Vp of Product

At SAM Labs, our mission is to increase the social and economic mobility of 100 million students, regardless of background. We do that by giving them career-ready, computational thinking, and STEAM skills. Our products combine hardware, software, and curriculum to bring STEM to life in K-8 classrooms.

**VP of Product (Remote)**

**Compensation**: up to $200k + 0.5%

**Location**: US timezone (Remote)

**Reports to**:CEO

**Team**: Direct Reports 1.5 FTEs; **Total Team**: 4 full-time developers, 2 interns, 1 part-time content developer

**Link to info Video about the role (3min)**

**The Role**

We are hiring a strategic and hands-on VP of Product to lead our full product ecosystem. This includes unifying two distinct product lines (SAM Labs and Root), simplifying the user experience across platforms, and delivering innovative tools that support teachers and drive classroom outcomes.

This is a senior leadership role with visibility across the organization. You will shape product strategy, own execution, and stay close to customers and the classroom. You will own Product and Engineering, and collaborate closely with Sales, Customer Success, Operations, Finance, and the CEO.

**Key Responsibilities**
- Platform Advancement and Simplification- Guide the development of a cohesive product experience that delivers consistent, high-impact value to educators and students.
- Simplify the end-to-end user experience to make products intuitive, engaging, and educational for users (across hardware, software, and content)
- Unify coding environments and syntaxes across SAM Labs and Root
- Product Portfolio Strategy- Define and execute a clear portfolio that focuses on solving specific customer needs
- Avoid product sprawl by prioritizing features that support adoption and monetization
- Innovation and AI Integration- Identify and lead opportunities to embed AI into our platform
- Launch classroom tools that scale teacher impact and improve student learning
- Team Leadership and Execution- Lead a team across hardware, software, and curriculum
- Conduct customer interviews and drive market validation directly
- Collaborate across the leadership team to align product direction with growth strategy

**About You**
- 5 or more years leading product teams, ideally in education or EdTech
- Experience managing overheads as well as cross-functional development across software and hardware
- Ability to distill complex systems into simple, high-impact user experiences
- Passion for product development, the future of learning, and AI
- Clear communicator, fast decision-maker, and deeply user-focused
- Comfortable working in a high-growth environment with limited resources

**Must Haves**
- ** Strategic product leadership -**Experience leading high-performing product teams, with a track record of delivering high-value, high-impact, and differentiated products that align with company vision and customer needs.
- ** User-centered design mindset -**Approaches problems with a deep commitment to customer value. Demonstrates empathy for educators and students, and advocates for their needs across software, hardware, and curriculum experiences.
- ** Bias for simplicity & speed -**Able to prioritize and minimize noise, make quick and informed decisions with imperfect data, and ship features that are simple, well-defined, marketable, and tied to measurable outcomes in the classroom.
- ** Team builder & cross-functional leader -**Quickly earns the respect of colleagues and inspires high-output product teams. Collaborates effectively across engineering, design, customer success, and sales to align on goals and deliver results.
- ** Technical acumen & AI curiosity -**Brings a strong understanding of engineering and product development processes. Shows a keen interest in how AI can enhance product development, teacher efficiency, and student personalization.

**Compensation**
- Competitive base salary and equity
- 0.5% equity, with liquidity event w/i the next 36 months
- Remote-friendly culture, flexible work, and the opportunity to make an impact on millions of students

**Recruitment Stages**:

- Stage 0 - CV / LinkedIn scan
- Stage 1 - CEO phone screen ( 30 min)
- Stage 2 - Take-home assignment ( 3 h including Loom)
- Stage 3 - Live case interview ( 60 min)
- Stage 4 - Direct‑report engineering panel ( 45 min)
- Stage 5 - SLT ( 45 min)
- Stage 6 - CEO final ( 30 min)
- Stage 7 - References & background