Principal Product Manager, Dataplane

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in California.

📋 Description

• Establish the vision and strategic roadmap for the Tailscale dataplane.

• Define performance and reliability criteria as requirements for customer-facing products.

• Take ownership of the connectivity product strategy from start to finish.

• Lead the development of the roadmap for the operational primitives utilized by customers.

• Manage the application-layer connectivity interface.

• Oversee the operator control interface.

• Collaborate closely with the design lead for embedded Network Features.

• Control connectivity behavior across a comprehensive range of NAT types.

• Partner with GTM, Customer Success, and Solutions Engineering teams.

• Represent Tailscale's dataplane to enterprise customers, cloud partners, and the networking community.

⛳️ Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in product management for networking, transport, edge, or infrastructure products at scale, including CDNs, edge platforms, SD-WAN, overlay networks, cloud networking, service mesh, API gateways, DNS/traffic management, or identity-aware proxies.

• Extensive networking knowledge across the stack: proficient below L4 with routing, NAT traversal, MTU/MSS, congestion, latency, and packet loss, as well as fluent at the application layer with overlay routing, proxies and connectors, DNS, and network segmentation.

• Proven track record of defining performance commitments and customer-facing SLOs, operating under real production conditions, and effectively managing situations when systems do not meet those commitments.

🏝️ Benefits

• An inclusive and flexible environment that encourages you to be your authentic self.

• A competitive total compensation package.

• Comprehensive group benefits with no waiting period.

• Remote-first company—most teams operate fully remotely.

• Employer-funded retirement contributions.

• Opportunities to connect with fellow Tailscalars in real life.

• Support for your personal and professional growth.

• Paid time off and a healthy balance between work and life.

• A customizable home office setup.

• Paid parental leave program.