Application Guide

How to Apply for Director, Product Management – Data Platform

at Uplight

🏢 About Uplight

Uplight is unique as a climate tech company that partners directly with leading utilities worldwide to accelerate clean energy adoption through personalized customer experiences. Unlike generic SaaS companies, Uplight operates at the intersection of energy, technology, and sustainability, creating tangible carbon reduction impact. Working here offers the opportunity to build products that directly combat climate change while collaborating with major utility partners.

About This Role

This role involves defining and executing the vision for Uplight's Data Platform, which serves as the backbone for all applications and machine learning initiatives across the company. You'll be responsible for ensuring the platform scales with technical excellence while maximizing customer value from data in every form, from business intelligence to developer tools. This position is impactful because the Data Platform directly enables Uplight's mission of accelerating clean energy through data-driven products.

💡 A Day in the Life

A typical day might involve morning syncs with India-based team members to review platform performance metrics, followed by strategy sessions with engineering leaders on platform scalability. Afternoons could include cross-functional meetings with data science and go-to-market teams to prioritize feature development, then working on platform roadmap documents that balance technical excellence with customer value creation for utility partners.

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Interview Prep

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🎯 Who Uplight Is Looking For

  • Has 10+ years in Product Management with 5+ years specifically leading product managers at group or director-level, ideally with experience managing global teams across US and India
  • Possesses hands-on technical background in data platforms, with proven experience in ingestion systems, BI/analytics, machine learning, governance, ML Ops, and developer tools
  • Has a track record of launching and scaling customer-facing data products (not just infrastructure) in high-growth environments, preferably within the energy or climate tech sectors
  • Demonstrates experience partnering with engineering, data science, and go-to-market teams to define investment priorities and drive cross-functional alignment

📝 Tips for Applying to Uplight

1

Highlight specific experience launching customer-facing data products (not just infrastructure) in your resume, quantifying impact with metrics like user adoption or revenue growth

2

Emphasize any energy sector or climate tech experience, as Uplight specifically mentions this as ideal in their requirements

3

Detail your experience managing global teams, particularly US and India-based teams, as this is explicitly mentioned in the job description

4

Showcase your technical depth in data platforms by mentioning specific technologies or architectures you've worked with (e.g., data ingestion pipelines, ML Ops tooling, governance frameworks)

5

Demonstrate how you've maximized customer value from data in previous roles, with examples of enabling business intelligence, developer platforms, or data-driven products

✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter

['Your vision for how a Data Platform can accelerate clean energy adoption through personalized customer experiences', 'Specific examples of scaling customer-facing data products in high-growth environments, with quantifiable results', 'Experience managing and growing global product teams, particularly across different time zones and cultures', 'How your technical background enables you to partner effectively with engineering and data science teams on platform strategy']

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🔍 Research Before Applying

To stand out, make sure you've researched:

  • → Uplight's specific utility partners and how they use data to drive clean energy adoption
  • → The company's existing data products and platform capabilities mentioned in their case studies or blog posts
  • → Recent news about Uplight's growth, funding rounds, or strategic partnerships in the climate tech space
  • → The competitive landscape in utility-focused climate tech and how data platforms differentiate companies in this space

💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics

Based on this role, you may be asked about:

1 How would you approach defining the vision and strategy for Uplight's Data Platform given its role as the backbone for applications and ML efforts?
2 Describe your experience with data governance and ML Ops in previous roles, and how you'd implement these at Uplight
3 How have you managed investment priorities and driven cross-functional alignment between engineering, data science, and go-to-market teams?
4 What's your approach to managing and growing a global product team across US and India-based locations?
5 How would you measure success for the Data Platform in terms of both technical excellence and customer value creation?
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⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Focusing only on infrastructure experience without demonstrating customer-facing data product launches
  • Presenting generic data platform knowledge without showing how it applies to the energy or climate tech sector
  • Failing to address the global team management aspect, particularly experience with US and India-based teams

📅 Application Timeline

This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.

Typical hiring timeline:

1

Application Review

1-2 weeks

2

Initial Screening

Phone call or written assessment

3

Interviews

1-2 rounds, usually virtual

✓

Offer

Congratulations!

Ready to Apply?

Good luck with your application to Uplight!

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