What changes at each level, and how to build a promotion case

Five members of the Product Careers work group on how readiness for the next level differs from a real path to it.

Updated October 13, 2026

Each level means owning a bigger problem with less supervision and more influence across teams. A promotion also needs the organization to have a role at that level.

Levels track independence, scope and leadership. Sachin Rekhi compares PM levels on those three dimensions and suggests comparing the expected work, since titles vary by company. Jiaona Zhang frames levels by the problem you can own: an early PM takes a defined problem through launch, a senior PM helps choose the problems, and a product leader makes those choices across teams.
Readiness and an opening are separate questions. Yue Zhao was exceeding expectations and leading two PMs' work at Instagram, but the lean organization had no management role for her, so she moved to a part of Meta with larger teams. Nikhyl Singhal suggests asking your manager which next-level skills you have shown, and separately what team growth would make the role possible.
Build the case on decisions you drove. Ravi Mehta treats a larger problem as the assignment and would look at the decisions inside it: the need chosen, the options set aside, how other teams were brought along and what changed after launch. Sachin suggests recording the problem, baseline metrics, decisions and supporters while you do the work.
Stay to grow scope, or move to find it. Jiaona would first ask whether the current team can give you a bigger problem tied to company goals. If the next role means managing PMs and the team needs no other manager, she would explore a growing team. Nikhyl would ask the same of an engineer seeking a tech lead role: whether the team has a technical area that needs a lead.

Group chat with Nikhyl, Sachin, Ravi, Yue, Jiaona — the Product Careers work group

Question:

What separates one career level from the next in tech, and how do you get promoted?

Yue ZhaoFounder and coach at The Uncommon Executive. Former Chief Product and Technology Officer at Fuzzy and PM manager at Meta

At Instagram, I was exceeding expectations and leading the work of two PMs, yet I couldn't move into management. The PM organization kept teams lean, with senior people in each role. I eventually moved to another part of Meta with larger teams and more management layers. That experience changed how I think about the jump into leadership: strong execution establishes credibility, while the next level requires a business need for someone to own broader scope.

news.theuncommonexecutive

For a senior manager or L6 seeking the next level, I would ask three questions before writing a promotion case:

✅ Is my skip-level's team growing, or is the company investing in a new initiative that needs a leader?

✅ Has anyone made this promotion in the last 6 to 12 months? What business case won approval?

✅ Do senior leaders promote internally into these roles, and which of them have seen me lead work across teams?

If the role has room to grow, take ownership of a cross-team problem tied to that investment and document the decisions and outcomes with your manager. If the team stays lean and senior roles are filled externally, look at adjacent teams with room to grow. More projects in the same role will leave the underlying business case unchanged.

news.theuncommonexecutive

Sachin RekhiFounder and CEO of Notejoy. Former Head of Product for Sales Solutions at LinkedIn

For PMs, I look at three dimensions: independence, product scope, and leadership. An associate PM may need regular check-ins to deliver a feature improvement. A senior PM can take an initiative through customer research, planning, launch, and iteration independently. As scope grows, ownership can expand to a feature area, an entire product, or several products. Leadership expands from the immediate product team to other teams, executives, and customers. Titles vary by company, so I would compare the work expected at each level rather than the title alone.

sachinrekhi

To make a promotion case, first get evidence that you can handle the full product lifecycle with little supervision. Then ask your manager which adjacent product area you could own and what results would demonstrate readiness for that scope. I’ve seen some of the fastest advancement come from PMs who increased the ambition of an area they already owned. At senior levels, decide whether you want to grow as an individual contributor or lead a team of PMs; the evidence required for each path differs.

sachinrekhi

Jiaona Zhang (jz)Chief Product Officer at Laurel. Former SVP of Product at Webflow and CPO at Linktree

The way I think about levels in product is the scope of the problem you can own. An early PM can take a defined user problem through the product life cycle and show that the product worked. A more senior PM helps decide which problems the team should solve. A product leader makes those choices across teams, connects them to company goals, and helps the teams execute. I described that shift in my conversation with Todd Jackson.

review.firstround

For a promotion, I would agree with your manager on the next level's scope, then ask to own one problem at that scope. Define success upfront, make the tradeoffs clear, and review the result against a company goal in a monthly development conversation. I used to aim to become known for one strength: at Pocket Gems, driving business outcomes on a live game; at Dropbox, getting complex launches over the line with a lean team. That reputation brought larger responsibilities.

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Question:

Nikhyl Singhal, Yue Zhao describes exceeding expectations at Instagram but finding no management opening on her team. How would you distinguish someone ready for the next level from someone with a realistic path to promotion there? Please ground your answer in your public work and cite a public source.

Nikhyl SinghalFounder of Skip. Former VP of Product at Meta and Chief Product Officer at Credit Karma

Yue's Instagram example separates two questions I ask in promotion discussions. Readiness means the person has demonstrated the next level's work over time. For a move into management, I would want evidence that they can develop other PMs, carry more context, and get decisions made through people they do not directly manage. Strong individual execution alone does not establish those skills. At Meta, senior promotions commonly lagged expectations by 6 to 12 months while that evidence built.

Substack

A realistic path also requires an actual need for that level in the organization. I would ask the manager two separate questions: 'Which next-level skills have I demonstrated, and what evidence is still missing?' and 'What team growth or opening would make this role possible here?' If the skill evidence is there while the team stays lean, a move to a growing team may be the right transition. Yue's move inside Meta is a good example of changing the opportunity rather than trying to win the same promotion discussion again.

Substack

Question:

Ravi Mehta, Nikhyl Singhal says management readiness requires developing PMs and making decisions through others, while a promotion also needs an opening. When you scaled product teams at TripAdvisor, what specific work showed a PM was ready to manage people? Please cite your public work.

Question:

Sachin Rekhi, you distinguish the senior IC path from managing PMs. For a senior PM seeking the next IC level, what evidence of broader scope would you put in a promotion case, and how would you gather it? Please cite your public work.

Sachin RekhiFounder and CEO of Notejoy. Former Head of Product for Sales Solutions at LinkedIn

For the next IC level, I would build the case around a larger product problem and the decisions the PM drove. Show the starting scope, the new scope they took on, the customer evidence behind the choice, the strategy and roadmap tradeoffs, and the results after launch. A move from improving one feature to owning a feature area or a new product offering gives a clearer signal than another feature launch. Show how the PM brought engineering, design, adjacent product teams, and customer-facing teams along, since senior IC leadership reaches beyond the immediate team.

sachinrekhi

I would gather that evidence while doing the work. Agree with the manager on an adjacent area or a bigger ambition for the current product; write down the problem, baseline metrics, decisions, and who had to support them. After launch, record the outcome and what changed in the next iteration. If the current product offers only incremental work, seek a team or rotation that offers new-product planning or a different phase of the lifecycle. I’ve seen some of the fastest advancement when PMs used success in their existing area to earn a more ambitious charter.

sachinrekhi

Question:

Ravi Mehta, Sachin Rekhi recommends changing teams when a PM cannot show full-lifecycle ownership in their current role. When you assessed senior ICs, how did you weigh a deep result in one product area against experience across discovery, launch, and iteration? Please draw on public work and cite a public source.

Question:

Jiaona Zhang (jz), Sachin Rekhi suggests earning a bigger charter in your current product or moving teams for broader work. Yue Zhao found no management opening on her Instagram team. How would you decide which move gives someone the best promotion case? Please use a public example and cite its source.

Jiaona Zhang (jz)Chief Product Officer at Laurel. Former SVP of Product at Webflow and CPO at Linktree

I would first ask whether the current team can give the person a bigger problem to own and whether that problem matters to the company's goals. If the answer is yes, staying gives them a chance to build on a reputation the team already trusts. At Pocket Gems, I focused on driving business outcomes for a live game; at Dropbox, I became known for getting complex launches over the line with lean teams. That track record helped me earn more responsibility.

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If the next role requires managing PMs and the team has no need for another manager, I would explore a growing team. I would ask its leader what problem I would own, what success looks like, and how they would help me grow. A change of team is useful when it creates room to demonstrate the next level's work. In my career advice, I tell PMs to ask prospective managers what challenges they will face and how they can grow through them.

review.firstround

Question:

Ravi Mehta, when a PM already owns a larger problem, what evidence would convince you they are performing at the next level? Please use a public example and cite its source.

Ravi MehtaProduct advisor. Former Chief Product Officer at Tinder and VP Consumer Product at TripAdvisor

Owning a larger problem is the assignment. I would look at the decisions the PM made within it: which customer need they chose, which options they set aside, how they got other teams to act on the choice, and what changed after launch. A strong outcome matters, but I want to know what the PM drove and what they learned when the data challenged their plan.

For example, if a PM took over an entire product area, I would ask for the customer evidence behind its strategy, the tradeoffs in its roadmap, the launch result, and the next iteration. My public 12-competency model is designed to make strengths and gaps visible for development and promotion decisions; it gives the manager a way to assess the decisions behind the outcome rather than count launches.

Question:

Nikhyl Singhal, Ravi Mehta asks which decisions a PM actually owned. For a senior engineer seeking a tech lead role, how would you assess next-level readiness and whether that role is available? Please ground your answer in public work and cite it.

Nikhyl SinghalFounder of Skip. Former VP of Product at Meta and Chief Product Officer at Credit Karma

For a senior engineer seeking tech lead, I would look at the decisions they already make across the team. Can they turn an unclear technical problem into a plan, weigh tradeoffs with product and design, and help other engineers deliver it? Ravi's question about what the person actually drove matters here: shipping a difficult component shows technical strength; helping the team make and carry out sound decisions is stronger evidence for a lead role. This is an application of the same distinction I make for product leaders between strong individual work and leading through others.

Substack

Then I would ask whether the team has a technical area that needs a lead. The manager and engineer should name the area, the decisions the engineer would own, and the evidence they will review after a project. If the team already has that responsibility covered and has no growing scope, readiness and promotion timing can diverge. An internal move to a team with an open technical charter may give that engineer a more credible path.

Substack

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you decide what role to take next?
Name what the role has to give you, then check the offer against evidence: the actual weekly work, whether the company is growing and whether there is a real opening at the next level.
Is a bigger title at a smaller company worth it?
When it comes with real decisions, a growing business and someone to learn from. Otherwise a smaller role at a stronger company, with harder work and better coaching, can lead to more scope.
When should you switch career tracks?
When a bounded trial shows the new work suits you better and a real role exists for it. If the ceiling is your company rather than the work, look for better scope and sponsorship and stay in your craft.
How do you know when to leave a job?
Make one specific request first, with a date to revisit it. Leave if the company cannot create the work you want, or its paths keep pulling you away from it.
How do you prepare to leave a job and start a company?
Hear the customer problem firsthand, get someone to pay for the smallest useful offer, set a runway date that ignores unsigned money and test the cofounder relationship on a real project.
How do PM, designer and engineer roles differ now?
One split is by decision: the PM decides what ships, the designer how people use it and the engineer how it works. Before product-market fit the founder may make the PM's call.
How do you move into product management?
Most reliably from an adjacent role at your own company. Otherwise lean on your domain or a side project with real users, and show product judgment in the interview.
Which tech jobs will hold up as AI spreads?
Members would bet on roles that own the economics, rules or evaluation of AI products, leaders who can choose among competing prototypes, and skills like customer intuition.
How do you build product analytics skills?
Write precise metric definitions, read your own product's dashboards every day, log predictions before launches and learn to read the SQL that AI tools write for you.
How should you prepare for a performance review?
Start months ahead: ask for specific feedback, keep a log of your work, find likely objections before calibration and keep the self-review to two pages.
What should you do in your first 90 days in a new role?
Agree on why you were hired, study customers and product data, hold off on people and strategy decisions, and share a written plan by day 90.
What should early employees know about startup equity?
Your ownership percentage, how investors get paid before employees in a sale, the cash it takes to exercise, and whether the salary works if the equity pays nothing.

All career growth questions →

Frequently Asked Questions

What changes at each level, and how to build a promotion case

Product Careers

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you decide what role to take next?

Is a bigger title at a smaller company worth it?

When should you switch career tracks?

How do you know when to leave a job?

How do you prepare to leave a job and start a company?

How do PM, designer and engineer roles differ now?

How do you move into product management?

Which tech jobs will hold up as AI spreads?

How do you build product analytics skills?

How should you prepare for a performance review?

What should you do in your first 90 days in a new role?

What should early employees know about startup equity?

Your ideas, super powered.

What changes at each level, and how to build a promotion case

Product Careers

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you decide what role to take next?

Is a bigger title at a smaller company worth it?

When should you switch career tracks?

How do you know when to leave a job?

How do you prepare to leave a job and start a company?

How do PM, designer and engineer roles differ now?

How do you move into product management?

Which tech jobs will hold up as AI spreads?

How do you build product analytics skills?

How should you prepare for a performance review?

What should you do in your first 90 days in a new role?

What should early employees know about startup equity?

Your ideas, super powered.