Principal Product Manager, Rides Matching

About Bolt

Bolt is reimagining urban mobility to create cities prioritizing people over cars. Originating in 2013 as a startup by a 19-year-old founder, Bolt has expanded into a worldwide mobility platform serving over 200 million users and 4.5 million driver and courier partners in 50+ countries. Their offerings range from ride-hailing and food delivery to scooters, e-bikes, and car-sharing, powered by small autonomous teams combining startup agility with scale underpinned by more than €1 billion in funding.

Role Overview

The ride-matching system at Bolt is the critical conduit through which every ride is assigned, influencing rider wait times, driver earnings, and supply-demand efficiency across many markets. Bolt is advancing from a heuristic dispatch approach to a context-aware, probability-driven allocation engine, utilizing machine learning and reinforcement learning techniques.

In this senior role, you will be responsible for leading the end-to-end evolution of this system. You will set the strategic roadmap, assemble and lead a cross-functional team of engineers, data scientists, and experts, and ensure the performance of both the current and future matching technology. This role also requires strong communication skills to engage senior stakeholders and coordinate areas such as pricing interfaces, experimentation rollout, and allocation strategy at scale.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop the product vision and execution plan for the dispatch engine, balancing foundational ML/RL investments with short-term enhancements including queue rankings, dispatch tactics, and retry rules.
• Manage machine learning and reinforcement learning model deployment from training to shadow operation, experimentation, gradual market-wide implementation, and monitoring.
• Maintain and improve the current matching infrastructure, securing operational stability and delivering gradual efficiency improvements during the migration phase.
• Define and uphold interaction protocols between matching and pricing, supplying consistent and timely signals such as completion probability and supply density.
• Design experiments to analyze algorithmic trade-offs, delivering clear, actionable insights for senior leadership and cross-functional partners.
• Prioritize initiatives and solve conflicts within a multi-disciplinary team responsible for matching key performance indicators.

Candidate Profile

• Proven experience deploying machine learning models in real-time high-scale allocation systems, including overseeing the full lifecycle from feature engineering to monitoring and iteration.
• Background in allocation, matching, dispatch, or related systems in two-sided marketplaces, logistics, or environments focused on supply-demand optimization at both global and local levels.
• Demonstrated ability to maintain operational stability of live systems during system replacements or migrations.
• Skilled in leading cross-functional teams and collaborating across organizational boundaries, including aligning with adjacent teams like pricing and economics.
• Expertise in translating detailed statistical results into clear communication suitable for technical and non-technical stakeholders, including creating strategy and technical documentation.
• Experience or familiarity with reinforcement learning in production environments, understanding reward design, exploration-exploitation balances, and bridging between simulations and real-world application.

Why You Will Enjoy Working Here

• Accelerated professional development through unique career advancement opportunities.
• Competitive salary paired with stock options, aligning your success with company growth.
• Wellness benefits supporting physical and mental health.
• After five years of tenure, enjoy a fully paid one-month sabbatical to rejuvenate.
• Engage in annual company-wide events and more intimate team gatherings to foster connection.
• Work balance between flexibility and in-person collaboration, enabled by a hybrid model requiring at least 12 office days per month.

Additional Information

Bolt expects team members to actively utilize AI tools to enhance productivity while maintaining high-quality results. They prioritize drive, intellect, and integrity, encouraging applications even if candidates do not meet every stated requirement. The company is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, welcoming applicants from all backgrounds and is ready to provide accommodations throughout the hiring process upon request.