Designing Your Career Roadmap (Not Just Your Next Job)
Most PMs think about their careers in terms of job titles: Associate, PM, Senior PM, Lead PM, Director. But your career isn't a ladder—it's a series of bets. And the best PMs treat those bets like a roadmap, not a checklist.
That means:
- Knowing where you want to go (your career vision)
- Understanding your differentiators (your unfair advantage)
- Sequencing the right roles, teams, and mentors to get you there
You don't have to have all the answers, but you do need a direction. Otherwise, you'll optimize for speed over trajectory.
Map Your Long-Term Themes
Start by identifying what you want more of in your career. These are the themes that should show up again and again across every opportunity:
| Career Theme | Examples |
|---|---|
| Impact | Building products millions use, mentoring others, changing behavior at scale |
| Mastery | Becoming world-class at monetization, systems design, storytelling |
| Autonomy | Running your own team, owning P&L, building from zero to one |
Most people chase roles, not themes. But themes make your roadmap resilient. They let you pivot across companies, verticals, and even life stages—without losing momentum.
Think of themes as your North Star. They help you filter opportunities not just by title or company, but by fit—do they get you closer to what matters most?
Choose Career Arcs, Not Just Roles
Instead of asking "what’s next?", ask: "What arc am I in?"
Some example arcs:
- From IC to people manager
- From generalist to specialist
- From execution to strategy
- From builder to founder
Arcs have tension, stakes, and growth. They also have trade-offs. Knowing your arc helps you say no to roles that look shiny but pull you off-course.
For example, in my own career:
- My first arc was about mastery. I started at Zynga, because it was known for their product rigor and excellence in game, then explored many startups both within games and outside games to sharpen my product chops.
- Then came autonomy—I joined Jam City because I wanted to lead, grow, and build a team.
- Now I’m in my impact era: writing this blog, mentoring others, and focusing on scaling what I’ve learned.
Each arc built on the last. And each one came with its own learning curve, identity shift, and set of questions.
Understand Your Core Product Mode
In games, PMs often fall into one of three core modes. Recognizing yours helps you define your strengths, where you thrive, and how to grow:
| Core PM Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Growth PM | Focuses on user acquisition, funnels, and retention levers. Works closely with UA and marketing teams to scale the player base. |
| Builder PM | Excels at zero-to-one development. Shapes early systems, defines initial product vision, and sets foundations for long-term growth. |
| LiveOps PM | Owns the cadence of content, events, and systems optimization. Maximizes player value and longevity through iteration. |
These modes also intersect with the product lifecycle you're working in:
| Lifecycle Stage | Key Opportunities for PMs |
|---|---|
| New Game | Vision setting, market validation, prototyping, early systems |
| Live Game | LiveOps excellence, monetization tuning, scaling engagement |
| Dying Game | Turnaround bets, deep analysis, experimentation, retention rescue |
Understanding both your mode and the stage of the product you're on can help you:
- Select roles where your skills compound
- Build a portfolio of experiences (not just titles)
- Navigate plateaus and pivot points with more clarity
Define Your Unfair Advantage
Just like products have moats, PMs have differentiators. These might be:
- Deep domain knowledge (e.g. midcore/casual games, fintech…etc)
- Strong cross-functional influence
- Exceptional taste or user empathy
- Analytical firepower
Knowing your unfair advantage helps you:
- Pick teams where you’ll thrive
- Accelerate faster
- Communicate your value with clarity
If you're not sure what yours is, ask trusted peers or managers. Or reflect on where you get pulled into projects—and why.
Your unfair advantage doesn’t mean you’re boxed in. It’s your launchpad—the thing that gets you in the door, earns trust, and gives you leverage as you grow.
🎯 Remember: You are the steward of your own career. You must define what success looks like for you before others can support or guide you. Clarity creates momentum.
Use Each Role as a Learning Bet
Every role should give you something: scope, mentorship, a new skill, a challenge. Be explicit about what you’re hoping to learn, and check in every 3–6 months.
Use this table to evaluate opportunities:
| Role Opportunity | What I’ll Learn | How It Serves My Arc |
|---|---|---|
| Midcore GPM | Leading pods, LiveOps, hiring roadmap | Builds toward Director role |
| Casual PMM | UA, go-to-market, IP partnerships | Explores adjacent space |
The best PMs don't just chase scope—they design learning arcs that compound. If a role doesn’t give you energy, insight, or leverage—it’s a detour, not a step forward.
Your Roadmap Will Evolve—That’s the Point
You don’t need to know the full 10-year plan. Just like we don’t build a product all at once, you only need clarity on your next arc—and the values guiding it.
Focus on what you want more of today and in the next 1–2 years. That’s enough to define a meaningful direction.
Then, build in regular check-ins with yourself—just like a quarterly roadmap review:
- What’s energizing you right now?
- Are you still learning what you hoped to?
- Is your arc still aligned with where you want to grow?
Careers are built through iteration, not certainty. The more you reflect, the better your next move gets.
Want to go deeper? I’ll be writing more about stakeholder alignment, influence, and career strategy soon—subscribe to stay in the loop.