Product Manager

About Us:

We are Kraftshala. We are an online skilling institution committed to playing the long game of building a transformative educational experience for the masses. We call this Scaling with Soul.

Scaling with Soul, to us, means we always prioritise student outcomes specifically our Placement Rate (percentage of students placed)- over other metrics, such as number of enrolments or company valuation in the coming year.

This is, of course, easier said than done. There are painful choices to be made at every stage, from admissions to training to placements, that wouldnt have been needed were we willing to give up on either of high quality or scale.

But in the long run, we believe that our obsession over these student outcomes will earn Kraftshala the trust of Indian students, their families, recruiters and the broader ecosystem.

Thats why we make each of our Placement Reports public, capturing how many students are placed in each batch, in what companies, at what salaries etc.

We dont need to. None of our competitors do (though wed be happy to be proven wrong and have more educators join us!). Simply put, we have tasted the benefits of an education model grounded in high quality paired with the transparency of student outcomes and now cannot imagine doing it any other way.

We are not the largest in terms of enrollments. Nowhere close, actually. Not yet.

However, we are proud to be one of the largest, if not the largest already, in terms of actual, verifiable placements.

And in terms of Placement Rate, the metric that matters most to us, we are the absolute best in edtech. In the last 4 years, we have placed more than 2000+ students with a Placement Rate of 94% (and improving).

This is our long game- to Scale with Soul. We invite you to join us for the play.

Funding:

Kraftshala is backed by a number of eminent investors, including:

• Phanindra Sama and Sudhakar Pasupunuri, co-founders at Redbus and early investors in unicorns like Unacademy
• Amit Kumar Agarwal, Saurabh Garg and Akhil Gupta, co-founders at Nobroker.com (the worlds largest NoBrokerage Property Site and Indias first realty startup unicorn)
• Sujayathi Ali, Co-founder at ShopUp and Voonik
• Doreswamy Nandkishore (Former Fortune 100 CEO, Head of Asia, Oceania, Africa for Nestl S.A. and Professor, ISB)
• Pallav Jain and Sarfaraz Khimani (co-CEOs of Performics, India's largest SEO/ performance marketing agencies)

What do we value (the Kraftshala Kode):

Kraftshala is on a mission to become the largest career launchpad in the world.

Team Kraftshala is for the ambitious, the forever-learners, and most of all, for those who live to add value to others. In a world where education companies often lose sight of their core, we aim to Scale with Soul, to offer greater value to each stakeholder (including our team) everyday we get bigger.

Joining Kraftshala now means becoming part of a story still in its early chapters- one youll help shape with your ideas, actions, and leadership. Here are things we care for:

• We seek a

  value-adding mindset

  in prospective team mates. Folks who demonstrate a capacity to understand their users needs and are willing to go the extra mile to deliver on that, fit right in.
• We value

  problem solving

  skills. We look at problems objectively, work backwards from the user, solve for root causes and optimize for their long-term good instead of our short-term gain. We dont let processes or hierarchies get in the way of adding value.
• We believe

  speed

  matters enormously in business. We value people who move with urgency, have a bias for action and are willing to take calculated risks in the face of uncertainty.
• We look for people with high

  learning agility

  , those truth seekers who pursue the best data, ideas, and solutions with rigour and open mindedness, and are constantly working to become better today than yesterday.
• We admire people with

  ambition & courage

  to take on large goals. We are seeking to build a team of self-starters who demonstrate high ownership.
• We aim for

  consistency and reliability

  and expect the same from others. Predictability just makes everyones life a lot smoother.
• We believe people who demonstrate

  candour with care

  are the most effective: real, open and direct in communication, while still being highly empathetic.
• We have learnt that Scaling with Soul requires

  frugality

  . Resource constraints help sharpen focus and breed inventiveness.
• We are

  practical optimists

  . Our team strongly believes in a better future and takes joy and pride in the fact that we are playing our part to make that future a reality.

Product Manager - Purpose & Role Description

As a Product Manager, youd be solving real user problems - whether faced by students, internal teams (admissions, sales, placement, ops, marketing), or external leads - by building new features or integrating third-party tools that streamline workflows, improve user experiences, and drive measurable business outcomes.

This role drives product ideation, owns the success of features and tools, manages delivery with the tech team, and works closely with domain heads to ensure that every initiative creates a meaningful impact.

You will own the entire product lifecycle-from discovery and solution design to development, launch, and post-release iteration-to ensure every initiative delivers meaningful impact.

Whatd you be responsible for:

• Conducting user research and driving product discovery, with a goal of validating at least 3 user problems per quarter that eventually lead to successful product outcomes.
• Launching and managing product or feature rollouts, ensuring that at least 80% of these achieve their intended usage and adoption metrics.
• Coordinating with the tech and domain teams for execution, with the aim of delivering 90% or more of all projects within agreed timelines.
• Enhancing internal team workflows through product solutions, targeting a 30% or greater improvement in time or effort saved across at least two core workflows per quarter.
• Owning user satisfaction with product tools, as measured by stakeholder surveys and interviews, with an expectation of achieving high feedback scores.

Some of your Monthly Outcomes for the first 3 months in this role:

Month 1:

• Build deep understanding of Kraftshalas products and user segments
• Conduct user interviews and internal stakeholder discussions
• Review existing product backlog and identify early wins
• Identify and validate at least 2 high-potential product opportunities
• Establish alignment with tech lead and set up rituals
• Ship 1 small feature or integration

Month 2:

• Own sprint planning with the tech team
• Drive discovery and solution design for 1-2 validated problem areas
• Coordinate the rollout of a new internal tool or workflow upgrade
• Maintain >90% project delivery alignment with engineering timelines

Month 3+:

• Consistently deliver 2-3 high-impact product releases per quarter that solve validated problems and drive adoption
• Establish a structured, problem-first product roadmap prioritizing outcomes over features
• Become the go-to problem solver for internal teams and student-facing experiences by combining product thinking with business empathy

Top Grading:

Heres how we distinguish between an A-player and a B-player in this role:

• Problem Solving:

  An A-player proactively identifies problems that others miss and crafts simple, creative solutions. A B-player tends to wait for direction or defaults to the most obvious fixes without deeper investigation.

• Execution:

  An A-player drives execution across functions and consistently ships on time. In contrast, a B-player often struggles with delays, unclear specifications, and scope creep that impact delivery.

• Collaboration:

  A-players anticipate stakeholder needs and communicate transparently throughout the product lifecycle. B-players, however, tend to wait for others to surface blockers and often face challenges aligning teams.

• User Obsession:

  A-player product managers seek direct feedback from users regularly and iterate quickly based on that input. A B-player prioritizes tasks without proper user validation or incorporating structured feedback loops.

• Metrics Focus:

  A-players define clear success metrics before launch and rigorously review impact afterward. B-players ship without setting measurable goals and rarely conduct post-launch analysis.

• Technical Fluency:

  A-players work deeply with engineers, leveraging automation or AI tools like GPTs wherever useful. B-players may struggle to understand technical trade-offs or engage meaningfully in implementation conversations.

Must Haves:

• 3 - 4 years of hands-on product management experience (Were not fussed about the exact years of experience, as thats just a proxy for your skill level.)
• Comfort working with engineers, designers, APIs, and no-code tools
• Familiarity with Agile development
• Willingness to learn quickly, adapt to new domains, and continuously improve both the product and yourself.

Good-to-haves:

• Experience building or customizing GPTs, AI bots, or using LLMs to streamline processes

Selection Process:

As a small team, we must get to know each other before taking the leap. We want to ensure you succeed in your role within our team. Each conversation with us will last about 30-60 minutes. Typically the whole process takes between 10 - 15 business days, depending on your and our schedules.

• Setting Expectations:

  This will be a call to understand your profile briefly and share the details of the selection process.

• Conversation 1:

  This will be a conversation with our HR Lead wherein you can expect to be evaluated on the competencies needed for the job (mentioned above).

• Technical Exercise:

  This is a specific assessment designed to evaluate your fit for this role

• Conversation 2:

  This will be a detailed assessment review conversation to go over your submission for the technical exercise along with other competencies required for the role.

• Conversation 3:

  A conversation with our CEO to ensure that there is a fit with the Kraftshala Kode.

• Extending an offer:

  If all goes well, we will extend an offer that will mention the relevant details.

Location:

Delhi