Application Guide

How to Apply for Technical Product Manager

at The Agency Fund

🏢 About The Agency Fund

The Agency Fund is a unique non-profit funder-doer that embeds product managers and engineers directly inside evidence-based NGOs to build data infrastructure and scale impact through product thinking. You'll work with a small, entrepreneurial global team and a community of 200+ partner organizations, reaching millions annually.

About This Role

As a Technical Product Manager, you'll be embedded with 3-4 NGO partners at a time, leading product engagements end-to-end. You'll split your time between partner-facing work (building trusted relationships, translating needs into roadmaps) and internal-facing work (driving execution with engineering through agile processes), while also getting hands-on with dashboards and data pipelines.

💡 A Day in the Life

A typical day might start with a stand-up with your engineering team to align on sprint goals, followed by a call with an NGO partner in East Africa to understand their data needs. You might then spend the afternoon building a prototype dashboard in Tableau, documenting requirements, and preparing a roadmap presentation for another partner, before wrapping up with async updates to the wider team.

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🎯 Who The Agency Fund Is Looking For

  • Has 5+ years of product management experience, ideally in a tech-for-good, non-profit, or social impact context, with a track record of delivering data products or automation.
  • Comfortable with technical concepts (data pipelines, APIs, dashboards) and can communicate effectively with both non-technical NGO partners and engineers.
  • Experienced in agile methodologies and can structure work for multiple projects simultaneously, adapting to partner needs.
  • Highly entrepreneurial and self-driven, able to work remotely with minimal supervision and thrive in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment.

📝 Tips for Applying to The Agency Fund

1

In your resume, highlight specific examples where you've embedded with a client or partner to build a product, not just internal product work.

2

Tailor your cover letter to show you understand the funder-doer model and are excited about working directly with NGOs in East Africa or South Asia.

3

Mention any experience with data infrastructure, automation, or AI in a social impact context, even if it was a side project.

4

Quantify your impact: e.g., 'Built a dashboard that improved decision-making for 10,000 beneficiaries' or 'Reduced data processing time by 50%'.

5

Since it's remote, emphasize your ability to work across time zones and communicate asynchronously, with examples of successful remote collaboration.

✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter

['Express genuine interest in human agency and development outcomes, and explain why you want to apply product management skills to this space.', 'Demonstrate your ability to build trusted relationships with non-technical stakeholders, citing examples from past roles.', "Show your hands-on technical aptitude—mention specific tools (e.g., SQL, Tableau, Python) and how you've used them to drive product decisions.", 'Highlight your experience with agile processes and managing multiple projects simultaneously, showing you can deliver in a dynamic environment.']

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🔍 Research Before Applying

To stand out, make sure you've researched:

  • → Explore The Agency Fund's website and read about their current projects and partner organizations to understand the types of programs they support.
  • → Look up recent news or blog posts about their accelerator model and any mentions of product management or engineering roles.
  • → Research the concept of 'human agency' in development economics and understand how TAF measures impact.
  • → Check out their team page on LinkedIn to see backgrounds of current staff, and consider how your skills complement theirs.
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💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics

Based on this role, you may be asked about:

1 How would you approach a new NGO partner who has no technical background but needs a data dashboard? Walk me through your process.
2 Describe a time you had to balance the needs of multiple stakeholders with limited resources. How did you prioritize?
3 Give an example of a product you built that required you to get hands-on with data or code. What was your role?
4 How do you stay organized and communicate effectively when working remotely with a global team?
5 What do you know about The Agency Fund's work, and why do you want to join? How does your experience align with our model?
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⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Don't apply with a generic cover letter that doesn't mention The Agency Fund or the social impact sector—it will be obvious.
  • Avoid focusing only on traditional tech product management without showing adaptability to non-profit environments and limited resources.
  • Don't underestimate the hands-on aspect—if you can't demonstrate willingness to build dashboards or crunch data, you'll seem like a poor fit.

📅 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 The Agency Fund!

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