Product Manager

CodeHS•Chicago, IL

5d•$100,000 - $140,000•Onsite

About The Position

CodeHS is hiring its first product manager to work within the engineering team. The role owns a product area end-to-end, from concept through launch, and builds the product conviction needed to determine what to build, why, and how to communicate it to the team and customers. The product area will be selected after onboarding and may be a newer bet, an existing product surface, or several smaller areas. The role is expected to develop deep experience and domain expertise in its area and operate as an owner. The Product Manager works as a peer to engineering managers and guides small teams of engineers around a focus area, keeping work on track and ensuring the team builds the right thing. This is not a people-management role. As CodeHS’s first formal product hire, the person will also help shape the product function and its place within engineering and the broader company. The work involves building working prototypes with AI coding agents (rather than production code), documenting specifications, product briefs, and decision rationale, and speaking with teachers, districts, customers, and internal teams to understand needs. The Product Manager synthesizes input from sales, customer success, support, and curriculum to inform product and tooling priorities. The position is based in person at CodeHS’s River North office in Chicago five days per week. Some customer calls and visits may be involved, but this is not a heavy-travel role.

Requirements

Comfort with technical discussions, including reading pull requests and discussing tradeoffs without requiring translation.
Ability to ask useful follow-up questions when engineers raise issues or blockers.
Fluency with AI tools and adaptability as technology changes; use AI for thinking, research and synthesis, prototyping with coding agents, and building tools while exercising independent judgment.
Ability to describe an instance when an AI model was confidently wrong and the candidate identified the error.
High agency and ability to make needed work or resources happen without being handed a backlog.
Clear, concise communication, with a bottom-line-up-front approach.
Willingness and enthusiasm to work in person at the Chicago River North office five days a week.
Willingness to speak with customers and internal teams and develop understanding through direct conversations.

Responsibilities

Own a product area end-to-end, from concept through launch, and build expertise and domain knowledge in that area.
Guide small teams of engineers around a focus area, keep work on track, and ensure the team builds the right thing.
Help shape the product function and how it works within engineering and the broader company.
Create working prototypes by directing AI coding agents; engineers review and complete production implementation.
Write and maintain specifications, product briefs, and the reasoning behind product decisions.
Talk with teachers, districts, customers, and internal team members to understand user needs and inform product decisions.
Gather and synthesize product and tooling needs from sales, customer success, support, and curriculum, and use them to inform what to build.
Communicate clearly and concisely, leading with the main point.