Job Description: Senior Product Ops Manager

# Senior Product Operations Manager — Job Description

**Location:** Remote (US) / Hybrid in [city]
**Reports to:** Director of Product Operations or VP Product
**Comp band:** $170K-$220K base + equity (US tier-1 metro; calibrate locally with BLS OEWS for SOC 11-3021)
**Level:** Senior individual contributor; mentors junior PO ICs but no direct reports

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## About the role

A Senior Product Ops Manager owns the product **operating system** at the company-wide level. Where a PO Manager runs rituals for one product team, you run the operating model that ties multiple teams together. You shape how the company makes product decisions.

You'll spend roughly equal thirds of your time on:
- **Operating system design** — rituals, decision rights, planning cadence
- **Coaching** — making the PMs and PO ICs around you better
- **Synthesis** — turning customer, market, and operational signals into actionable input for leadership

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## What you'll do

- Own the planning system end-to-end across all product teams (typically 3-8 teams)
- Codify decision rights and operating norms in a single, living "PO playbook"
- Run the quarterly business review for the product organization
- Mentor 1-2 junior PO ICs (without formal management responsibility)
- Lead PO-led initiatives that span multiple product areas (e.g. roadmap re-platforming, exec review redesign)
- Coach PMs on planning, OKRs, and written craft
- Be the CPO's right hand for any cross-team decision

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## Level expectations

A Senior PO is distinct from a PO Manager in three ways:

| Dimension | PO Manager | Senior PO |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Scope | One product team | Multiple teams or company-wide |
| Leverage | Runs rituals others designed | Designs rituals others run |
| Signal | Has shipped a ritual | Has shipped a *system* of rituals |

You should be able to name two or more cross-team initiatives you have personally led and shipped.

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## What you'll need

**Required**
- 7-10 years of operations, product management, or product ops experience
- Has personally designed and shipped a multi-team operating ritual (planning, launches, dashboards)
- Excellent written communication — your memos are the work
- Experience in a SaaS company with multiple product teams (4+ teams ideal)
- Comfort with data — SQL, spreadsheets, dashboards
- Demonstrated ability to coach others without formal authority

**Strong nice-to-haves**
- Prior PM experience (1+ product cycle as a PM)
- Experience scaling a PO function past 5 people
- Chief of Staff or strategy consulting background

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## Compensation

| Component | Range |
| --- | --- |
| Base salary | $170K - $220K |
| Equity | 0.10% - 0.20% (4-year vest, 1-year cliff) |
| Bonus | 10-15% target (varies by company) |
| Benefits | Health, dental, vision, 401(k) match, $2K learning budget |

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## Interview process

1. Recruiter screen (30 min)
2. Hiring manager (60 min)
3. Cross-functional panel — PM peer + Eng peer (60 min)
4. CPO or VP conversation (60 min)
5. Take-home case study (24h to prep, 90 min review with hiring committee)
6. Reference checks (2 managers + 1 peer + 1 PM or PO they coached)

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## Sourcing keywords (for LinkedIn Recruiter)

- Senior Product Operations Manager
- Lead Product Operations
- Principal Product Manager (with operating-system focus)
- Chief of Staff — Product
- Director of Product Operations (downlevel into a Senior IC role)

Filter by 7+ years, Series C+ SaaS background, and at least one job title containing "Operations" or "Chief of Staff."