Thank you for considering Tailscale. If this job description resonates with you, please apply. Frequently cited statistics show that people who identify with historically marginalized groups are likely to apply to jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. We encourage you to help us break that statistic!
About Tailscale
Tailscale is making safe connection effortless by delivering software that makes it easy to securely interconnect people and their devices, no matter where they are. From hobbyists to multinational corporations, teams of every size use Tailscale each day to protect their networks, share access to internal tools, and more. We're building a future for the Internet that's easy, sensible, and safe, like it used to be. Founded in 2019 and fully distributed, we're backed by Accel, CRV, Insight, Heavybit, and Uncork Capital.
We are seeking a Product Manager to own Tailscale's networking features — the layer that decides how traffic finds its destination by name on top of Tailscale’s seamless mesh connectivity solution. Concretely, you will own four feature sets: App Connectors, DNS, Funnel, and Tailscale Serve & Services.
A tailnet gives every device an identity and an address. Networking features are what turn addresses into something a person, a script, or an AI agent can actually use — a name, a service, an app, a URL.
- App Connectors route traffic to specific SaaS and private applications by name, so access follows the app rather than the IP.
- DNS — MagicDNS, split DNS, custom name servers, search domains
- Tailscale Serve & Services make a workload — not a machine — the unit of connectivity and access: addressable, load-balanced, and durable across the instances behind it. This is the wedge that lets customers replace a service registry, and eventually much of what they use a service mesh for, with Tailscale.
- Funnel is Tailscale's ingress story: securely exposing a Service running inside the tailnet to the public internet, from a hobbyist sharing a dev server to production webhooks and public endpoints.
This is the most user-visible role in Tailscale's Dataplane Platform, and the work is as much product design as it is networking. DNS settings, connector topologies, and service definitions are configured by network engineers and IT admins in the admin console, API, and CLI, and the distance between "magical" and "unusable" is the object model, the defaults, and the error messages.
See How Tailscale Works, Tailscale Funnel, and Four ways to Tailscale a service to learn more.
Key Responsibilities- Own the vision, strategy, and roadmap for Tailscale's networking features: App Connectors, DNS, Funnel, and Tailscale Services
- Own the operator experience across these surfaces: how network engineers and IT admins configure, segment, monitor, and troubleshoot them at scale, in both the admin console and the CLI
- Partner with GTM, Customer Success, and Solutions Engineering on production commitments and strategic deals, and champion the migration path from reverse proxies, bastion hosts, cloud ingress, and service meshes to Tailscale
- Build systematic customer insight across the full spread of Tailscale users, from a homelab operator exposing a media server through Funnel to a large enterprise replacing its service registry
- 7+ years in product management, including direct ownership of an application-layer connectivity product: reverse proxies, ingress controllers or gateways, API gateways, service mesh or service registry, DNS and traffic management, secure tunneling and exposure products, or identity-aware proxy connectors
- A track record of turning a complex networking system into a legible product surface: you can point to an object model, a set of defaults, or a configuration experience you designed and explain why it was right
- End-to-end ownership of a product area: strategy, requirements, launch (docs, enablement, rollout), and the iteration after launch
- Evidence of data-informed decisions — metrics you defined, instrumentation you pushed for, and at least one time the data changed your mind
- Experience with Product Led Growth and how to balance that with enterprise buying motions
- Kubernetes networking: ingress, Gateway API, operators, or service exposure patterns
- Hands-on experience with secure tunneling and exposure products (ngrok, Cloudflare Tunnel, Cloudflare Access, Teleport, Zscaler Private Access) as a builder or a heavy user
- Abuse prevention, rate limiting, or trust and safety work on a publicly exposed service
- Familiarity with VPN and tunneling protocols (WireGuard, IPsec), BGP, cloud VPC peering, or PrivateLink-style private connectivity
- Public technical writing, conference talks, or open-source contributions in networking
- Hands-on experience with Tailscale at work or at home
As a company, we strive to maintain fair and equitable compensation practices within our team across all roles and all levels. Tailscale's compensation package includes base salary, equity, and comprehensive benefits. The salary range displayed on each job posting represents the target range for a new hire's base salary. Individual offers may vary based on experience and skill set.
What We Offer
- An inclusive, flexible environment where you can be your authentic self. We recognize the impact of diverse voices and backgrounds on the growth of our people, product, and company. And that flexibility in how and when you work empowers our team to integrate work and life.
- A competitive total compensation package. This includes a base salary, an equity incentive plan and variable commission (for quota-based roles).
- Comprehensive group benefits with no waiting period. Take advantage of coverage for health, vision, dental, and more for you and your family!
- Remote first company—most of our teams work fully remotely. Enjoy a change of scenery wherever you can get wifi, participate in virtual and in-person social events, and leverage our corporate co-working program to visit WeWork (or other similar spaces near you). Some roles require in-office collaboration depending on team needs, which will be clearly noted in the job description.
- Employer-funded retirement contributions. Tailscale will match your retirement contributions dollar-for-dollar, up to a maximum annual employer contribution equal to 0.75% of your eligible compensation.
- Connect with other Tailscalars IRL. Attend our annual company retreat, participate in team off-sites, and collaborate in person with teammates across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Singapore. We support intentional in-person connection through team travel and distributed collaboration.
- Support for your personal and professional development. Grow your career thoughtfully with $1500 USD annually for professional development, or take advantage of mentorship, coaching, and internal promotion opportunities.
- Paid time off and a healthy work-life integration. Our flexible, paid time off program supports you for any situation life throws your way, whether moving homes or travelling the world!
- A build-your-own home office setup. You choose your own company-owned laptop (Mac or PC), receive a monthly home internet reimbursement, and $500 USD to customize your workstation to make it your own.
- Paid parental leave program. We care about your life outside of work and encourage new parents to take advantage of parental leave top-ups (20 weeks for birthing parents, 16 weeks for non-birthing parents).
Tailscale is committed to providing an accessible and inclusive hiring process. If you require an accommodation at any stage of the recruitment process or related to any aspect of this role, please contact your recruiter.
Our hiring process uses AI-assisted tools to help screen and assess candidates. All hiring decisions are made by people.
Please be aware that legitimate emails from Tailscale's talent team will only originate from @tailscale.com, @greenhouse.io, and @interviews.modernloop.io email addresses. For more information about protecting yourself from impersonators and scams, please visit https://tailscale.com/scam-awareness.
Similar Jobs
What you need to know about the Los Angeles Tech Scene
Key Facts About Los Angeles Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 375,800; 5.5% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: Snap, Netflix, SpaceX, Disney, Google
- Key Industries: Artificial intelligence, adtech, media, software, game development
- Funding Landscape: $11.6 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Strong Ventures, Fifth Wall, Upfront Ventures, Mucker Capital, Kittyhawk Ventures
- Research Centers and Universities: California Institute of Technology, UCLA, University of Southern California, UC Irvine, Pepperdine, California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy, Center for Quantum Science and Engineering
