Product Lead (Contract)

Headquarters: Miami
URL: https://www.jumpspeak.com




The Problem We're Solving
Most people who try to learn a language quit. Not because they're lazy, but because traditional apps optimize for streaks and gamification instead of actual conversation skills.
We're building something different: a language learning experience that gets people speaking from day one and keeps them coming back because they're actually having conversations, not just completing lessons.
The Opportunity
You'll own the core product experience for Jumpspeak—the app that hundreds of thousands of learners use to gain real conversational confidence in new languages. This isn't about managing a team or attending strategy offsites. This is about shipping features that directly impact whether someone can order coffee in Paris or negotiate a deal in São Paulo.
You'll work directly with our CEO and small product team to shape what language learning should feel like. Not through 50-slide decks, but through rapid experimentation, user interviews, and data.
What You'll Actually Do
Own the Product (not just a feature)

You are the DRI for our mobile app experience end-to-end—onboarding, lesson design, conversation practice, retention mechanics
Define what success looks like, then build and iterate until you hit it
Make the hard tradeoffs between what users say they want and what data shows they need
Ship weekly, not quarterly

Solve Real Retention Problems

Figure out why learners stop showing up and fix it (hint: it's not gamification)
Design learning experiences that create genuine progress, not just dopamine hits
Balance pedagogical effectiveness with engagement—you can't teach someone who's not there
Run experiments on lesson structure, difficulty curves, conversation formats

Go Deep on User Psychology

Spend serious time talking to users—the ones who love us, the ones who churned, the ones stuck on lesson 5
Understand what makes someone willing to feel stupid while learning a language
Design for moments of breakthrough ("I just had my first real conversation!")
Know your user segments cold: why does a 40-year-old professional learn differently than a 22-year-old traveler?

Work Cross-Functionally (But Stay in the Driver's Seat)

Partner with engineers to scope what's possible vs. optimal
Collaborate with our Head of Creative Strategy to align product experience with acquisition messaging
Work with content/pedagogy team on lesson design—you own the experience, they own the curriculum
Ship features that growth can actually leverage

Use Data, Don't Hide Behind It

Analyze cohort retention, feature adoption, session depth metrics daily
Run A/B tests on everything—lesson length, conversation formats, UI patterns
Know when to trust the data and when to trust your judgment
Build simple dashboards that show what's working (and what's dying)

Think International From Day One

Consider how features work across languages, cultures, learning motivations
Design for markets we haven't entered yet
Understand that "conversation practice" means different things in Tokyo vs. Madrid
Work with localization to make experiences feel native, not translated

You Should Apply If
You Have:

5-8 years in product management, with at least 3 years shipping consumer mobile products
Track record of measurably improving retention or engagement metrics (tell us the numbers)
Experience at a consumer subscription app or freemium product (you understand the funnel)
Comfort writing specs, running experiments, and working in Figma/analytics tools yourself
Technical knowledge and experience to communicate and understand fully what the engineering team requires
Experience using some Figma or other design tools to effectively communicate what you need
Shipped features used by 100k+ people

Bonus Points:

You've learned a language (successfully or unsuccessfully—both teach you something)
EdTech or learning product experience
Worked on international products or marketplace dynamics
Experience with AI/conversational interfaces
Background in linguistics, education, or behavioral psychology
You've built for both engagement AND learning outcomes (these often conflict)

You Are:

Comfortable with ambiguity—we're still figuring out what works
Opinionated but not dogmatic—strong convictions, loosely held
Willing to be wrong quickly so you can be right eventually
User-obsessed but data-informed (not data-paralyzed)
Low ego about whose idea ships, high ego about quality
Energized by shipping, not by talking about shipping

You Should NOT Apply If

You want to manage a team right away (that might come, but not day one)
You need perfect specs before building
You think your job is to write PRDs for others to execute
You're looking for a "strategic" role (this is hands-on)
You want to work on 10 things at once (you'll own 2-3 big bets)
You need enterprise software stability (we move fast and break things occasionally)

What Makes This Role Different
You'll Have Real Ownership

This isn't a "Product Manager 2" role where you own a button—you own the experience
Direct access to CEO and ability to influence company strategy
Authority to kill features or experiments that aren't working
Your work shows up in the app people use every day

You'll Solve Interesting Problems

How do you teach conversation without it feeling like a chatbot?
What's the right balance between structure and flexibility in learning paths?
How do you make someone feel progress when language learning is inherently slow?
Can you build one product that works for 18-year-olds and 60-year-olds?

You'll Work With Sharp People

Small team that ships fast and debates ideas openly
Engineers who care about craft and user experience
Marketing team that understands product deeply (they're not just pushing ads)
Leadership that's built successful consumer products before

You'll Actually Impact People's Lives

Users send us videos of themselves having their first conversation in a new language
Your work helps people get jobs, connect with family, travel with confidence
This isn't social media—it's a tool people use to genuinely improve their lives

The Uncommon Perks

Extreme user access: Talk to users weekly, attend user interviews, read support tickets
Fast iteration: Ship small, learn, iterate—not waterfall planning cycles
Data transparency: Full access to all product metrics, no gatekeeping
Learning budget: We'd be hypocrites if we didn't support your learning goals
Language learning: Free Jumpspeak premium (obviously) + budget for tutors/classes
Remote flexibility: Work from anywhere, reasonable timezone overlap with team
Actual work-life balance: We're building a language learning app, not curing cancer—go live your life

What We Care About
We're not impressed by:

Where you went to school
Whether you worked at a FAANG company
How many frameworks you can name-drop
Your ability to make beautiful slide decks

We are impressed by:

Products you've shipped that people actually use
Problems you've solved with incomplete information
How you think about tradeoffs
Your ability to articulate why something failed and what you learned
Genuine curiosity about how people learn


How to Apply
Send us:

Your resume (keep it to 1-2 pages)
A short note (not a cover letter, just 2-3 paragraphs) answering:

What's a product decision you made that improved retention? What was the metric change?
Why language learning specifically? (If you don't care about this space, this isn't the role for you)


Optional but interesting: Show us how you think

A feature you'd kill from Duolingo and why
A retention experiment you'd run in your first month at Jumpspeak
A product that does engagement + learning well (doesn't have to be language learning)



We'll respond to everyone within one week. First round is a 30-minute conversation about how you work, not a case study presentation.

We're an equal opportunity employer. We don't care about your background, we care about your ability to build great products. If you need accommodations during the interview process, just ask.


 

To apply: https://weworkremotely.com/remote-jobs/jumpspeak-product-lead-contract