picked.ai/product-manager/jd-template
A product manager
JD that is not generic.
One short, opinionated template. 280 words, not 1,800. Below: a side-by-side teardown of the typical job description and what to cut, the template ready to copy, and a one-click button to post it via Picked.
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The teardown
Side by side. Cut everything in red.
A typical JD · 1,847 words
scroll-killing
Product manager (typical posting)
About us · cut
Founded in 2019, ACME Inc is a fast-growing, mission-driven, customer-obsessed scale-up empowering the modern hiring loop. We have been featured in TechCrunch, won several awards, and our culture has been recognised by Best Places to Work.
About the role · cut
You will be joining a passionate, collaborative team of self-starters in a dynamic, fast-paced environment. We are looking for a high-performing professional who is excited by ambiguity and ready to wear many hats.
Responsibilities · cut
- Collaborate with cross-functional partners to align stakeholders - Drive impact across the business - Champion excellence - Be a culture ambassador for the team - Wear many hats - Lots more bullets like this
Requirements · cut
- 5+ years of professional experience - Strong communication skills - Self-starter - Team player - Comfortable with ambiguity - Bachelor's degree or equivalent
Nice to haves · cut
- A laundry list of every tool anyone on the team has ever used - MBA / advanced degree - Previous experience at a high-growth startup
Benefits · cut most of this
- Competitive salary - Equity - Health, dental, vision - Unlimited PTO (which no-one takes) - Free snacks (in office) - Annual offsite - Pet-friendly office - Pinball machine
Picked template · 293 words
ships
Product manager, growth surface · London or remote

We are hiring our third product manager. You will own the growth surface end-to-end (signup, activation, the first paid moment). The product team is four PMs and one designer. The CEO writes the spec for the pricing page. We ship behind a flag, on green.

One paragraph, not six sections
Context. What the role owns. Team size. How you ship. Everything else is noise until the interview.
Skip the company overview
They found your JD. They can find your website. They will skim it. They will learn about you in the interview if they are still interested.
Bullets only where they earn their place
A list of "responsibilities" tells the candidate nothing they cannot guess.
Post the comp band
You will filter the wrong people anyway. Either pre-application or after offer. Pre is cheaper.
The template · plain text
Copy. Paste. Replace the bracketed bits.
product-manager.md
293 words · 3 min read
# [Senior/Mid/Associate] product manager · [city] or remote

We are hiring our [Nth] product manager. You will own [the X surface end-to-end, currently at Y users / Z events per day]. The product team is [N] PMs and [M] designers, plus an engineering pod of [N] working against the surface. [Who else writes specs]. [How you ship, and how often]. The work is the work: you will write the spec, sit on the support shift, watch the metric move, and keep the team honest about whether the change earned its place.

## You will be good here if

- You have shipped a feature, watched the data, and removed it. The story is specific and the metric has a number.
- You write the one-page spec the engineer thanks you for, with the non-goals section sharper than the goals.
- [The third trait you actually care about, written in the same voice].

## What we use

[Stack: analytics, experimentation, comms]. We do not care which spec tool you used last; we care that you wrote a one-pager that engineering could build from and the support team could read in three minutes.

## Compensation

[Currency][low] to [high] base. [low] to [high] percent equity. We post the band because we mean it.

## How we hire

30-second post, screen + assessment via Picked, 20-min interview via Picked, one on-site half-day with two engineers, a designer, and the PM lead. We aim to give a yes or no in 7 days.

## What is the rubric

Customer instinct, decision quality, spec craft, comms across functions, outcome focus. Not your last title.

That is the JD. Apply via [link] or just send a paragraph about the last feature you shipped, watched, and removed.

[Your name], [your title]
Tone rules
Eight phrases to delete
from every JD you ever write.
"Rockstar / ninja / wizard"
Nobody respectable applies to this. Replace with: nothing.
"Self-starter"
Means: we have no plan and no manager. Replace with: name the actual autonomy.
"Comfortable with ambiguity"
Same thing again. Replace with: tell them the specific ambiguity they will face.
"Fast-paced environment"
Means: chaotic. Replace with: name the cadence, sprints, ship-day, on-call.
"Champion"
A verb that means nothing. Replace with: the actual outcome.
"Mission-driven"
Say the mission. Do not make the candidate guess.
"Competitive salary"
Means: less than competitive. Post the band.
"Pet-friendly office / pinball machine"
Not the reason anyone joins. Talk about the work.
Skip the template.
Post the role.
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Product manager job description template · Picked.ai