{
  "id": "product-manager",
  "version": 1,
  "url": "https://certo.bio/rubrics/product-manager/1",
  "json_url": "https://certo.bio/rubrics/product-manager/1.json",
  "title": "Product manager",
  "summary": "What the AI interview for a product manager is scored against: six skills ESCO lists for the occupation, each judged on five levels from how the candidate answers. It measures how they plan, research, decide, launch and test a product, and how they look after the customer's experience. It does not check anything they say happened, it does not test domain knowledge of a particular industry, and it does not assess executive leadership: a result reaches principal at most. Levels 2, 3 and 4 each list concrete indicators the interview marks met, missing or not discussed, with the candidate's own words as proof; a skill the interview could not assess is left unassessed rather than scored low, and a result needs at least 70 percent of the rubric's weight assessed.",
  "status": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-10-13T07:59:26.408153+00:00",
  "retired_at": null,
  "superseded_by": null,
  "subject": "occupation",
  "occupation": {
    "esco_uri": "http://data.europa.eu/esco/occupation/9f508305-80ce-4111-8722-f2c9b4a44890",
    "label": "product manager"
  },
  "language": null,
  "criteria": [
    {
      "key": "plan_product_management",
      "title": "Planning and prioritising the product",
      "esco_skill_uri": "http://data.europa.eu/esco/skill/29fb886c-6be0-4e93-9ea1-232881f2092a",
      "esco_skill_label": "plan product management",
      "esco_relation": "essential",
      "weight": 20,
      "listens_for": "How the candidate decides what to build next and in what order, and how they explain what they chose not to do.",
      "levels": [
        {
          "level": 1,
          "descriptor": "Describes plans as lists of tasks given to them; cannot say why one item came before another."
        },
        {
          "level": 2,
          "descriptor": "Prioritises a single team's backlog with a simple method; names trade-offs but does not weigh them.",
          "indicators": [
            {
              "key": "prioritises_one_backlog",
              "text": "Ability to prioritise one team's backlog with a stated method",
              "must_have": true
            },
            {
              "key": "names_tradeoffs",
              "text": "Awareness of the trade-offs between competing requests",
              "must_have": false
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "level": 3,
          "descriptor": "Builds and defends a roadmap for one product area from evidence and constraints, including what was dropped and why.",
          "indicators": [
            {
              "key": "roadmap_from_evidence",
              "text": "Ability to build a roadmap for one product area from evidence",
              "must_have": false
            },
            {
              "key": "explains_what_was_dropped",
              "text": "Approach to deciding and explaining what was left out",
              "must_have": false
            },
            {
              "key": "plans_within_constraints",
              "text": "Understanding of how capacity and deadlines shape a plan",
              "must_have": false
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "level": 4,
          "descriptor": "Sets direction across several teams or a product line, ties it to business goals, and changes the plan when the evidence changes.",
          "indicators": [
            {
              "key": "direction_across_teams",
              "text": "Ability to set direction across several teams or a product line",
              "must_have": false
            },
            {
              "key": "ties_plan_to_business_goals",
              "text": "Ability to tie a product plan to business goals",
              "must_have": false
            },
            {
              "key": "replans_on_new_evidence",
              "text": "Approach to changing a plan when the evidence changes",
              "must_have": false
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "level": 5,
          "descriptor": "Every strong indicator met, plus exceptional evidence: shapes strategy for a portfolio, and shows how a planning decision changed the organisation's direction and how the result was measured."
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "key": "develop_new_products",
      "title": "Taking a product from idea to launch",
      "esco_skill_uri": "http://data.europa.eu/esco/skill/63f224ea-d889-42ea-b3ef-730ef78c7176",
      "esco_skill_label": "develop new products",
      "esco_relation": "essential",
      "weight": 20,
      "listens_for": "Whether the candidate has carried a new product or a major feature through discovery, build and launch, and what they did themselves at each step.",
      "levels": [
        {
          "level": 1,
          "descriptor": "Has contributed to a launch led by someone else; cannot describe the steps between idea and release."
        },
        {
          "level": 2,
          "descriptor": "Has delivered a defined feature to launch with guidance; describes the steps but not the decisions behind them.",
          "indicators": [
            {
              "key": "delivered_feature_to_launch",
              "text": "Experience delivering a defined feature through to launch",
              "must_have": true
            },
            {
              "key": "knows_steps_idea_to_release",
              "text": "Understanding of the steps between an idea and a release",
              "must_have": false
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "level": 3,
          "descriptor": "Has led a new product or a major feature from the problem to launch, and explains the decisions that shaped it.",
          "indicators": [
            {
              "key": "led_product_problem_to_launch",
              "text": "Ability to lead a new product or major feature to launch",
              "must_have": false
            },
            {
              "key": "explains_shaping_decisions",
              "text": "Ability to explain the decisions that shaped what shipped",
              "must_have": false
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "level": 4,
          "descriptor": "Has led several launches, including one that changed course on evidence, and explains how risk was reduced before committing.",
          "indicators": [
            {
              "key": "led_several_launches",
              "text": "Experience leading several launches end to end",
              "must_have": false
            },
            {
              "key": "changed_course_on_evidence",
              "text": "Approach to changing course on evidence during a launch",
              "must_have": false
            },
            {
              "key": "reduces_risk_before_committing",
              "text": "Approach to reducing risk before committing to build",
              "must_have": false
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "level": 5,
          "descriptor": "Every strong indicator met, plus exceptional evidence: has created new product lines or entered new markets, and shows how the approach was taken up by other teams."
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "key": "perform_market_research",
      "title": "Market and user research",
      "esco_skill_uri": "http://data.europa.eu/esco/skill/fe39d4db-4cb5-4299-bb9f-896c8fd6ab13",
      "esco_skill_label": "perform market research",
      "esco_relation": "essential",
      "weight": 15,
      "listens_for": "How the candidate learns about users, customers and competitors, and how that learning changed a decision.",
      "levels": [
        {
          "level": 1,
          "descriptor": "Relies on requests and opinions; describes no research method."
        },
        {
          "level": 2,
          "descriptor": "Has run or used basic research (interviews, surveys, competitor reviews) with guidance.",
          "indicators": [
            {
              "key": "uses_basic_research",
              "text": "Experience running or using interviews, surveys or competitor reviews",
              "must_have": true
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "level": 3,
          "descriptor": "Chooses a method to fit the question, runs it, and turns the findings into a product decision.",
          "indicators": [
            {
              "key": "fits_method_to_question",
              "text": "Ability to choose a research method that fits the question",
              "must_have": false
            },
            {
              "key": "research_into_decision",
              "text": "Ability to turn research findings into a product decision",
              "must_have": false
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "level": 4,
          "descriptor": "Plans research across segments or markets, notices when findings conflict and resolves that before deciding.",
          "indicators": [
            {
              "key": "plans_research_across_segments",
              "text": "Ability to plan research across segments or markets",
              "must_have": false
            },
            {
              "key": "resolves_conflicting_findings",
              "text": "Approach to resolving conflicting findings before deciding",
              "must_have": false
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "level": 5,
          "descriptor": "Every strong indicator met, plus exceptional evidence: sets up research that others rely on, and shows research that changed a strategic bet."
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "key": "make_data_driven_decisions",
      "title": "Deciding with data",
      "esco_skill_uri": "http://data.europa.eu/esco/skill/be20d05c-f6b4-4580-9fcf-f00f4baab562",
      "esco_skill_label": "make data-driven decisions",
      "esco_relation": "essential",
      "weight": 15,
      "listens_for": "Whether the candidate defines how success is measured before acting, and reads the results critically.",
      "levels": [
        {
          "level": 1,
          "descriptor": "Describes decisions with no reference to data."
        },
        {
          "level": 2,
          "descriptor": "Uses metrics defined by others; reads results but rarely asks whether they are reliable.",
          "indicators": [
            {
              "key": "reads_product_metrics",
              "text": "Ability to read the metrics that describe a product's use",
              "must_have": true
            },
            {
              "key": "data_in_a_decision",
              "text": "Experience using data in a product decision",
              "must_have": false
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "level": 3,
          "descriptor": "Defines success measures before a change, reads experiment or usage results critically, and acts on them.",
          "indicators": [
            {
              "key": "defines_success_before_change",
              "text": "Approach to defining success measures before a change",
              "must_have": false
            },
            {
              "key": "reads_results_critically",
              "text": "Ability to question whether an experiment result is reliable",
              "must_have": false
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "level": 4,
          "descriptor": "Designs measurement for a product area, weighs conflicting signals, and says when the data was not enough to decide.",
          "indicators": [
            {
              "key": "designs_area_measurement",
              "text": "Ability to design measurement for a whole product area",
              "must_have": false
            },
            {
              "key": "weighs_conflicting_signals",
              "text": "Approach to weighing conflicting signals in the data",
              "must_have": false
            },
            {
              "key": "knows_when_data_not_enough",
              "text": "Awareness of when the data is not enough to decide",
              "must_have": false
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "level": 5,
          "descriptor": "Every strong indicator met, plus exceptional evidence: sets the measurement approach for a product line, with examples where the data overturned what the team expected."
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "key": "manage_the_customer_experience",
      "title": "Customer experience",
      "esco_skill_uri": "http://data.europa.eu/esco/skill/4b95c7bb-5672-4e4a-88ea-ba96c12e8ca2",
      "esco_skill_label": "manage the customer experience",
      "esco_relation": "essential",
      "weight": 15,
      "listens_for": "How the candidate understands and improves what customers experience across the whole journey, not only inside one feature.",
      "levels": [
        {
          "level": 1,
          "descriptor": "Talks about features without reference to the people using them."
        },
        {
          "level": 2,
          "descriptor": "Fixes customer problems reported to them within one part of the journey.",
          "indicators": [
            {
              "key": "talks_about_users_needs",
              "text": "Understanding of who the product's customers are and what they need",
              "must_have": true
            },
            {
              "key": "fixes_reported_problems",
              "text": "Experience fixing problems customers reported",
              "must_have": false
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "level": 3,
          "descriptor": "Maps the journey for a product area, finds where customers struggle, and improves it with a measured result.",
          "indicators": [
            {
              "key": "maps_customer_journey",
              "text": "Ability to map the customer journey for a product area",
              "must_have": false
            },
            {
              "key": "measured_experience_improvement",
              "text": "Experience improving the experience with a measured result",
              "must_have": false
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "level": 4,
          "descriptor": "Improves the experience across teams or channels, balancing what customers need against cost and business goals.",
          "indicators": [
            {
              "key": "improves_across_channels",
              "text": "Ability to improve the experience across teams or channels",
              "must_have": false
            },
            {
              "key": "balances_needs_cost_goals",
              "text": "Approach to balancing customer needs against cost and goals",
              "must_have": false
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "level": 5,
          "descriptor": "Every strong indicator met, plus exceptional evidence: sets customer-experience standards that other teams adopt, with evidence of their effect."
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "key": "manage_product_testing",
      "title": "Testing before and after release",
      "esco_skill_uri": "http://data.europa.eu/esco/skill/b7a03115-41c9-4167-a0b6-7e40cf0fd607",
      "esco_skill_label": "manage product testing",
      "esco_relation": "essential",
      "weight": 15,
      "listens_for": "How the candidate makes sure a product works for its users before it is released and once it is live.",
      "levels": [
        {
          "level": 1,
          "descriptor": "Leaves testing to others; cannot describe how a release was checked."
        },
        {
          "level": 2,
          "descriptor": "Writes acceptance criteria and checks features against them.",
          "indicators": [
            {
              "key": "writes_acceptance_criteria",
              "text": "Ability to write acceptance criteria and check features against them",
              "must_have": true
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "level": 3,
          "descriptor": "Plans testing for a release (acceptance, beta or staged rollout) and decides what blocks a launch.",
          "indicators": [
            {
              "key": "plans_release_testing",
              "text": "Ability to plan testing for a release, from acceptance to staged rollout",
              "must_have": false
            },
            {
              "key": "decides_launch_blockers",
              "text": "Approach to deciding what blocks a launch",
              "must_have": false
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "level": 4,
          "descriptor": "Sets up testing and rollout practice for several teams, and uses the results to change scope or timing.",
          "indicators": [
            {
              "key": "rollout_practice_for_teams",
              "text": "Ability to set up testing and rollout practice for several teams",
              "must_have": false
            },
            {
              "key": "results_change_scope",
              "text": "Approach to changing scope or timing on test results",
              "must_have": false
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "level": 5,
          "descriptor": "Every strong indicator met, plus exceptional evidence: shapes how the organisation tests and releases, with examples of failures caught and lessons applied."
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "min_assessed_weight": 70,
  "level_bands": [
    {
      "band": "entry",
      "min": 1
    },
    {
      "band": "mid",
      "min": 2
    },
    {
      "band": "senior",
      "min": 3
    },
    {
      "band": "lead",
      "min": 3.8
    },
    {
      "band": "principal",
      "min": 4.5
    }
  ],
  "scoring": {
    "scale": {
      "levels": [
        1,
        2,
        3,
        4,
        5
      ],
      "bars": {
        "2": "weak",
        "3": "moderate",
        "4": "strong"
      },
      "meaning": "Levels 2, 3 and 4 of each criterion are bars -- weak, moderate and strong -- each with written indicators; levels 1 and 5 carry a descriptor only. The interview marks every indicator met, missing or not_discussed, with proof (the candidate's words, or the AI's reading of them)."
    },
    "criterion": {
      "method": "highest_bar_cleared",
      "bar_cleared": "no indicator on the bar is missing, every must-have indicator is met, and at least one indicator is met",
      "rule": "The level is 1 + the bars cleared in a row from 2: the bars stack, so a missing must-have caps the criterion below its bar.",
      "top": "Level 5 is bar 4 with every indicator met, plus exceptional evidence.",
      "unassessed": "When the weak bar failed only for want of evidence (nothing on it missing), the criterion is unassessed: null, never level 1. A missing weak indicator is level 1."
    },
    "overall": {
      "method": "weighted_mean",
      "formula": "sum(weight × level) / sum(weight), over the assessed criteria only",
      "weights": "whole percents that add up to 100",
      "precision": 1,
      "rounding": "half_up",
      "range": [
        1,
        5
      ],
      "minimum_assessed_weight": "A result needs at least min_assessed_weight percent of the weight assessed; with less there is no result.",
      "note": "The weights are whole percents, so both sums are integers and the division is rounded half up without floating point: 265 / 80 is 3.3."
    },
    "band": {
      "method": "last_band_reached",
      "rule": "The bands are in ascending order of min, the first at 1.0; the assessed band (a seniority, or a CEFR level for a language) is the last band whose min the overall result reaches (min ≤ overall).",
      "note": "A rubric need not reach every band of its scale; one it does not list cannot be assessed against it."
    }
  },
  "attribution": {
    "text": "ESCO, European Commission, CC BY 4.0",
    "esco_version": "v1.2.1",
    "source": "https://esco.ec.europa.eu",
    "licence": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "publisher": "https://certo.bio"
}