Roles · Technical Product Manager · Principal

What a Principal } should know

32 core skills, 54 in total. Expectations per skill, and what changes at the next level.

This page lists what a Principal } is expected to know and do, skill by skill. Core skills are the ones a manager and peers assess in a review cycle; the rest count only in self-assessment. Main areas: API & Integration, Architecture & System Design, Observability & Monitoring.

32core skills
22additional skills
7skill areas
100%at Advanced or Expert
Assess myself as Principal Full role matrix

Core skills for a Principal

Grouped by area. The label on the right is the expected depth: Awareness, Working, Advanced or Expert.

API & Integration · 2

Shapes enterprise developer relations strategy through API documentation. Defines documentation quality metrics at the organizational level, integrates API catalog and developer portal into the overall product ecosystem.

Shapes enterprise API strategy. Defines architectural patterns for API ecosystem: gateway, mesh, versioning. Builds API marketplace for internal and external consumers. Defines API monetization strategy.

Architecture & System Design · 4

Shapes enterprise capacity planning strategy linking business growth with technical investments. Defines FinOps approaches, forecasts infrastructure needs 2-3 years ahead, coordinates hiring plan.

Defines enterprise microservice architecture strategy with a product lens. Shapes decomposition principles for new domains, defines migration paths for legacy systems. Coordinates cross-organization architecture evolution.

Shapes enterprise architecture vision with product-technology alignment. Defines architectural principles for the organization. Coordinates cross-team architecture evolution. Builds technical advisory function for the product organization.

Shapes enterprise tech debt management strategy. Defines organizational investment in debt reduction. Coordinates large-scale modernization programs. Builds executive-level reporting for technology health.

Observability & Monitoring · 1

Shapes enterprise reliability strategy through SLI/SLO/SLA framework. Defines organizational reliability targets and investment priorities. Coordinates customer-facing SLA with internal SLO. Builds reliability as competitive advantage.

Version Control & Collaboration · 1

Code Review Expert

Shapes enterprise approach to product-aware code review. Defines cross-team review processes for platform changes with product impact. Integrates product quality gates into development workflow.

Product Management · 14

Shapes enterprise culture of data-driven experimentation with architectural support. Defines platform requirements for experimentation infrastructure, integrates A/B testing into progressive delivery strategy.

Shapes enterprise approach to portfolio-level backlog management. Defines investment strategy between product, platform and infrastructure work at organizational level. Introduces OKR-driven prioritization framework.

Shapes enterprise approach to funnel analytics considering cross-product user journeys. Defines organization-level conversion metrics and benchmarks. Builds unified analytics platform for all organization's products.

Shapes enterprise GTM strategy for the technical platform with ecosystem approach. Defines partner integration program, developer community strategy. Coordinates multi-product launches at organizational level.

Shapes enterprise approach to evidence-based product management. Defines organizational learning loops from experiments. Integrates hypothesis testing into strategic planning and resource allocation.

Shapes enterprise JTBD practice for the organization. Defines cross-product job maps for complex technical workflows. Integrates JTBD into strategic roadmap and investment decisions at portfolio level.

Shapes enterprise market intelligence strategy for the technical platform. Defines industry positioning considering technology ecosystem. Builds advisory board of technical leaders for strategic direction.

Shapes enterprise OKR strategy linking technology investments with business value. Defines organization-level metrics for measuring technology ROI. Coordinates cross-functional OKR alignment at C-level.

Shapes enterprise data and analytics strategy for the product organization. Defines unified data platform requirements. Builds data-driven culture with governance, privacy compliance and cross-product analytics capabilities.

Shapes enterprise product-technology roadmap. Defines multi-year technology investment strategy. Coordinates roadmap alignment between business units, platform teams and infrastructure. Presents to C-level stakeholders.

Shapes enterprise technology vision for the organization. Defines long-term technology strategy linked to market trends. Creates inspiring narrative for the entire organization, from engineers to board of directors.

Shapes enterprise stakeholder management strategy. Manages C-level relationships for technology investments. Coordinates board-level technology reporting. Builds trust between technology and business leadership.

User Research Expert

Shapes enterprise user research strategy for technical products. Defines organizational research practice. Builds insight-driven culture with systematic knowledge sharing. Coordinates cross-product research initiatives.

Shapes enterprise story mapping approach for complex technical programs. Coordinates cross-product story maps for unified user journeys. Defines mapping standards for multi-team initiatives. Mentors product leaders.

Project Management · 8

Shapes enterprise strategy for measuring delivery performance. Defines organization-level engineering metrics linked to business value. Builds culture of measurement and continuous improvement at scale.

Shapes enterprise approach to dependency management at organizational level. Defines architectural principles for minimizing coupling between domains. Builds dependency governance for large programs.

Shapes enterprise approach to estimation and forecasting. Defines estimation standards for programs with 20+ teams. Integrates estimation data with capacity planning and budgeting at organizational level.

Kanban Method Expert

Shapes enterprise Flow Management approach based on Kanban. Defines portfolio Kanban with investment categories. Links flow metrics with business outcomes at organizational level. Leads Kanban community of practice.

Shapes enterprise process improvement strategy. Defines organizational transformation roadmap. Introduces lean portfolio management and value stream optimization across the entire organization.

Shapes enterprise release management strategy. Defines organizational release cadence and coordination mechanisms. Introduces automated release pipeline with quality gates. Coordinates cross-product launches.

Shapes enterprise risk management strategy for the technical portfolio. Defines organizational risk appetite for technology investments. Coordinates technology risk reporting for C-level and board. Integrates with compliance.

Shapes enterprise agile framework integrating Scrum with technical governance. Defines organizational agile maturity model. Coordinates agile transformation for 50+ teams. Mentors Product Managers and Scrum Masters.

Documentation · 2

Shapes enterprise approach to architectural knowledge management. Defines governance process for cross-team architectural decisions, builds knowledge base of technical trade-offs at organizational level.

Shapes enterprise approach to visual architecture documentation. Defines catalog of diagram types for different stakeholders. Integrates diagrams into developer portal and organization's architecture repository.

Additional skills

Not assessed by the team, but part of the self-assessment and the development plan.

Algorithms & ComplexityAsync ProgrammingAWSChatGPT / ClaudeCode Quality & RefactoringData StructuresDesign PatternsDockerGit AdvancedGitHub Actions / GitLab CIGitHub CopilotIntegration TestingKnowledge Base ManagementOOP & SOLID PrinciplesOWASP & Application SecurityPostgreSQLPrometheus & GrafanaPrompt Engineering for CodeSAFe FrameworkStructured LoggingUnit TestingUser Documentation
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} in the open competency matrix: 54 skills across 5 levels. The matrix is free for individuals and stays free.