Principal Product Manager

Quizlet; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, vision insurance

401k with company match

Paid time off & volunteering

Job summary

Quizlet is hiring a Principal Product Manager for a new consumer product in a hybrid SF office. You will own the path from customer insight to strategy, MVP, launch, and iteration, working with engineering, design, research, data, and GTM partners.

The role emphasizes building a 0→1 product, translating signals into bets, and delivering fast user value. Strong preference for candidates with 0→1 consumer product experience and comfort working with senior leadership.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of product management experience or equivalent
• Experience taking consumer products from ambiguous problem to launch and measurable adoption
• Strong judgment on consumer motivation, onboarding, activation, engagement, retention

Responsibilities

• Own product strategy and execution for a new consumer product, from problem definition to launch and product‑market fit
• Drive a full 0→1 product cycle including concept refinement, prototyping, MVP launch, measurement, and iteration
• Collaborate with design and engineering to ship high‑quality experiences quickly and define scope and priorities
• Stay close to users via interviews, testing, data, experiments, and live feedback and translate learnings into product bets
• Define success metrics and instrumentation focusing on activation, engagement, retention, and durable value
• Communicate decisions and remaining unknowns clearly to the team and leadership
• Develop launch and distribution strategy with growth and marketing teams
• Establish lightweight product practices to accelerate decision making
• Build a culture of ambition, user obsession, and ownership within the team

Skills

Product strategy

Cross-functional leadership

0→1 product

User insights

Experimentation

Communication

Stakeholder management

Execution excellence

Job description

About Quizlet

At Quizlet, our mission is to help every learner achieve their outcomes in the most effective and delightful way. Our $1B+ learning platform serves tens of millions of students every month, including two-thirds of U.S. high schoolers and half of U.S. college students, powering over 2 billion learning interactions monthly.

We blend cognitive science with machine learning to personalize and enhance the learning experience for students, professionals, and lifelong learners alike. Weâre energized by the potential to power more learners through multiple approaches and various tools.

Letâs Build the Future of Learning

Join us to design and deliver AI-powered learning tools that scale across the world and unlock human potential.

Why Join Quizlet?

• Massive reach: 60M+ users, 1B+ interactions per week
• Cutting-edge tech: Generative AI, adaptive learning, cognitive science
• Strong momentum: Top-tier investors, sustainable business, real traction
• Mission-first: Work that makes a difference in peopleâs lives
• Inclusive culture: Committed to equity, diversity, and belonging

About the Team

Weâre building a brand-new education consumer product inside Quizlet with the focus and speed of a startupâand the opportunity to reach millions of existing Quizlet users. Weâve deliberately created a dedicated team of roughly 15 people, a new technology stack, and a flat operating model so we can make decisions quickly, ship often, and learn directly from users.

This is not an extension of an existing roadmap. Weâre building from first principles and taking a new product from early conviction through launch and product-market fit. Everyone on the team reports to the productâs GM, works close to the details, and shares accountability for what reaches users. Itâs a rare combination: a true 0â1 mandate with the reach, insight, and resources of Quizlet behind it.

About the Role

As Principal Product Manager, youâll be the hands-on product leader for this new venture. Working directly with the GM and alongside engineering, design, research, data, and go‑to‑market partners, youâll own the path from customer insight to product strategy, MVP, launch, and iteration.

This is a builder role, not a roadmap‑management role. Youâll help determine what the product should be, build on our initial customer and use‑case wedge, and turn incomplete signals into clear product bets. Youâll get real product into usersâ hands quickly, define what success looks like, and own the learning loop that takes us from an early idea to something people return to and value.

The strongest candidates will have built 0â1 consumer products before and will be at their best when the playbook does not yet exist. Education experience is welcome, but it is not requiredâwe already have deep education and learning expertise across Quizlet. What matters most is your ability to discover, launch, and grow products that consumers choose to use.

In this role, you will

• Own product strategy and execution for a new consumer product, from problem definition and early validation through launch, adoption, and product‑market fit.
• Drive a full 0â1 product cycle: concept refinement, prototyping, alpha to MVP launch, measurement, and rapid iteration.
• Work side by side with design and engineering to ship high-quality experiences quickly, making sharp decisions about scope, sequencing, quality, and technical investment.
• Stay close to users through interviews, prototype testing, behavioral data, experiments, and live product feedbackâand ensure what we learn changes what we build.
• Define the productâs success metrics and instrumentation, with particular focus on activation, engagement, retention, and evidence of durable consumer value.
• Create clarity without pretending certainty: communicate what we believe, what we have learned, what remains unknown, and which decision the team needs to make next.
• Develop the launch and distribution strategy with growth, marketing, and other Quizlet teams, using Quizletâs reach without assuming distribution alone will create product‑market fit.
• Establish lightweight product practices that help the team make fast, rigorous decisions without adding unnecessary process.
• Help build the culture of the new team: ambitious, user‑obsessed, analytically rigorous, low‑ego, and biased toward putting real products in usersâ hands.

What you bring to the table

• 8+ years of product management experience, or an equivalent track record, including direct ownership of at least one consumer product taken from an ambiguous problem or blank page through launch and measurable adoption.
• Deep B2C product experience and strong judgment about consumer motivation, onboarding, activation, engagement, retention, and habit formation.
• Evidence that you have discovered product directionânot only delivered features against an established roadmap.
• A strong 0â1 toolkit: you know how to find a wedge, test the riskiest assumptions, define an MVP, and distinguish promising early signals from noise.
• The ability to combine qualitative customer insight, quantitative analysis, market context, and experimentation to make clear decisions.
• Comfort making consequential decisions with incomplete informationâand the judgment to narrow, change, or kill an idea when the evidence demands it.
• Fluency operating at both altitudes: articulating a differentiated product vision and working through the detailed tradeoffs required to ship it.
• A track record of building trusted, effective relationships with engineering, design, research, data, marketing, and business partners.
• Excellent communication skills and comfort working directly with a GM and senior leaders in a fast-changing environment.
• Low ego, high ownership, and genuine enthusiasm for a small team where everyone builds and titles matter less than outcomes.

Bonus points if you have

• Taken a consumer product beyond launch into strong retention, product‑market fit, and sustained growth.
• Experience building freemium, subscription, social, content, or other high‑engagement consumer products.
• Built a new product inside a larger company while protecting the focus, urgency, and accountability of a startup team.
• Founder, early‑stage startup, or general‑management experience that taught you to think beyond the traditional boundaries of product management.
• Experience building for students, Gen Z, or another high‑frequency consumer audience.
• Experience in education, learning science, or edtechâor a genuine curiosity about how people learn.
• Ambition to help build not only a successful product, but the team and operating model behind a major new business for Quizlet.

Work Location

Weâre happy to share that this is a hybrid position in our San Francisco office. To support collaboration, we ask employees to be in the office at least two days a week: Wednesday and Thursday.

Compensation, Benefits & Perks

• Collaborate with your manager and team to create a healthy work-life balance
• 20 vacation days that we expect you to take!
• Competitive health, dental, and vision insurance (100% employee and 75% dependent PPO, Dental, VSP Choice)
• Employer-sponsored 401k plan with company match
• Access to LinkedIn Learning and other resources to support professional growth
• Paid Family Leave, FSA, HSA, Commuter benefits, and Wellness benefits
• 40 hours of annual paid time off to participate in volunteer programs of choice

We strive to make everyone feel comfortable and welcome!

We work to create a holistic interview process, where both Quizlet and candidates have an opportunity to view what it would be like to work together, in exploring a mutually beneficial partnership. We provide a transparent setting that gives a comprehensive view of who we are!

In Closing

At Quizlet, weâre excited about passionate people joining our teamâeven if you donât check every box on the requirements list. We value unique perspectives and believe everyone has something meaningful to contribute. Our culture is all about taking initiative, learning through challenges, and striving for high-quality work while staying curious and open to new ideas. We believe in honest, respectful communication, thoughtful collaboration, and creating a supportive space where everyone can grow and succeed together.â

Quizletâs success as an online learning community depends on a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

As an equal opportunity employer and a tech company committed to societal change, we welcome applicants from all backgrounds. Women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are strongly encouraged to apply. Come join us!