Product Manager Jobs at Via

Via PM interview guide

Via (ridewithvia.com) is the transit technology company that builds the software cities, school districts, transit authorities, and private operators use to run on-demand and fixed-route shared rides (microtransit, paratransit, school bus routing). It does not own vehicles, it licenses the platform and operational know-how, so the business is part B2B/B2G SaaS and part marketplace (matching rider demand to driver supply in real time). For PM candidates that shapes the whole loop: every round tends to carry a case tied to a real problem Via is working on, and you are expected to reason about demand, supply, unit economics, and operations metrics, not just consumer app features. Reported difficulty sits around 3 out of 5, the loop is long (often 7-8 conversations with 5-6 people over several weeks), and the tone is collaborative, humble, and fit-heavy.

The interview process

1. Recruiter screen. An initial call with a recruiter or team member who walks through the role, the team, and next steps. Mostly background and motivation, plus a read on your enthusiasm for Via's mission of remaking public and shared transit.
2. Hiring manager video interview. A deeper conversation with the hiring manager about past projects, what you learned, your KPIs, and how your skills map to the role. Expect early scenario and execution probing here, not just behavioral.
3. Product sense and case round. An interview focused on product sense and problem-solving, typically with a PM. Candidates report case prompts tied to Via's actual business (marketplace launch, support load, transit metrics). You are expected to structure the problem out loud and tie it to demand, supply, and metrics.
4. Take-home assignment. Via often gives a home assignment between live rounds (some Strategy roles use a written essay or modeling exercise). Treat it like a real Via problem: state assumptions, define metrics, show the math, recommend.
5. Onsite loop and PM lead. A series of longer interviews with 3-5 team members (PMs, designers, engineers, ops), often including a PM lead. Cases recur across these rounds, frequently the kind of operational or market problem Via is solving right now. Mix of behavioral fit and applied judgment.
6. References and final decision. Two professional references (ideally former direct managers) are checked, then the team aligns and extends an offer. Average reported time to hire for PM is around six weeks.
7. What they're really testing. Whether you can think like an operator in a two-sided transit marketplace: balance rider demand against driver supply, define and measure the right operational KPIs (utilization, cost per ride, on-time, support load), reason about unit economics across a B2B/B2G model, and stay structured and humble under ambiguous, real-world constraints. Mission fit (do you actually care about better public transit) and collaborative, low-ego style weigh heavily alongside raw product skill.
8. How to prepare. Learn Via's business model cold: how it generates demand and supply, how it prices rides dynamically, where revenue and costs come from, and how it differs from owning a fleet. Practice defining KPIs for a city transit service and sketching how they trend, and practice launch and operations cases (new market, driver pay, support reduction) out loud with a clear structure.

Likely PM interview questions

1. If you launched in a new market today and none of your drivers showed up, what would you do?Execution
2. How would you reduce the number of customer support tickets from users on our rideshare app?Product sense
3. How would you transport 10 kids to school within a limited timeframe?Execution