Lead Product Manager, Hardware Platform

Job description

Job responsibilities

• Own product requirements for Waabi's hardware platform across trucks and robotaxi, turning field and integration feedback into requirements for future revisions and new vehicle platforms.
• Define how our vehicles interact with the people around them, including riders, law enforcement, first responders, and the public.
• Lead product definition for new hardware programs before engineering kickoff, turning real-world scenarios into requirements with clear acceptance criteria and a plan to verify and validate each one.
• Bring an industrial design and human factors perspective to physical touchpoints like displays, lighting, reach, and controls, and validate them hands-on in mock-ups and real vehicles.
• Build trusted relationships with OEM and supplier partners, understanding their constraints and processes and keeping requirements aligned across organizations.
• Represent hardware credibly in cross-functional product decisions about what's possible, what's costly, and what's out of scope.

Job requirements

• A hardware background, through an engineering degree (mechanical, electrical, systems, or similar) or equivalent hands-on experience, deep enough to earn engineering teams' trust while you work at the requirements level.
• 8+ years of experience in product management, hardware product, or systems engineering roles on physical products, ideally in automotive, autonomous vehicles, robotics, or complex consumer hardware.
• A track record of taking hardware from concept to production, with an understanding of how requirements evolve across prototype and sample stages.
• Industrial design experience, through formal training or close work with industrial designers on shipped products, and strong instincts for HMI and human factors.
• Strong requirements writing skills. You can turn a messy real-world scenario into a clear, testable requirement, with acceptance criteria and a verification method such as test, analysis, inspection, or demonstration.
• Experience building working relationships with OEMs and suppliers, and an understanding of how they develop, source, and deliver hardware.
• A commitment to trust, transparency, and honesty in a safety-critical environment.
• Willingness to be on site regularly for mock-ups, vehicle evaluations, and testing.