Hiring a great Platform Product Manager (Platform PM) has never been more challenging. Once a niche role primarily found in Big Tech, Platform PMs are becoming essential hires for companies looking to scale their technology infrastructure efficiently.
Now, we are seeing early and mid-sized startups become more attracted to the idea of applying product management principles to their internal platforms and infrastructure, and shifting away from the mindset of “let’s get releases out the door ASAP and let ‘future us’ worry about tech debt.”
This becomes especially important as companies shift and scale from being a one product to a multi-product suite. However, the demand for skilled professionals far outpaces the available talent pool (even in this current hiring market.) The result? A hiring battle that requires companies to rethink their recruitment strategies.
In this article, we’ll explore why Platform PMs have become the new unicorn hire, what makes a great candidate, and how startups can adapt their hiring processes to secure top talent.
What Makes a Great Platform Product Manager?
Defining the Role
A Platform Product Manager is responsible for building and managing internal platforms that power multiple products or services within a company. Unlike traditional PMs, their customers are often internal teams—engineers, data scientists, designers, and other product managers— and their impact is typically measured in terms of process improvements and efficiencies as opposed to ARR or user volume growth.
Key Competencies Include:
- Technical depth – While not necessarily engineers, they must understand system architecture, APIs, and scalability principles.
- Strategic vision – The ability to align platform development with business goals.
- Stakeholder management – Bridging communication between technical teams and business leaders.
- Metrics-driven decision-making – Success is measured through process efficiencies/improvements rather than direct revenue impact.
(For more on the Platform PM role, check out Product School’s guide.)
Why They’re Hard to Find
The scarcity of strong Platform Product Managers can be attributed to several factors:
- Competing with Big Tech – Companies like Amazon, Google, and Meta have long understood the value of Platform PMs and offer top-tier compensation packages.
- Unclear Career Pathways – Platform PMs historically lacked a clear growth trajectory compared to customer-facing PM roles.
- Role Misalignment in Hiring – Many organizations fail to distinguish between a Technical PM and a Platform PM, leading to mismatched hires.
- Limited Talent Pool – The combination of technical expertise and product leadership is rare, making it difficult to find professionals with both skill sets. The most usual path to a Platform PM role is for an engineer to develop the skills and the willingness to step into a role where success depends more on soft skills and ability to manage stakeholder expectations, as opposed to the ability to write good code.
📢 Want insights right from a VP Platform Product Leader? Check out The Product Recruiter‘s interview on Hiring a VP of Product Platforms for an inside look at what it takes to land top platform talent.
What Smart Companies are Unlock This Niche Hire
Forward-thinking companies are adapting their approach to attract top-tier Platform Product Managers by:
1. Refining Job Descriptions
Many hiring managers struggle to define what a Platform Product Manager actually does. The best job descriptions:
- Clearly differentiate between Platform PMs and customer-facing PMs.
- Clearly define the problem the role will solve, and the impact this solution will have in terms of improving product performance (and, ultimately, the user experience).
- Highlight both technical competencies and business impact.
- Define the internal customers (e.g., engineering teams, data teams).
2. Offering Competitive Compensation & Career Growth
Historically, Platform PMs earned $10,000–$20,000 less than customer-facing PMs at the same level of experience, with the argument being that they did not drive revenue/user volume growth; however, this is changing as companies realize the strategic importance of internal platforms.
In 2025, we are now seeing compensation that reflects their impact on scalability and efficiency. More companies are also introducing career pathways (e.g., Principal PM, Group PM, or Platform VP roles) that veer more towards Technical Leadership rather than the classical People Management path (Director, Sr. Director, VP, CPO) giving Platform PMs a career path to invest in.
3. Hiring for Adjacent Skills & Upskilling Internally
Given the limited external talent pool, companies are investing in cross-training existing PMs with technical aptitude. Many are hiring strong Technical Program Managers (TPMs) and developing them into Platform PMs. They are also encouraging product managers with an engineering background to transition into platform roles.
4. Strengthening Employer Branding
Tech professionals want to work on cutting-edge, scalable systems. Companies that are winning are those who position their platform teams as high-impact and innovative through:
- Thought leadership (e.g., engineering blogs, tech talks, and conference sponsorships).
- Emphasizing their platform’s role in enabling multi-product success (e.g., Workleap’s transition to a unified platform).
5. Partnering with Specialized Recruitment Firms
Finding the right talent often requires tapping into recruiters who specialize in technical product roles. These firms have direct access to passive candidates who aren’t actively looking but are open to the right opportunity. Firms like The Product Recruiter (division of Martyn Bassett Associates) are specialized in product recruitment and understand the nuances when it comes to hiring a Platform Product Manager.
See the work we’ve done helping clients—like Workleap and Loopio—hire the right talent to unlock growth.
Winning the Platform Product Manager Battle
The demand for Platform Product Managers isn’t slowing down. Companies that win the hiring battle are those that:
- Define the role with clarity and realistic expectations.
- Offer compensation and career growth on par with customer-facing PMs.
- Invest in internal upskilling and adjacent talent.
- Strengthen their employer brand to attract top-tier candidates.
- Partner with specialized recruiters to access hard-to-find talent.
As organizations continue to scale, the Platform Product Manager position will only become more critical. Those who adapt their hiring strategies today will be the ones leading innovation tomorrow.
🚀 Looking for expert guidance on hiring Platform PMs? Read our in-depth interview with Aliana Inzana, an industry leader and VP Platform PM, on best practices when ‘Hiring a VP of Product Platforms.’