generating prototypes and mockups to validate ideas efficiently. Within the first 90 days, the Product Manager is expected to take ownership of a product area, establish a prioritized roadmap, and implement a consistent delivery cadence with their team.

Success in this position means consistently shipping impactful products that address real user and ecosystem needs, while also contributing to the broader mission of the Stellar Development Foundation. This involves demonstrating strong user empathy, maintaining high quality standards, and effectively aligning various stakeholders around product plans. The role demands a proactive approach to product development, from initial concept to launch and impact measurement.

The compensation for this role is between $155,000 and $205,000 USD annually.

Skills that matter here

• product management experience: This role requires at least three years of experience in shipping software products from start to finish.
• AI tools (e.g., Claude, Cursor, v0): The ability to use AI tools for accelerating discovery, generating prototypes, and validating ideas is a key requirement for this position.
• technical products: Comfort and familiarity with technical products are necessary to operate effectively and ship solutions with a bias for action.
• user empathy: A high degree of user empathy is essential for understanding user needs and pain points, which drives product vision and requirements.
• written and verbal communication: Strong communication skills are needed to align engineering, design, and partner teams around product plans and strategies.

Who this role suits

• A person who thrives on translating complex user and ecosystem needs into clear product strategies and actionable requirements.
• Someone who is comfortable navigating technical products and ambiguity, operating from first principles with a focus on delivery.
• An individual who actively uses AI tools to enhance their workflow, particularly for rapid prototyping and idea validation.
• A collaborative professional who can effectively align diverse teams and stakeholders around a shared product vision.

From the employer

You Will

• In your first 30 days: ramp on the Stellar network, our products, and the ecosystem; meet your engineering, design, and partner counterparts; and ship a first small improvement end-to-end.
• Within 90 days: own a product area, build a prioritized roadmap grounded in real user and ecosystem needs, and establish a steady delivery cadence with your team.
• Define and drive product strategy and roadmap for your area, across one or more of: core protocol, enterprise, DeFi, developer experience, and agents.
• Talk to users, developers, and partners constantly, and translate their needs and pain points into a compelling vision and crisp, actionable requirements.
• Use AI tools to accelerate discovery and delivery — generating prototypes, mockups, and working demos to validate ideas before committing engineering time.
• Partner closely with Engineering and Design to ship high-quality products with urgency, and measure their impact after launch.
• Balance the needs of the network today with the longer-term future you are building toward.

Requirements

• 3+ years of product management experience shipping software products end-to-end.
• A track record of using AI tools (e.g., Claude, Cursor, v0, and similar) to accelerate your work — including building working prototypes, not just writing specs.
• The ability to translate user needs and pain points into both a long-term vision and near-term technical requirements.
• Strong written and verbal communication; you can align engineers, designers, and partners around a plan.
• Comfort with technical products and ambiguity; you operate from first principles with a strong bias to ship.
• High user empathy and a high bar for quality.

USA Benefits/Perks

• Competitive health, dental & vision coverage with most plans covered at 100% for the employee + any dependents
• Flexible time off + 15 company holidays including a company-wide holiday break
• Generous paid parental leave for all parents, plus paid pregnancy disability leave for birthing parents
• Gym reimbursement ($80 per month)
• Life & ADD (up to $50K)
• Short & Long term disability
• 401K with 4% match
• Health & Dependent Care FSA Accounts
• Commuter benefits with $250/month employer contribution
• Health Savings Account (HSA) with monthly employer contribution
• Family building benefits through Kindbody
• Wellbeing benefits (One Medical, Rightway, Headspace)
• L&D budget of $1,500/year
• Daily lunch and snacks in office
• Company retreats