It can take time and resources to hire the right product manager for your team. With a product manager recruiter, you can streamline the hiring process and let an expert bring on top talent to grow your team. But how do you hire the right person for the recruiter role? Check out what to look for in a product manager below:

• Product Management Specializations - Product management roles can vary widely depending on your product lifecycle stage, your startup’s focus, and various other factors. For example, the skills of a growth product manager can be quite different from the skills needed from a UX product manager. If you’re trying to hire for this role without a hiring expert, it can be difficult parsing these specializations and finding the right fit. A product manager recruiter should know the differences between product manager specializations and how to hire based on your needs. They should also be able to talk with expertise when it comes to methodologies like Scrum, Agile, and Kanban and tools like Jira, Notion, etc.

• Knowing How to Hire at Different Product Roadmap Stages - Your product manager recruiter should be able to bring on a good candidate at any stage in your product roadmap. Maybe you’re launching a new product or improving an existing product. In either case, your recruiter should understand where you’re at and help you make a great hire who can easily integrate and keep the roadmap on track.

• A Network of Product Management Talent - Any experienced product manager recruiter should have a network of talent, ranging from associate product managers to senior and executive roles like Head of Talent and CPO. Access to this network allows them to make hires faster, since they already have a network of talent to contact. They also have access to passive talent — product managers who are open to opportunities but not actively applying for roles.

• Establish Contract Terms - Before hiring your contract recruiter, make sure to iron out the contract terms. Make sure they’re aligned on the scope of work, fees, timelines, and other relevant contract factors. This will help both you and your product manager recruiter be aligned on your hiring goals.

How to write an effective job post

Writing an effective job post is key to attracting the right product manager recruiter. You want to create a post that gets the attention of recruiters who understand the intricacies of product management roles and can find the talent you need to grow your team. Here’s how to craft an effective job post for hiring a product manager recruiter:

• Highlight Product Management Recruitment Expertise - Make sure to highlight the fact that you want to hire a product manager recruiter. Use key phrases like “product manager recruiter” in your post to find the right candidates. Also, clearly outline the types of product management roles you need the recruiter to fill. Mentioning the need for technical product managers, Chief Product Officers, etc will help get you applicants from those who have the qualifications and knowledge necessary for PM recruiting. 

• Outline Your Current Roadmap - Talk about your current product roadmap and where you need product managers. Are you looking to hire a senior product manager to lead product strategy or do you just need a junior PM to support execution of your roadmap. This will help potential recruiters understand your exact needs.

• Mention the Need for a Strong Network and Proven Track Record - Product management roles can be competitive to fill. Highlight that you’re seeking a recruiter with a robust network of product managers and product leaders who can quickly bring in top candidates. You should also see if they have references or testimonials of successful product manager placements. Most experienced recruiters should have plenty of references to provide.

• Offer Competitive Compensation and Flexibility - Product manager recruiters are highly sought after, so be sure to offer competitive compensation to attract the best candidates. Provide details about commission structures and flexibility in working arrangements, such as remote recruiting options.

With the above tips in mind, here’s an example of what your job post might look like:

Example:

• We are looking for a product manager recruiter who has knowledge of Scrum, Agile, and Kanban. We are particularly interested in those who have expertise hiring senior growth PMs.

• Our company is currently scaling our product team and we need a recruiter who can hire growth product managers and technical product managers with experience in roadmap management, customer acquisition, and data-driven decision making.

• The ideal recruiter for this role will have an extensive network within the product management community and a track record of filling growth product managers technical product manager roles.

• We offer a competitive commission structure with bonuses for successful placements, and the flexibility to work remotely.