Purpose
Produce a hire-ready product management job description calibrated to the correct level — from Associate PM to VP of Product — that reflects the actual scope of the role, screens for the right competencies, and carries the employer's brand voice. Solves the two most common PM JD failures: level mismatch (a Senior PM posting that reads like a VP req) and generic boilerplate that fails to attract strong candidates or filter weak ones.
When to Use
Invoke this skill when the user asks to:
- Write a job description for a PM role (APM, PM, Senior PM, Group PM, Director, or VP of Product)
- Rewrite or level-correct an existing PM posting that's attracting the wrong candidates
- Tailor a generic PM template to a specific product area, company stage, or brand voice
- Fix a JD that's over-listing requirements and shrinking the applicant pool
- Turn a hiring manager's rough intake notes into a polished posting
- Create a family of PM JDs at multiple levels with consistent scope language
Inputs Required
Before starting, collect:
- Level: APM / PM / Senior PM / Group PM / Director / VP of Product
- Company context: Stage (seed, growth, public), industry, and 1–2 sentences on what the company does
- Product surface: What this PM owns — a feature area, platform, 0-to-1 product, or portfolio
- Team structure: Who they report to, whether they manage other PMs, and cross-functional partners (eng, design, data)
- Must-have skills: 3–5 non-negotiable competencies or domain experiences
- Employer brand voice: Sample of existing copy, tone words (e.g., direct, warm, irreverent), or link to a current posting
- Comp and logistics: Salary range (if disclosed), location/remote policy, and any legal disclosure requirements
If level or brand voice is missing, infer level from the scope described and default to a clear, professional, human tone — then note the assumption at the top of the output.
Instructions
Step 1: Confirm Level Calibration
Anchor every downstream section to the correct level. Use this scope ladder to set expectations:
- APM: Executes on a defined feature area; learns the craft; scope is tactical; success = shipping well against a set roadmap
- PM: Owns a feature area end-to-end; sets local roadmap; scope = one product surface; success = outcomes on owned metrics
- Senior PM: Owns a significant product area or complex surface; influences strategy; navigates ambiguity independently; success = area-level impact
- Group PM: Owns a product line and often manages 1–3 PMs; connects area strategy to company strategy; success = portfolio outcomes
- Director: Owns a product domain and a PM team; sets multi-quarter strategy; hires and develops PMs; success = organizational leverage
- VP of Product: Owns product vision and the product org; partners with the exec team; accountable for company-level product outcomes; success = business impact and org health
Flag mismatches: if the intake describes IC execution but titles the role VP, name the discrepancy before writing.
Step 2: Write the Role Summary (60–100 words)
A punchy 3–4 sentence hook that answers: what will this person own, why does it matter to the company now, and what makes the opportunity distinct. Lead with impact, not the company's fundraising history. Use the brand voice from the start — this paragraph sets the tone for the entire posting.
Step 3: Draft Responsibilities (5–8 bullets)
Each responsibility should reflect the level's scope from Step 1. Rules:
- Start each bullet with an active verb calibrated to level (APM: "Support," "Execute" → VP: "Define," "Set the vision for")
- Make at least 3 bullets specific to the product surface — not transferable to any PM job
- Include cross-functional collaboration explicitly (engineering, design, data, GTM)
- Avoid listing more than 8 — over-scoping signals a poorly defined role
Step 4: Split Qualifications into Must-Have and Nice-to-Have
- Must-have (4–6 items): The genuine bar. Include the user's non-negotiables. Express experience in ranges tied to level (PM: 3–5 yrs; Senior PM: 5+ yrs; Director: 8+ yrs with team leadership), not rigid minimums.
- Nice-to-have (3–5 items): Signal-boosters, not filters. Domain experience, specific tools, or adjacent backgrounds.
- Keep skill-based framing over credential-based framing wherever possible.
Step 5: Run the Inclusive Requirements Review
Before finalizing qualifications, audit for pool-shrinking patterns:
- Move any "preferred" item out of must-haves and into nice-to-haves
- Replace rigid degree requirements with "or equivalent experience" unless legally required
- Cut gendered or exclusionary language ("rockstar," "ninja," "aggressive," "he/she")
- Ensure years-of-experience ranges are floors, not ceilings, and match the level
- Confirm the must-have list has 6 or fewer items — long lists disproportionately deter qualified underrepresented candidates from applying
Step 6: Assemble Brand Voice and Logistics
- Weave the employer brand voice through summary, responsibilities, and the "why us" section — not just a bolt-on culture blurb
- Add a short "Why this role / why us" section (2–4 sentences) grounded in the company context
- Include compensation range if provided (or a placeholder note that it should be added per jurisdiction), location/remote policy, and a standard EEO statement
Output Format
- Structure: A complete, paste-ready job posting in the order below
- Length: 450–650 words total
- Format: Structured document — headers, short paragraphs for summary/why-us, bulleted lists for responsibilities and qualifications
- Sections: Job Title & Level → Role Summary → What You'll Do (responsibilities) → What You Bring (must-have) → Bonus Points (nice-to-have) → Why This Role / Why Us → Compensation & Logistics → EEO Statement
- Tone: The employer's brand voice as provided; default to clear, warm, and confident — never corporate boilerplate or hype-laden
Quality Checklist
Before delivering output, verify:
- [ ] Responsibilities and qualifications match the stated level using the Step 1 scope ladder (no VP scope in a PM req, or vice versa)
- [ ] Must-have qualifications total 6 items or fewer
- [ ] At least 3 responsibility bullets are specific to the named product surface, not generic PM tasks
- [ ] The inclusive review is applied — no gendered slang, no rigid degree gate, experience stated as ranges/floors
- [ ] Every "preferred" item lives under Bonus Points, not What You Bring
- [ ] The brand voice appears in the summary and responsibilities, not only in a culture paragraph
Notes
- The most common failure is level inflation: hiring managers describe VP-scope wishes for a PM-level budget. Surface this explicitly rather than writing to the inflated title.
- If a salary range is legally required in the target jurisdiction (e.g., NY, CA, CO, WA), flag it as a required field even when the user omits it.
- For 0-to-1 or founding PM roles, weight the summary toward ambiguity tolerance and end-to-end ownership rather than a long responsibilities list — the role will evolve.
- When producing a family of JDs across levels, keep responsibility verbs and scope language consistent so candidates can self-select the right rung.
How to use this skill
This file is a Claude Code skill in Anthropic's standard format — markdown with YAML frontmatter at the top.
Installing in Claude Code:
~/.claude/skills/<folder-name>/SKILL.md— auto-loads in every session anywhere on your machine (recommended for skills you'll use across multiple projects)<your-project>/.claude/skills/<folder-name>/SKILL.md— auto-loads only when working in that project (recommended for project-specific skills)
Restart Claude Code or open a new session to register.
Using in Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Gemini, or other AI tools:
- Drag this file into a new chat, or copy and paste its contents
- Send your task or request as your next message — the AI will apply the skill where it fits
For Claude Code skill details: https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/skills