Product Manager (Freelance / Contractor)

About Us

ZeroTier leads the world in next-generation connectivity and cybersecurity. Our platform provides highly secure, peer-to-peer virtual networks relied upon by millions of users and businesses - from individual users and startups to mid-scale enterprises and Fortune 500 companies. We’re backed by awesome investors including Battery Ventures, Bonfire Ventures, and Anorak Ventures.

The Role

We are seeking a mid-career Product Manager Contractor to lead both defining and managing product functionality and delivery, as well as being a critical bridge between our cross-functional stakeholders and engineering teams.

Our ideal candidate is technical with experience in networking or cybersecurity type products, and able to lead through ambiguity, ask the right clarifying questions, and bring structure and process to building great products. You will help ensure that what we build is aligned with user needs, marketplace requirements, business value, and technical feasibility.

This role is embedded within our Product organization and works closely with Design, Engineering, Sales and Marketing, as well as Senior Management to ensure that business needs are clearly defined, analyzed, and translated into actionable product requirements that provide both useful functionality and a delightful user experience.

This is a role located in the Netherlands. We expect you to be physically present at our office next to Utrecht Central Station 3 days per week and you can work 2 days from home.

What You’ll Do:
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Be the stakeholder who translates business needs into clear, actionable product requirements in collaboration with Product Leadership, Engineering, and cross-functional teams.

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Help define and maintain the product roadmap, ensuring product initiatives align with company strategy, customer needs, and technical feasibility.

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Lead product discovery by working with Sales, Marketing, Operations, and leadership to identify market opportunities, define product requirements, and translate them into user stories, PRDs, and product specifications.

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Be the person who aligns technical and non-technical teams by clarifying terminology, scope, assumptions, constraints, and success criteria.

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Own backlog prioritization and participate in Agile/Scrum planning sessions to ensure features are well-defined, aligned with product strategy, and delivered efficiently.

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Analyze business processes and workflows, identifying inefficiencies and recommending improvements that enhance user experience, product usability and operational outcomes.

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Support business case development and feasibility analysis for new product initiatives.

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Work closely with Engineering throughout development to ensure implementation aligns with product requirements and business intent.

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Analyze user feedback, support tickets, and stakeholder input to identify recurring themes and inform product improvements.

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Work with stakeholders to evaluate trade-offs, dependencies, and implementation impacts before development begins.

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Drive clarity in conversations — breaking down complex or ambiguous requests into precise, actionable requirements that teams can execute confidently.

What We’re Looking For:
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5–7 years (or more) experience in Product Management, Product Operations or similar roles within networking, cybersecurity, or SaaS software companies.

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Technical expertise, particularly in areas of software development, user experience design, cybersecurity or IT networking.

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Strong experience gathering and defining requirements, canvassing the market, reviewing competing offerings, preparing user stories and functionality specifications, and developing acceptance criteria.

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Ability to bridge business strategy and technical implementation — understanding user outcomes, sellable features, and technical/system constraints.

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Ability to work with data and product analytics — using qualitative and quantitative signals to understand current product performance, identify gaps, and inform where the product needs to go.

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Experience facilitating cross-functional collaboration, aligning stakeholders across Product, Engineering, Sales, and Operations. Experience working closely with engineers on system behavior, data flows, process design, and feature implementation.

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Strong communication skills, with an ability to distill complex technical topics and eliminate ambiguity.

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Familiarity with tools such as Asana, Slack, Google Workspace, Figma, GitHub, and other product collaboration platforms.

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Bachelor’s degree in a technical or product related field, or equivalent professional experience

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Ability to travel and time shift to match cross-functional team efforts, particularly with the West Coast of the United States.

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Fluency in English. Additional languages (ex. Dutch, Spanish, French, Japanese, etc.) are a plus.

Bonus Points

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Experience in networking, cybersecurity, infrastructure, or enterprise SaaS environments is highly preferred.

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Computer- or product-related BS/BA degree or equivalent professional experience.

Contract Terms & Working Conditions:
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Competitive contractor rate

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Engagement type: Contractor (B2B / freelance)

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Start date: ASAP

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Working hours: Preferably 40 hours per week (32 hours can be discussed)

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Contract duration: Initial 6-month term with potential for extension based on performance and business needs

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Future opportunity: Possibility to transition into a permanent employment relationship (including eligibility for equity and benefits at that time)

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Hybrid work environment: 3 days per week at our Utrecht Central Station office, 2 days remote

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Flexible working hours

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Commuting reimbursement for travel to the Utrecht office (if applicable)

More About ZeroTier

Founded in 2013 by Adam Ierymenko, ZeroTier’s mission is to make peer-to-peer networking with strong encryption so simple, secure, and intuitive that it becomes the default for the internet.

To do this ZeroTier simplifies complex networking across physical boundaries, unifying cloud and edge environments. Our network virtualization platform offers enterprise-grade software-defined networking for every device, service, and application, whether at the edge or in the cloud. It's powerful enough for large businesses and defense applications, yet easy for individuals to use for tasks like gaming or remote access.

Our team is composed of industry-leading experts dedicated to solving complex challenges in high-performance, decentralized networking. We enable customers to operate networks without unnecessary constraints or overhead. Come build the future with us.

To find out more please check us out at: www.zerotier.com

PLEASE NOTE: Individuals seeking employment at ZeroTier are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, or sexual orientation. Direct applicants ONLY. Any recruiter/3rd party submissions we receive will be considered a gift. Written CVs and cover letters are encouraged. No calls, please.