Product Manager - API Testing

Product Manager – API Testing

APIs power the modern digital world—and testing them is mission-critical for security, reliability, and speed. At SmartBear, we help millions of developers and enterprises design, test, and deliver APIs with confidence.

We’re looking for a Technical Product Manager to drive strategy, planning, and execution across our API testing product suite. This role sits at the intersection of deep technical understanding, customer empathy, and AI-driven innovation.

If you’re passionate about developer experience, open-source collaboration, and building products that delight engineers, you’ll thrive here.

At SmartBear, you’ll:

• Shape the future of API tooling in an era where AI is redefining how developers work.

• Work with influential open-source standards (Swagger, OpenAPI, Pact, etc.).

• Be part of a culture that values trust, ownership, and curiosity.

• Collaborate with a global team that’s passionate about helping developers build faster, more securely, and more collaboratively.

Key Responsibilities

Product Strategy & Roadmap

• Contribute to defining the technical product vision and roadmap for the API contract testing product suite.

• Own and prioritize the product backlog, balancing customer needs, technical feasibility, business value, and strategic objectives.

• Align product planning with business goals, customer needs, and emerging trends—particularly in AI-driven API workflows and open-source API tools.

• Partner with Engineering to ensure scalable, high-quality implementation of roadmap items.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with Engineering, Design, Product Marketing, Developer Relations, and Technical Writers to define executable, technically sound product strategies.

• Drive clear alignment on open-source tooling updates and enhancements, prioritizing community needs alongside strategic initiatives.

Developer & Customer Engagement

• Represent the voice of the customer by engaging directly with developers, enterprise customers, and prospects through sales calls, support conversations, events, and community forums.

• Turn insights into clear priorities, balancing near-term customer needs with long-term innovation.

Technical Expertise & Requirements Management

• Deep understanding of the API Industry with strong knowledge around API Protocols (GraphQL, OpenAPI, AsyncAPI, gRPC, etc.)

• Experience across the API SDLC specifically with exposure to the design and test stages

• Translate market and customer requirements into clear, technically grounded product specs and acceptance criteria.

• Serve as a trusted technical partner to engineering by anticipating complexity and scoping feasibility early.

AI-Forward Innovation

• Contribute to the development of AI-native product features by understanding concepts like agentic AI, machine learning architectures, and standards like Model Context Protocol (MCP).
• Identify and articulate how these evolving technologies reshape the API landscape, developer experience, and platform capabilities

Requirements

• 4+ years of experience in product management, preferably in developer tools, APIs, infrastructure, or SaaS.

• Technical background—whether via CS degree, software engineering experience, or equivalent depth of expertise. (You don’t need to be a daily coder, but you must be able to read code, discuss architecture, and talk APIs fluently.)

• Proven ability to deliver successful products in close collaboration with engineers, UX, and go-to-market teams.

• Familiarity with open-source ecosystems and community-based development models.

Preferred requirements

• Hands-on experience contributing to or managing open-source projects.

• Active involvement or affiliation with the OpenAPI Initiative or similar standards bodies.

• Exposure to AI/ML technologies and how they reshape developer experience.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with an ability to adapt messaging for technical and non-technical audiences.

• Experience with AI platforms such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Azure AI, or similar technologies.

• Familiarity with MCP architecture, AI tool ecosystems, and agent interoperability standards.

Why you should join the SmartBear crew:

• You can grow your career at every level.
• We invest in your success as well as the spaces where our teams come together to work, collaborate, and have fun.
• We love celebrating our SmartBear; we even encourage our crew to take their birthdays off.
• We are guided by a People and Culture organization - an important distinction for us. We think about our team holistically – the whole person.
• We celebrate our differences in experiences, viewpoints, and identities because we know it leads to better outcomes.

Did you know:

• Our main goal at SmartBear is to make our technology-driven world a better place.
• SmartBear is committed to ethical corporate practices and social responsibility, promoting good in all the communities we serve.
• SmartBear is headquartered in Somerville, MA with offices across the world including Galway Ireland, Bath, UK, Wroclaw, Poland, Ahmedabad and Bangalore India.
• We’ve won major industry (product and company) awards including B2B Innovators Award, Content Marketing Association, IntellyX Digital Innovator and Built-in Best Places to Work.

SmartBear is committed to creating an inclusive workplace for employees where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity. We are an equal opportunity employer and make employment decisions based on merit, qualifications, and business needs. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, gender, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or any other protected status under applicable laws. We are dedicated to fostering a workplace that reflects a diversity of thought and experience as well as our values of being smart, open, driven, accountable, and curious.

#LI-AC2