Product Manager, Tailscale-Native Apps

About the role

Tailscale is seeking a Product Manager to define and guide the experience of building applications that integrate Tailscale connectivity and identity from their inception. You will be responsible for the core developer journey for creating these Tailscale-native applications.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Shape the product direction for TSNet, tailscale-rs, and the tailscale CLI.
• Establish the definition and best practices for "Tailscale-native applications," providing clear guidance through reference architectures, example patterns, and starter projects.
• Oversee the entire developer onboarding process, from initial interest to a fully embedded Tailscale node, focusing on API usability, clear error feedback, comprehensive documentation, and smooth upgrade paths.
• Drive the strategy for the Rust SDK family, determining which TSNet features to implement, in what order, and how to best present them to developers.
• Treat the command-line interface as a distinct product, optimizing its usability for scripting, automation, and infrastructure-as-code deployments.
• Act as the primary internal user for these primitives, working with teams like Aperture and Tailscale PAM to identify and resolve friction points.
• Collaborate with Go-to-Market and Customer Success teams on deals involving embedded Tailscale, using insights from these partnerships to inform product priorities.
• Engage directly with developers through platforms like GitHub and Discord, gathering feedback to understand the needs of those embedding Tailscale.

Requirements

• A minimum of 6 years in product management, or a software engineering background transitioning into product, with significant experience on developer-focused products such as SDKs, APIs, CLIs, libraries, or developer tools.
• Proven track record of shipping developer-facing features that have been adopted in production, with a deep understanding of the impact of design decisions on naming, defaults, error handling, and versioning.
• Ability to read Go or Rust code and participate in technical discussions regarding API and SDK design.
• A strong point of view on developer experience, informed by practical examples of effective API design, documentation, error messaging, and onboarding flows.
• Experience conducting developer product research through methods like analyzing GitHub issues, monitoring Discord channels, and hosting office hours to identify trends.
• Demonstrated ability to take ambiguous project scopes and deliver them incrementally, ensuring clear communication and follow-through post-launch.

Nice to have

• Practical experience developing with Go or Rust, including personal projects.
• Previous work at a developer platform company known for its SDK offerings, such as Stripe, Twilio, Auth0, Vercel, Supabase, or HashiCorp.
• Experience contributing to or managing open-source communities, balancing commercial goals with community needs.
• Familiarity with networking concepts, zero-trust security, or VPN technologies, understanding the benefits of embedding Tailscale.
• Experience designing CLIs or scripting interfaces for platform and Site Reliability Engineering teams.
• Publicly available technical writing, presentations, open-source contributions, or side projects related to developer tooling.
• Experience using LLMs and coding agents in your product development workflow.

Skills & tools

• Go
• Rust
• CLI design
• API design
• SDK design
• Developer Experience (DX)

Practical notes

• Salary range: $177,000 - $221,000 USD
• Comprehensive benefits package including health, vision, and dental with no waiting period.
• Remote-first company with support for home office setup, including a company-provided laptop and internet reimbursement.
• Employer-funded retirement contributions up to 0.75% of eligible compensation.
• Annual allowance of $1500 USD for professional development.
• Paid parental leave: 20 weeks for birthing parents, 16 weeks for non-birthing parents.
• AI-assisted tools are used in the hiring process, but all hiring decisions are made by people.
• Official communications will come from @tailscale.com, @greenhouse.io, or @interviews.modernloop.io email addresses.