Product Manager, Activation & Growth

Character AI
Redwood City, CAPosted 24 February 2026

Job Description

Character.AI is building what comes after television, after gaming, after social media. We're creating a new medium—one where anyone can bring a character to life and share it with millions. Our platform is already one of the largest consumer AI products on Earth. Millions of people use Character every day to talk, play, learn, and create. Now we're building the tools and formats that will define what entertainment looks like for the next decade.The company has rapidly scaled to tens of millions of monthly active users, achieved unicorn status within roughly two years of launch, and has been recognized as Google Play’s AI App of the Year, underscoring its cultural relevance and product momentum.Product OverviewCharacter.AI’s core product is an immersive conversational platform where users interact with customizable AI characters across mobile and web. Key product pillars include:AI Characters & Conversations: Deep, open-ended conversational experiences designed for long-form engagement.Creative Tools: User-generated characters and worlds that encourage creation, remixing, and sharing.Entertainment-Led UX: A focus on delight, emotional resonance, and repeat engagement rather than task completion.From a growth perspective, the product behaves like a hybrid of social, gaming, and subscription entertainment platforms, with strong network effects to delight and engage users.Role Overview: Product Manager, Activation & GrowthThis role owns the critical transition from first interaction to long-term engaged user. It sits at the center of product, data, engineering, and design, with direct ownership over the metrics that define Character.AI’s growth engine.The PM will be responsible for building systems—not just features—that improve acquisition efficiency, accelerate time-to-value, and compound retention and monetization.Key Focus AreasActivation & Onboarding: Optimizing the first-time user experience and reducing time-to-“aha.”Experimentation at Scale: Running rigorous A/B tests across onboarding, engagement loops, and monetization flows.Retention & Habit Formation: Improving D1/D7/D30 retention through product-led re-engagement.Growth Loops: Designing viral and compounding mechanics that turn users into advocates.Monetization: Optimizing free-to-play journeys while preserving product magic.Key ResponsibilitiesOwn activation funnels, onboarding flows, and new user experience optimizationDesign and execute A/B experiments across activation, retention, and monetizationBuild and iterate on growth loops and viral mechanicsPartner with data science on cohort analysis, funnel metrics, and experimentation rigorCollaborate with core product to ensure new features are instrumented for growth impactPartner with monetization on driving subscription conversion and optimizing the freemium modelIdentify friction points across the user lifecycle using quantitative and qualitative insightsDefine, track, and report on key growth metrics (activation rate, D1/D7/D30 retention, LTV)Key Requirements5+ years of consumer product management experienceProven ownership of growth, activation, retention, and/or monetization metricsProven track record of measurable impact on acquisition, activation, or retention at scaleStrong analytical skills (cohort analysis, funnels, experimentation frameworks)Experience designing, running, and interpreting A/B testsAbility to move fast, prioritize ruthlessly, and operate in ambiguityStrong design sensibility and UX intuitionWhat They’re Looking ForCharacter.AI is seeking a high-agency, experimentation-driven PM who can blend data rigor with creative instinct. This person should be comfortable owning ambiguous problem spaces and building systems that scale to tens or hundreds of millions of users.Ideal Candidate ProfileA “growth engineer” PM: data-informed but not data-blindStrong intuition for consumer behavior, psychology, and entertainment-driven productsHigh taste level with respect for creative product DNABackground in ... (truncated, view full listing at source)