What do you look for when you're hiring a PM or Senior PM?

First and foremost: no ego. The PMs who struggle are almost never the ones who lack a specific skill. They are the ones who are not coachable. I want people who are genuinely curious, open to feedback, and can demonstrate they have pushed themselves outside their comfort zone before. Customer obsession is non-negotiable. I want to see evidence you have gone out of your way to get close to users, not just reviewed research someone else did. On experience: for junior hires, I am not always looking ...Read More

When hiring a PM or Senior PM, I focus on product sense, execution skills, and a hunger to learn. Key Evaluation Criteria: Soft Skills: Do they clearly understand the problem they were solving and why it mattered? Can they articulate key decisions, their rationale, and how they approached them? How do they reflect on challenges and share how they navigated them? Do they evaluate the impact of their work and demonstrate self-awareness about what could have been done differently? Hard Skills: Can ...Read More

Oh, I could write about this for a loooong time :). I'll condense down to a few key traits Critical thinking - do you have the ability to understand and articulate the problem you are solving for and then finding a solution that works Collaboration and communication - PMs work through influence. Being able to work with and communicate with peers and stakeholders is critical to success. I look for the ability to structure your thoughts and have strong verbal and written communication as part of t ...Read More

I am fortunate that Atlassian has very clear hiring guidelines for all product management roles however, in general I also look for: Flexibility. Flexibility is key for product managers, especially when tackling daily challenges. Unexpected situations happen all the time, and it's important to handle them well. I do not just look for people who can manage change, I look for those who even find joy in uncertainty and work hard to add clarity in these situations. Resilience. Building on flexibilit ...Read More