Founding PM, Convenience Store

Founding PM, Convenience Store at Pepper Overview The Founding PM for our C-Store vertical is one of the highest-visibility roles at Pepper. Pepper is building the operating system for the $1T food distribution industry, and the Convenience Store vertical is one of our most strategically important and earliest-stage product surfaces. The product has been in market for some time, but still needs significant investment in both fundamentals (e.g., a fast, reliable in-aisle barcode scanner) and breadth (Direct Store Delivery sales enablement, trade show management, planogram and marketing material distribution, rebate program creation, and bulk operational tooling). This is not a traditional PM role. We've observed that in the AI era, a big drag on product build velocity is the handoff between PM, design, and engineering. The C-Store vertical has its own engineering and design pod, and you'll partner closely with them on the work where deep collaboration wins. But we want someone who can also ship end-to-end on their own using Claude Code when going solo is faster than paying the handoff tax of routing the work through the team. You'll own the C-Store roadmap and prioritization, and operate as a builder whenever speed wins. The role is broad. Beyond product and engineering work, the Founding PM will play a leading role in shaping our GTM strategy for the C-Store vertical — how we sell, who we sell to, and what the right ICP looks like. This is a highly public-facing role in the vertical: Pepper will invest in making you a recognized voice in C-Store distribution — speaking at industry events, publishing, and shaping how the industry thinks about technology in this space. If becoming a known leader in a category sounds exciting, this role is built for that. This is a pure IC role today, reporting directly to the CTO. Own C-Store product end-to-end: Drive roadmap, prioritization, and execution across product surfaces ranging from technical fundamentals (barcode scanning, mobile performance) to business-building features (DSD sales, trade show management, planogram and marketing material distribution, rebate program tooling, bulk operations). Build, not just spec: Use AI coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.) to ship prototypes, internal tools, and where appropriate, production code. Partner with the C-Store pod on larger initiatives, but operate as a solo builder when speed wins. Shape GTM strategy: Work with leadership to define who Pepper sells to in the C-Store vertical, how we sell, and what the right ICP looks like. Build the commercial muscle alongside the product. Be the public face of Pepper in C-Store: Represent Pepper at industry events, in customer conversations, and through thought leadership content. We will invest in helping you become a recognized leader in this space. Partner with customers: Spend time on the ground with distributors who serve C-Store accounts. Understand their workflows deeply, validate solutions in the field, and bring that ground truth back to product decisions. Requirements 5+ years of product management or engineering experience. 3+ years of product management experience Has shipped working software in the last 12 months — production code, meaningful side project, or AI-assisted prototype. You'll be asked to share a link or live demo as part of the application. Hands-on experience with Claude Code (or an equivalent agentic coding tool like Cursor) to build software solo. You don't need to be an expert engineer — but you do need to be fluent enough with AI coding to ship real things on your own without an engineer on the other end. Strong portfolio of products shipped end-to-end, with clear authorship of trade-offs and outcomes. Strong product judgment and the ability to make sharp, evidence-backed prioritization calls in ambiguous, fast-moving environments. Customer-facing comfort: you can run a customer call, an industry conversation, or a stage talk equally well. Located in NYC, within commuting distance, or willing to relocate. 3+ days per week in office. Preferences Engineering background: started career as a software engineer, or has held an engineering title at some point. Background in food distribution, CPG, retail tech, supply chain, or vertical B2B SaaS. Public-facing experience: speaking, writing, podcasting, conference panels, content. Familiarity with Python and React / React Native (our stack).