Product Marketing Director, Novus

Software is being written faster than ever. AI coding agents are merging PRs around the clock. But speed alone doesn't make better products, and most teams building fast have no reliable way to know what's actually happening in their software after it ships. Novus is Pendo's answer to that problem. As the Product Marketing Director for Novus, you'll be the marketing lead and GTM owner for a new product in a new category, targeting a new audience for Pendo: product engineers and application owners who build and ship AI-native software. You'll own everything from narrative and positioning to demand generation, community activation, and launch execution — this isn't a role where you hand off to another team when the strategy is done. You build it, run it, and own the outcomes. This is a rare opportunity to define the category, build the market, and drive the full GTM motion for a product that's redefining how teams understand their software. It requires someone who is energized by ambiguity, fluent in developer and builder culture, and capable of translating a genuinely novel product into a compelling story and a high-performing marketing engine. Role Responsibilities Develop and maintain messaging, positioning, and talk tracks that keep product, sales, marketing, and leadership aligned as Novus evolves Own the end-to-end GTM plan: audience targeting, channel strategy, campaign execution, launch moments, and success metrics Own top-of-funnel acquisition for Novus — defining the channel mix, running campaigns, and driving early access signups and free-to-paid conversion Build the community presence from the ground up: developer forums, social channels, influencer relationships, and event-driven activation Own the PLG motion — designing self-serve onboarding, activation flows, and freemium-to-paid conversion strategy in close collaboration with product and growth Help define how Novus and Pendo work together — positioning the relationship clearly for customers scaling from fast-moving startups into more complex product organizations Build sales and partner enablement materials that help the team have credible conversations with product engineers, a meaningfully different buyer than Pendo's traditional PM audience Define and own the metrics that connect Novus marketing activity to pipeline and early commercial outcomes — free-to-paid conversion, activation rates, and marketing-sourced ARR contribution. Minimum Qualifications 7+ years of marketing experience, with at least 2-3 years owning GTM for a technical product or developer-facing platform at the IC level You've built software, or worked closely enough alongside engineers that you understand the codebase, the PR, and the deploy cycle You're AI-native in how you work: Claude, ChatGPT, or similar tools are your first stop, not an afterthought. You use AI to move faster, generate and pressure-test ideas Strong content and storytelling instincts — you can write a crisp narrative, build a compelling launch moment, and translate technical depth into plain language without oversimplifying Hands-on experience building community and developer awareness — you understand how builders discover tools, what earns trust in communities like Hacker News or GitHub, and what feels authentic versus tone-deaf Preferred Qualifications Hands-on experience with PLG go-to-market motions: self-serve acquisition, freemium conversion, and community-led distribution Familiarity with product analytics, instrumentation, or observability tools Experience marketing to or within developer communities: open source, dev tools, AI coding tools, or similar What Makes You Successful in This Role You're a builder, not a maintainer. You're most energized when the playbook doesn't exist yet and you get to write it. Novus has no established GTM motion — you'll create it. You're AI-pilled. You don't use AI tools occasionally — you've rewired how you work around them. You're faster, sharper, and ... (truncated, view full listing at source)