Lead Product ManagerJob Description

A Lead Product Manager typically manages other PMs and owns broader product strategy across multiple features or products. Senior PMs focus on individual product areas without direct management responsibilities. Lead PMs spend more time on mentorship, cross-team coordination, and strategic planning.

While not ideal, strong leadership experience through influence can substitute for direct management. Look for candidates who've led cross-functional initiatives, mentored peers informally, or driven organizational change. Plan to provide management training and support during their transition.

Balance both, but emphasize business acumen for Lead PMs. They need strong strategic thinking, market understanding, and stakeholder management more than deep technical skills. However, sufficient technical literacy to collaborate effectively with engineering teams is essential.

Use case studies involving strategic tradeoffs, stakeholder conflicts, or failed product scenarios. Ask them to critique your actual product roadmap or present how they'd prioritize competing initiatives. Request examples of mentoring others or driving organizational change.

Watch for inability to articulate clear product outcomes, overemphasis on features over strategy, poor listening skills, or lack of data-driven decision examples. Red flags include blaming others for failures, inability to handle ambiguity, or weak communication with non-technical stakeholders.