PM roles

At Blueprint, our PM role is divided into two sections - the Project Manager, and the Product Manager:

Project Manager

Purpose: Project managers ensure smooth execution of the project by coordinating between team members, managing timelines, and communicating with the NPO (nonprofit).

Core Responsibilities

Liaison between teams: maintain a wide view of the project across engineering and design

Liaison for NPO: communicate with NPO to provide updates and gather feedback

Timeline ownership: Create and manage the project timeline; set clear deliverables and ensure deadlines are met.

Meeting facilitation: Organize and lead standups, check-ins, and retrospectives

Product Manager

Purpose: Define the direction of the product, making strategic decisions on features and what they provide to users.

Core Responsibilities

Define product direction: Set the vision of what the final product should look like and do

Feature ownership: Decide on the high-level features for the project

Write tickets/tasks: Break down features into tasks for developers. Work with the tech lead to gauge feasibility and alternatives

Make all final calls: Decide what stays and what goes

Tips

Be Realistic: Super important! Don’t overpromise or ignore limitations.

Grace Under Pressure: Trust that team members are doing their best; lead with empathy.

Schedule Obsessed: Always know where things stand and where time is slipping.

Expect Delays: Super important! Bake in buffers to absorb slippage without panic.

Detached from Features: Don’t get too emotionally invested - be willing to cut or change features quickly.

Decisive in Tradeoffs: Make clear decisions when timelines force prioritization.

What we call a product manager at Blueprint is really a combination of the two roles above - you'll be the ones driving the product vision while also keeping the team on track.