It’s an exciting time at mabl. Not only are we hiring across all teams, but we’re scaling our customer base, rapidly innovating, and helping global enterprises evolve the way they think about software quality. Every mabler has a critical role in our growth and momentum. To celebrate our incredible team, and give future mablers a glimpse of life at mabl, we’re starting a new series entitled ‘Meet the Mabler.’
Meet Juliette MacPhail, Product Manager
I first met Juliette in 2019, when she joined the Product Management and Customer Support teams as part of our co-op program. She quickly established herself as an empathetic, curious leader that helped teams deliver valuable new features to mabl’s user community. Since her time as a co-op, Juliette has led critical initiatives like the launch of our desktop app in 2021, and the introduction of the Unified Runner. She’s a focused, unflappable leader that keeps her team organized around their mission, no matter what challenges arise.
Outside of her position as a Product Manager, Juliette takes an active role in making mabl a better place to work, organizing important discussions on mental health in the workplace. She truly embodies our core values of support, authenticity, drive, and insight, and we couldn’t be happier to have her on the mabl team.
Tell me about yourself - your background before you got to mabl.
I grew up in Sarasota, Florida. In high school, I participated in the Women's Technology Program at MIT and fell in love with computer science. It was empowering to see women leveraging technology to solve novel challenges in the world! After this experience, I decided to enroll at Northeastern University to study Computer Engineering and Computer Science. This reinforced my passion for technology and how it can be used to help people.
What brought you to mabl?
My first co-op was in customer support at an IoT smart building solutions company. I really enjoyed helping people solve their problems using technical products, and I was inspired to find ways to improve the products themselves. In 2019, I discovered that mabl had a hybrid product management / customer support co-op opportunity, and it sounded like a perfect fit!
I applied and was invited to interview. Mabl’s interview process was significantly different than anything I had experienced before. Rather than solely focusing on the responsibilities of the role, everyone was genuinely interested in how I approached problems. This made me confident that my input and perspective would be valued. Thankfully, I received an offer to co-op and accepted.
As a co-op, I was treated like any other member of the team. From ideation and launch, I had the chance to develop my core product management skills. It was a joy to tackle new challenges head on and see customers using features that I designed. Whether that was writing code and shipping changes myself, working directly with customers, or conducting competitive analysis, each day was an opportunity to try something new. I even had the chance to get involved in core company activities, like interviewing co-ops and full-time employees, as well as participating in our diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) group.
What do you like most about being a Product Manager?
For me, it’s about understanding the needs of our customers, the challenges they face, and what we can do to help. Over my time at mabl, I’ve had the opportunity to develop long-term relationships with these customers, who I can count on providing useful insights on our work.
What do you like most about working at mabl?
It starts with the people. Everyone here is so talented, empathetic, and kind. They inspire me to do my best work and support my teammates.
I also appreciate the fact that we build solutions for software teams. With my background in computer science, it’s easy to connect to the mission and it’s cool that many of our customers have ended up joining mabl to help us continue building our test automation solution.
Finally, I love the pace of learning. Everyone at mabl is invested in understanding the needs of our customers, the future of software quality, and how we can build a better company. I feel like the growth opportunities are limitless. I try to be a sponge and learn from each and every experience.
What’s a typical day in the life of a Product Manager at mabl?
The best part is that there isn’t a “typical” day. One day I may be meeting with customers to talk about their challenges and huddling with the Engineering team on ideas. Another day I might be working with Marketing and Customer Success to roll out new features, training Sales and Support, and writing documentation. And of course we’re always hiring, so I get to participate in interviews for all types of roles - not only for potential product managers, but also for Engineering and Support roles. Last (but definitely not least), in support of our DEI efforts, I’ve been facilitating discussions on mental health in the workspace, participating in accessibility sprints, and more!
What’s the highlight of your mabl career so far?
Last year, we introduced a new (Electron) desktop app that dramatically improved our user experience and expanded our test automation platform capabilities to include API testing. It was a privilege to work on that project from inception to delivery and see how excited customers were when they started using it.
What advice would you give to someone who is looking for new Product Manager opportunities?
Start by making sure you believe in the vision and mission - both for the product and the company. When these are aligned with your own values, the work is much more fulfilling. Also, through the interview process, constantly ask yourself whether the team is genuinely interested in learning about you and your perspective; if they don’t value your perspective in the interview, they’re certainly not going to value it as an employee.
Join mabl's Growing mabl Product Team!
Mabl is hiring a remote or Boston-based Product Manager to join Juliette and our team of seasoned entrepreneurs and world-class engineers in building the future of software testing. If you’re ready to be part of a supportive, driven organization solving software development’s biggest challenges, apply today!
