Lead Product Manager (Highrise Studio)

About Us

Who We Are

Sitting at the intersection of social networking and gaming, we empower creativity and connection in a digital world. Our mission is to build deep, rich virtual worlds where everyone belongs.

We have been working towards this mission for a decade. We are the creators of Highrise, the first virtual world on mobile, which has seen extraordinary growth over the last few years and now boasts over 20 million users across iOS and Android. Every day, the citizens of Highrise come together to hangout, explore, create, collect, and trade in our metaverse, and we are on the precipice of making history once again with our expansion into Highrise World.

Our Purpose

To build creative worlds where you belong.

About This Role

You will be leading the Studio team, reporting to one of our co-founders, Jimmy. (Please note that if you reach out to Jimmy, he may not reply due to the volume of messages received.)

The Highrise Studio will power all aspects of the creator and UGC experience in Highrise. You will be the first hire for the Studio team and will have the ability to massively impact our journey as we build the metaverse. The opportunities are endless, from building your own team from scratch, to working cross-functionally to guide products from conception to launch. This role is key to our success, and we are excited to find the right person.

If you are reading this and falling off your seat from excitement, keep reading below…it only gets better!

Your Mission

The mission for this role is to own the Highrise Studio experience from launch execution to continued development. Highrise Studio is now the UGC toolkit for users to craft environments, experiences, and content to populate the Highrise virtual world and metaverse. This role is effectively the CEO of Highrise Studio.

Key Indicators of Success

• Build a team with at least 5 engineers and designers, by Q3 2023.
• Launch Highrise Studio and bring at least 10,000 creators to actively use the product to create assets and experiences by Q1 2024.
• Design a quarterly roadmap that keeps all teams in the loop of the direction of HR Studio.

What You Will Do

• Build a team from scratch to drive the development of Highrise Studio.
• Understand markets, product, competition, and user requirements in depth.
• Launch new products and features, test their performance, and iterate quickly.
• Work collaboratively with engineering, marketing, legal, UX, and other teams on cutting-edge technologies.
• Develop solutions to problems by collaborating as needed across regions, product areas, and functions.

What You Can Expect in the First 90 Days

• Get to know everyone on the Product, Engineering and Art team so they can start leaning on you for your UGC tool expertise.
• Become an expert on what Highrise is today, and have a deep understanding of our vision for Highrise for the future.
• Begin crafting the vision and roadmap for Highrise Studio.
• Start recruiting and building the team to help you achieve your goals.

Who You Are

• You have a deep understanding of UGC creator tools and prior experience either working with these tools as a creator or building the tools themselves. Examples include the Unity editor, Roblox Studio, Zepeto Studio, Rec Room Studio, etc.
• You love connecting the technical and business worlds and can easily switch hats from one to the other.
• You enjoy breaking down complex problems into steps that drive product development.
• You like solving new challenges that you might have not experienced before.
• You have knowledge of market and industry trends and are able to set and track key KPIs.
• You are a strong communicator and consider yourself a great listener.
• You have great organization skills.
• You can think strategically and feel comfortable making decisions autonomously.
• People say you are kind, empathetic and feel comfortable coming to you with difficult situations.

Must Have’s

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 6 years of Product Management experience creating strategic product roadmaps and working with cross-functional teams.
• Previous experience with UGC tools.
• Experience leading development teams and being the owner of core aspects of a product.
• Experience driving product vision, go-to-market strategy, and design discussions.
• Experience developing Internet products and technologies.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Nice to Have’s

• Master's degree in a technology or business-related field.
• Experience managing day-to-day technical and design direction.
• Previous
• Experience effectively working with multiple functional areas such as Product Management, Engineering, UX/UI, Customer Support, Finance, or Marketing.
• Ability to influence multiple stakeholders without direct authority.

Benefits

• Work from wherever you want, whenever you want. You decide your location and schedule.
• Meaningful equity in an extremely fast-growing startup.
• Equipment allowance so you can chose whatever you need to work comfortably.
• Company-sponsored medical and dental insurance.
• Unlimited Vacation policy. We know how important taking time off is and we encourage it. Our team takes about 20 days off on average every year.
• Education stipend. We deeply believe in learning and self-improvement. We've set aside a budget for every employee to learn additional skills and grow.
• Monthly Fitness Allowance to stay active and take care of your physical health.

Perks

• Working with a diverse team with people in over 15 countries.
• You have a voice! We love hearing ideas and want to embrace you for them.
• Extremely low turnover environment. X% of our team has been here for over X years.
• Coworking space stipend in whichever location you want.
• Monthly team building budget to get to know your team.
• Team retreats to meet face-to-face and deepen connection.
• Bring your pet to work everyday! We love seeing your furry loved ones.
• A Highrise Admin badge for your avatar.

Compensation Philosophy

As a fully remote company, we strive to have an equitable compensation philosophy that allows us to take good care of our people, no matter where they are in the world. At the moment, our philosophy is composed of multiple factors such as market pay, location, performance, and other rewards. Our compensation philosophy is meant to support our organization’s strategic plan and operating objectives — as we continue to grow as a company, so will our approach to compensation.

The salary range for this role is $150,000 - $280,000 in the US and Canada. Salary will be adjusted based on your location.

What its Really Like to Work Here

Our Culture

We are a global team of nearly 100 people right now and rapidly growing. We feel a sense of ownership over our work and take great pride in what we do. We are not afraid to make, and most importantly, admit our mistakes — that allows us to show up authentically and build relationships of trust across the board. We are the scrappy kind, so we try to do more with less, and we love that! If you were to ask our team to describe our culture, they would probably say we are a passionate group of peeps trying to impact the next revolution of the internet.

Our Values

Dream big, then make it real.

Be an owner, make a difference.

Build with humility.

Fast is better than slow.

Keep it scrappy.

Always be learning.

Read more about our values here.

Company Size: 51 - 250 People

Year Founded: 2013

Country: United States