Working at Ably means helping to build the infrastructure that will power and shape the future of the internet. We enable things like HubSpot’s chat and collaboration products, live scores for millions of Australian Open tennis fans, and real time transit updates for three million Chicagoans. Engineers at some of the largest companies in the world choose Ably because, when it comes down to it, we’re the only platform that dependably delivers on the most demanding realtime requirements at global, production scale.
The opportunity in front of us is immense. Our mission is to become the definitive realtime infrastructure of the internet while powering and accelerating the emerging ecosystem. We’re on track. Today we deliver billions of realtime messages to more than 50 million people across web, mobile, and IoT platforms. But we can’t rest yet. In five years we want to reach one billion people everyday.
In this role
You will be responsible for transforming Ably’s ideas into reality. Each product or feature is treated like a mini-startup within Ably, with resources allocated from core engineering, web development, product marketing, project management and design teams. You will be working with close-knit teams throughout the feature lifecycle, from defining the requirements, acting as product owner during delivery, and working with marketing to ensure a successful launch.
You will be successful if you:
- Know what a good product looks like and can articulate your vision to others to help inspire and focus.
- Have some experience with product delivery of APIs and developer-focussed web products.
- Like solving a diverse set of problems that may range from technical API design through to user-focussed UX challenges.
- Enjoy talking with customers to validate product development ideas and their requirements.
- Deeply care about customer experience. For Ably, we focus on developer experience, which starts with the APIs they consume, the documentation we provide, through to the online tooling and support we provide.
Day to day you will:
- Work with senior managers and the engineering teams to maintain the product and platform roadmap.
- Cultivate a deep knowledge of customer problems through research, engagement with the developer community, and customer interviews. You will drive initiatives to validate demand and commercial value of new features.
- Be embedded within the delivery teams, UX, and engineering to make trade-offs, steward the delivery process, and close gaps in requirements.
- Communicate problem statements and product (solution) requirements to engineering and document them in writing, along with UX wireframes or API scaffolding where appropriate.
- Work with product marketing and wider marketing teams to deliver go-to-market plans for new products and features.
- Define, monitor, and analyze product metrics, and feed learnings back into the development process.
- Clearly communicate product plans, tradeoffs, and results to a wide range of audiences.
- Assume the Product Owner role in our agile delivery process.
The skills needed:
- Some product management experience.
- Experience building a IaaS / SaaS / Cloud API product.
- You’re comfortable when things get technical, and are able to write code (in any modern language) to build prototypes that use our APIs.
- Experience defining APIs, documentation, and building UX prototypes.
- Strong background delivering solutions for developers.
- Knowledge of software development lifecycle process and methodologies.
Nice to have:
- Software engineering degree or background.
- Experience working at a startup.
What’s it like to work at Ably?
Ably is entering a new phase of growth led by an experienced senior team. You’ll be part of a successful, highly motivated, and extremely collaborative team. You’ll like it here is you enjoy:
- Ownership and impact of work. You have real autonomy and ownership over your work with a visible impact inside Ably, and externally on products powered by Ably that you use in your daily life.
- An environment to thrive. Modern, comfy office in the heart of Old Street. Excellent transport links, lots of great food, bars and restaurants nearby, and multiple work spaces to match your working style.
- Truly flexible working and not just lip service. We like people to be in the office most of the time, but work should also fit around life and individual ways of working so you’re free to mold hours and environment to your needs.
- Work that is varied and challenging as we’re solving hard, complex problems that push the limits of what’s possible with today’s software and infrastructure.
What’s in it for you?
- A good, competitive salary
- Flexibility: work from home for up to two days per week
- Health insurance
- ClassPass membership
- Cycle to work
- Regular company away days and social events
- Free drinks and snacks
- Ongoing professional development (training, events, conferences)
- 25 days of paid annual leave (33 days including bank holidays)
- Company contributions towards your pension
- Your choice of high quality tech kit to work on
Ably has a culture that values employee freedom and responsibility. Apply to talk to us to see if this role on an impactful and collaborative team is right for you.