Staff Product Manager - Core

Instrumentl; Oakland (CA); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Generous PTO

401(k)

Company laptop and home-office stipend

Bi-annual company retreats

Job summary

Instrumentl is seeking a Senior Product Manager - Core to shape core nonprofit workflows. You’ll own problem discovery, strategy, and delivery for high-stakes processes like grant discovery and approvals, collaborating with Design, Engineering, CS, and GTM to ensure useful, adoptable solutions.

You will balance customer empathy with pragmatic roadmapping in a distributed, hybrid environment, driving measurable outcomes and cross-functional alignment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of product management experience in SaaS (B2B preferred).
• Demonstrated experience owning problem discovery, strategy, and execution end-to-end.
• Strong judgment in sequencing work and shipping incrementally.
• Experience building or working with AI-powered features in real production environments.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
• Startup-tested: thrives with ambiguity, builds process without waiting for permission, and knows when to move fast versus when to be methodical.

Responsibilities

• Develop deep understanding of nonprofit realities: funding volatility, staff burnout, compliance constraints, and multi-persona workflows.
• Start from problems, not features: clearly articulate user and business pain, distinguish root causes from symptoms, and frame opportunities effectively.
• Define and align on a clear product North Star and pair features with both leading and lagging indicators.
• Lead through influence: partner early with Design, Engineering, CS, and GTM and navigate disagreements productively.

Skills

Product management

Problem discovery

Roadmapping

AI features

Communication

Startup experience

Job description

Hello, we’re Instrumentl.

Grants fund nonprofit work, but they also create some of the toughest operational challenges. Every grant brings its own deadlines, spending restrictions, reporting requirements, and commitments, so managing that complexity across fundraising, finance, and HR requires more than spreadsheets.

Instrumentl is the system of record for grants. We bring discovery, applications, award compliance, and grant operations into one platform, giving nonprofits a shared foundation to grow their revenue and impact. More than 6,000 nonprofits rely on Instrumentl, from local community groups to state and county governments, universities, and maybe even your local animal shelter.

We're a cash flow positive, YC-backed company building our next chapter, and we're hiring people who will shape and grow the impact of the nonprofit sector.

We’re looking for a Senior Product Manager - Core to report to our Co-founder and Head of EPD, who will combine deep customer empathy, strong product judgment, and pragmatic AI thinking. This role is ideal for someone who starts from real customer problems (not features), can build and sequence a thoughtful roadmap, and knows how to ship incrementally while maintaining high standards for trust, outcomes, and cross-functional alignment.

You will own problem discovery, product strategy, and delivery for core workflows used by nonprofit organizations—often in high-stakes, high-context environments like grant discovery and applications. You’ll work closely with Design, Engineering, Customer Success, and GTM partners to ensure what we build is useful, adoptable, and measurable.

The Instrumentl team is fully distributed, with offices in Oakland, CA. For this position, we're planning for a hybrid schedule - you'll be able to work from home four days per week, and from our Oakland offices once per week (or more often, if you'd like)!

Discovery & Strategy

• Develop deep understanding of nonprofit realities: funding volatility, staff burnout, compliance constraints, and multi-persona workflows
• Start from problems, not features: clearly articulate user and business pain, distinguish root causes from symptoms, and frame opportunities effectively
• Build a coherent strategic narrative connecting market context to customer problems to roadmap
• Sequence work thoughtfully, delivering thin-sliced early versions to reduce risk and accelerate learning

AI Product Thinking

• Evaluate when AI is genuinely additive versus when rules-based logic or analytics are sufficient
• Design human-in-the-loop workflows for high-stakes use cases like grant applications, reviews, and approvals
• Clearly articulate data and model needs, edge cases, and failure modes

Measurement & Cross-functional Leadership

• Define and align on a clear product North Star and pair features with both leading and lagging indicators
• Lead through influence: partner early with Design, Engineering, CS, and GTM and navigate disagreements productively
• Run post-launch reviews to assess impact and guide iteration

Required

• 5+ years of product management experience in SaaS (B2B preferred)
• Demonstrated experience owning problem discovery, strategy, and execution end-to-end
• Strong judgment in sequencing work and shipping incrementally
• Experience building or working with AI-powered features in real production environments
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills
• Startup-tested: thrives with ambiguity, builds process without waiting for permission, and knows when to move fast versus when to be methodical

Nice to Have

• Experience with nonprofit, mission-driven, or compliance-heavy product domains
• Background in grant management, fund accounting, or financial workflows

For US-based candidates, the target salary range for this role is $150,000 – $220,000 USD, plus equity. Final compensation is determined based on experience, skillset, scope of responsibility, interview performance, and geographic location. We’re committed to paying competitively and equitably.

Benefits

• 100% covered health, dental, and vision insurance for employees (50% for dependents)
• Generous PTO, including parental leave
• 401(k)
• Company laptop and home-office stipend
• Bi-annual company retreats

Instrumentl is evolving rapidly. You’ll always have new challenges and opportunities to grow here.

Instrumentl is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building an inclusive workplace and do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, or any other legally protected status. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply. If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, please let us know.