Product Manager

Baselayer•New York, NY

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

Baselayer is seeking its first dedicated Product Manager to report directly to the CTO. This role will be responsible for the creation, design, and full scoping of new products, expanding Baselayer's reach beyond financial institutions into new verticals where business identity is problematic. The Product Manager will define product strategy, requirements, and success metrics. This is a hands-on role involving writing specifications, creating wireframes, collaborating with design, and participating in engineering stand-ups. Additionally, the role will manage the existing product surface by setting priorities, sequencing the roadmap, and making daily decisions to ensure engineering delivers the right features. The position requires a blend of defining new products from scratch and managing the ongoing development of existing ones.

Requirements

5+ years in product management.
At least one zero-to-one product that was scoped, shipped, and grew into material revenue.
Track record of working closely with senior engineering leadership (CTO, VP Eng, founding engineers) as a thought partner.
Strong written communication skills, capable of writing specs, briefs, and one-pagers that drive decisions.
Strong opinions on UX and product craft, with the ability to defend them and the humility to update them.
Operates with founder-level ownership and urgency.
Comfortable with technical concepts and able to participate in architecture discussions.
Bias toward shipping products.

Nice To Haves

Experience taking a product into a new vertical or expanding into adjacent markets.
Background in B2B SaaS, fintech, identity, KYB, fraud, risk, or compliance.
Experience at an early-stage company where product was owned without a dedicated PM team.
Experience as the first PM hire at a venture-backed startup.

Responsibilities

Lead the scoping of new products targeting verticals beyond financial institutions, from initial thesis through detailed product spec.
Translate market opportunity into product requirements, including target user, core workflows, success metrics, and what's explicitly out of scope.
Build artifacts to align the company, such as PRDs, one-pagers, wireframes, decision logs, and launch criteria.
Own the 'what' and the 'why' for product development.
Write product specifications that engineers can build from.
Produce wireframes and flow diagrams to visualize tradeoffs and drive decisions.
Partner closely with design on UX, providing clear direction and maintaining a high bar for shipped products.
Run spec reviews to identify and resolve ambiguity early.
Own the roadmap for Baselayer's current product surface, determining build priorities and sequencing.
Make daily prioritization decisions to keep engineering focused on high-leverage work.
Establish a predictable planning cadence for the team and company.
Identify and eliminate work that is not delivering value.
Drive execution across engineering, design, and go-to-market teams (Sales, Marketing, CS, Growth).
Manage the product launch process, including scope lock, build, beta, and general availability, ensuring clear handoffs and ownership.
Act as the liaison between product development and go-to-market functions.
Operate with founder-level ownership and urgency, making decisions and being accountable for outcomes.