Product Leader Micro-Interview: Sam Moore - Director of Product Management

After last week’s first post on Moats in AI**, I’m excited to kick off the new Product Leaders Micro-interviews series.

I’ve wanted to do this for a while. Too much product content still reflects the idealised version of the job. Most of the real craft sits with operators who are actually doing it — thinking deeply, listening hard and delivering — not shaping their work to fit an algorithm.

This series is for them. And you.

Each Micro-interview gives you a glimpse into how product leaders think when they’re dealing with complexity, constraint, politics, sub-optimal structures and consequence — the parts of the job most newsletters avoid.

The Micro-Interview format was inspired by an old colleague Eddie Shleyner who went on to create the excellent Very Good Copy**. Helping create impactful landing pages and improving your content. Thanks Eddie for giving me your blessing to borrow this approach!

Every Monday, I’ll share a new interview. Short, honest, practical. No hype. Just thoughtful product operators talking about how the work actually gets done day in, day out.

I’m starting the series with Sam Moore, Director of Product Management at Unilink. We first spoke when Sam wanted a candid external view on his next steps, and it was immediately clear he was dealing with real product and career challenges, not abstractions. And it’s exactly leaders like Sam that this series is for. People operating in complex, long-standing organisations where you have to move carefully, earn trust, and still push for improvement and innovation. This isn’t the glossy, idealised Silicon Valley version of product; it’s the version most teams actually live today.

In 388-words, he shares:

• Why systems thinking beats feature thinking

• Why the fight to break a monolith was worth it

• What GOV.UK taught him about trust and clarity

• How AI-ambition can hit cultural and technical limits

• Why consistency, not slogans, builds psychological safety

Here’s Sam.

1. What’s your current role, and what makes it noteworthy?

I’m Director of Product Management at Unilink, building justice-sector SaaS across the UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. What makes it noteworthy is the combination of complexity and impact - our products serve everyone from prison officers to those in custody. Leading product strategy here isn’t just about growth; it’s about delivering dignity and better outcomes in high-stakes, under-digitised environments where they’re needed most.

2. What superpower or lens do you bring to product work?

I bring a system lens fused with empathy. My strength is navigating complexity - connecting policy, operations, tech, and human behaviour - then simplifying that into a clear vision. I maintain strong emotional intelligence throughout, because understanding motivations behind decisions often matters as much as the data itself.

3. What’s a product decision you made that felt wrong to others at first, but proved right over time?

I proposed breaking our legacy platform into modular services despite concerns about cost and risk. Others saw only short-term pain, but I knew the monolithic structure was killing our delivery speed and innovation. The modular approach ultimately enabled us to serve different customer needs with greater agility, leading to stronger retention and ARR growth.

4. Which product (besides your own) changed how you think about building, and why?

GOV.UK reshaped my thinking around product simplicity and user trust in public services. It’s a masterclass in stripping away ego and focusing purely on user needs. The consistency and clarity show that scale doesn’t require complexity. It reminded me that the best public sector products feel invisible - they just work, building confidence in the system itself.

5. Describe a moment when strategy and reality collided. What gave, and what stayed?

We planned to embed AI-driven decision support into our justice products - bold and timely. But we hit fragmented infrastructure and cultural resistance. Instead of pushing through, we pivoted to build trust and data maturity incrementally. Our belief in insight-led systems stayed, but we chose a longer path that respected the environment’s readiness.

6. What’s a leadership lesson your team has taught you that you didn’t expect to learn

That psychological safety isn’t built through words - it’s built through consistency. You can say “challenge me,” but people only will if they’ve seen you respond to disagreement with curiosity, not defensiveness. Showing vulnerability - admitting when I don’t know - is the fastest way to unlock trust and creativity.

7. What moment, belief, or principle defines how you lead?

“Build for dignity.”

This principle shapes everything - from user interviews to feature prioritisation. Whether it’s someone in custody, a frontline worker, or a Junior PM on my team, people should feel seen, respected, and empowered by the products and cultures we create. That’s what good product leadership means to me.

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If you’re a product leader that would like to share your views and experiences - send me a message:

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