About HOT:
Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) sits at the nexus of participatory mapping, community-led development, humanitarian response, open data and tech. With a talented and diverse team spread around the globe.
HOT is an NGO which supports a dynamic global community of thousands of dedicated volunteers, community and partner organizations using maps and open data for humanitarian response and the Sustainable Development Goals. Working with humanitarian and development partners like the Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières, UN agencies, governments and others, the HOT community maps in solidarity with those affected by or at risk of disaster, contributing the maps and data aid workers need to do their lifesaving work.
About the Role:
HOT is currently undertaking a shift in our business model to grow our earned revenue from mapping and data-related services (using our open tech and community-centered approach). We are seeking a strategic and hands-on Product Marketing Manager to help bring HOT’s new services & related products to market and build the internal systems, tools, and culture needed for long-term success.
This role will lead the development of HOT’s product market function, from identifying high-value markets, to defining service-market fit, to embedding product marketing practices across relevant teams. You’ll be a key bridge between products, customers, staff and partnerships, making sure that our services are aligned with real-world needs, clearly positioned, and ready for scale.
You’ll also play an internal leadership role, introducing the concept of product-market fit across the organization, training relevant staff, and helping HOT evolve toward a more customer-informed model.
In a large organization, this role would likely be held by different individuals or even teams. We are looking for someone who is entrepreneurial in spirit and has wide experience in this field to help us get to the next level in our business model transformation.
Responsibilities:
1. Product Market Fit & Service Design
- Guide HOT in defining and validating product-market fit for our mapping services
- Dive deep with our customer base; get to know them and what can be fixed with our products & services.
- Dive deep with our products & services to understand their current status and future goals.
- Communicate between customers and product & service owners in a productive, energizing way.
- Contribute to the overall strategy of product & services evolution; become immersed in product and implementation teams’ work to-date and collaborate with them to shape services that are relevant, feasible, and scalable.
- Establish systems for capturing user/customer needs, testing assumptions, and iterating based on real-world feedback.
2. Market Strategy & Service Alignment
- Identify, assess & work with HOT’s leadership to select priority markets (geographies, sectors, user groups) where HOT’s mapping services can have the most meaningful impact and sustainable uptake.
- Lead go-to-market planning for new services, including segmentation, value propositions, pricing and launch plans. Learn & iterate as we test out new markets.
- Ensure HOT’s products & service offerings reflect both the needs of the communities we serve and the requirements of the broader ecosystem (e.g., government, humanitarian, private sector actors).
3. Grow a Product-market Mindset in our staff
- Design and develop HOT’s internal capabilities related to building a product-market mindset, including processes, tools, and templates.
- Introduce and socialize the concept of product-market fit & sustainable growth to staff across teams with the goal of upskilling staff to better manage new partnerships and increase sales success. Build user feedback loops into our teams’ workflows.
- Train relevant staff (e.g., programs, regional leads, communications, fundraising) on how to engage with users, assess demand, and adapt services accordingly.
- Serve as a resource and mentor to teams piloting or scaling new services in new locations.
4. Communications & Marketing
- Collaborate on messaging and positioning strategies to articulate HOT’s value proposition to different audiences. Create materials to support outreach, partnership-building, and customer engagement in priority markets including a set of standardized pitch decks for different audiences, in collaboration with the communications team.
- Support the creation of a small marketing function in close collaboration with our Communications team, potentially including additional human resources.
- Share insights and learning across HOT to build a shared understanding of where and how our services can make the greatest difference.
5. Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning
- Define success metrics for product-market fit and market performance, and design process for gathering customer feedback.
- Track performance and feedback across markets to inform ongoing service refinement and scaling decisions, and measure mission alignment with tangible evidence in collaboration with our MERL team (monitoring, evaluation, research & learning).
Qualifications and experience:
Must-Have Experience & Skills
- 7+ years experience in product marketing, go-to-market strategy, or market development, ideally in international, mission-driven, or technology-for-good contexts.
- Proven success designing and launching services or products in emerging or underserved markets.
- Experience working with community-based or user-centered approaches to service design or delivery.
- Strong understanding of product-market fit and practical experience applying it in dynamic or resource-constrained environments.
- Familiarity with open source or geospatial technology products and their application in humanitarian, development, or public service contexts.
- Confident communicator with a collaborative, coaching mindset—able to influence without authority and build capacity across diverse teams.
- A good listener who values and respects those around them and is able to work across several cultures.
- Entrepreneurial approach to marketing; innovative, problem solving, and strategic.
Nice-to-Have
- Experience working internationally and within the humanitarian sector.
- Experience building internal functions or systems within a growing or evolving organization.
- Fluency in one or more additional languages (e.g. French, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese).
- Familiarity with the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team’s mission and values.
What We Offer
- Mission-driven, remote-first work environment
- Opportunity to shape a core function within a globally respected open mapping organization
- A collaborative, learning-focused team culture
- Competitive compensation based on experience and location
- Fully remote & flexible work arrangements
- Home Office Allowance
- Healthy Staff allowance
- 15% Contractor Differential
- Coaching Program supported by The Humanitarian Coaching Network
The proposed start date for this position is 3rd November, 2025.
However, this is contingent on approved funding.