Principal Product Manager, API Platform at Digicert

Who we are DigiCert is a global leader in intelligent trust. We protect the digital world by ensuring the security, privacy, and authenticity of every interaction. Our AI-powered DigiCert ONE platform unifies PKI, DNS, and certificate lifecycle management, to secure infrastructure, software, devices, messages, AI content and agents. Learn why more than 100,000 organizations, including 90% of the Fortune 500, choose DigiCert to stop today’s threats and prepare for a quantum-safe future at www.digicert.com Job summary We are seeking Principal Platform Product Manager to define and lead DigiCert's API platform as both an internal engineering standard and externally differentiated developer product. This is a dual access role: inbound, you are the Platform authority who sets API structure, governance, guardrails and developer experience standards that all DigiCert product teams build to. Outbound, you are the thought leader who shapes the developer portal, external API experience and MCP strategy that customers, partners and 3rd party developers depend on. The person in this role will simultaneously be the most demanding internal API standard setter and the most credible external advocate for what a best-in-class digital trust API platform can be. The Principal Platform Product Manager is responsible to understand market needs and trends, collaborate with product teams horizontally across the portfolio, manage the delivery and success of initiatives and supporting platform components in a data-driven manner, and drive priorities that maximize platform value to both internal and external customers. The Principal Platform Product Manager will lead strategic and tactical activities for large, broad, and highly complex initiatives that impact all portfolio solutions, not limited to Platform. This is a critical, highly visible role charged with the strategy and driving the execution of priority initiatives at all levels across the organization. Individuals in this role will also mentor lower-level contributors. This role has a seat on the Platform Product Management team. What you will do The Principal API Platform Product Manager serves as the primary owner of our API Platform initiative, with substantial contribution and stakes in several other Platform initiatives. In support of this mission, this role will conduct internal and external research: customer requirements, market requirements, competitive research, internal research and analysis to inform strategic direction and priorities. They will establish a backlog of portfolio requirements that express dependencies on the Platform and actively maintain a prioritized stack-ranking to inform their executable roadmap and regularly collaborate across the business to collect and socialize a comprehensive, accurate and detailed set of feature requirements for one or more major platform initiatives. As the thought leader for API Platform, this role is responsible for constructing both the internal and external visions and leading discussions with functional leadership across the organization to gain alignment. Primary responsibilities and Duties include: Outbound Elements: • Own the collective API vision for Platform, including strategy, planning, and execution - and share accountability for the outcome • Serve as externally facing subject matter expert with customer, partner and developer audiences to gain deep understanding of their needs, represent strategy and roadmap, solicit participation in proof of concepts, beta releases, advisory counsels • Serve as thought leader for API requirements at DigiCert: meet with analysts to discuss market dynamics and competitive positioning, publish articles/white papers, post relevant content to engage with their external stakeholder community • Work closely with Finance to develop Pricing and Packaging strategies • Work closely with Marketing to develop GTM strategy, messaging, positioning and supporting artifacts Inbound Elements: • Own and understand API-specific platform requirements such as developer experience, webhook frameworks, API governance, security/compliance controls, automated documentation, version/change management; serve as subject matter expert for API requirements across functions to drive collaboration and achieve alignment on objectives, requirements, dependencies, design, and implementation • Leads the decomposition of strategic objectives into phased operational and tactical goals and measures that translates into platform implications (e.g. APIs, metering, lifecycle management, reporting, portal), and work with the teams in each of these areas establish requirements, align on priorities, and choreograph delivery • Lead the discussion to set business priorities that feed into the planning and execution of API Platform in close collaboration with other product teams and functions to ensure alignment with the needs of the business. • Responsible and accountable for the technical vision, strategy, planning and execution - and shares accountability for the outcome • Work across all platform teams (e.g. Access Control, API, Common Services, Customer Experience) on roadmap planning cycles, backlog discovery and prioritization, pre-development design and alignment, and operational execution • Be responsible and accountable for API Platform acceptance and success criteria of every internal and external release • Leads the buy/build assessment for platform components where appropriate, along with vendor assessment and proposal • Owns the technical definition, prioritization and hygiene of product backlog(s) throughout the concept through delivery process • Owns the execution and outcome by partnering closely with immediate platform core team (Engineering, Architecture & UX) as well solutions core teams to represent business objectives along with support Skills/Competencies: • Proven aptitude for cross-functional diplomacy leading complex initiatives with portfolio-wide implications and impact across all organizational functions • Demonstrated ability to lead the solutioning to deconstruct technical challenges to meet stakeholder requirements and platform objectives • Mastery of balanced decision making and decision follow-through – including problem definition, alternative definition and selection, trade-off analysis, success criteria definition, and overall execution • Able to earn credibility as the internally recognized specialist on complex platform technical and business matters. Uses judgment within broadly defined policies and practices and solves most problems without assistance • Experience and demonstrated dedication managing and meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers; seeking first-hand customer information and using it to inform feature definition and development; bringing a cohesive perspective of the customers to their work • Proficient decision making and decision follow-through - including defining a problem, identifying different alternatives, selecting and implementing the best alternative, and evaluating results to success criteria • Highly detail-oriented and able to manage many tasks for multiple requesters simultaneously • Ability to foster credibility amongst peers, to find common ground and solve problems for the good of all, represent their own interests yet be fair to other groups, can solve problems with with a minimum of disruption/escalation What you will have • 10 + years of experience in a technical or product role • Proven experience and depth of understanding of Enterprise API Governance and best practices • Experience with / working understanding of commercial API Platforms and the problems they solve for customers, partners and developers • A working understanding of Model Context Protocol, and how it is used in association with APIs by internal and external stakeholders • Credential or degree in business or engineering/computer science Nice to have • Platform Product Management Experience • MBA or Advanced Technical degree/credentials Benefits • Generous time off policies • Top shelf benefits • Education, wellness and lifestyle support #LI-SS1