SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
Salary: USD 190,000 - 270,000 / annual
Waabi is seeking a Product Manager to lead hardware platform product definition for autonomous trucks and robotaxis. This is the company's first dedicated hardware product role, requiring someone with deep hardware grounding who can translate autonomy, safety, operations, rider, and public needs into clear requirements.
Key Responsibilities:
- Own product requirements for Waabi's hardware platform across trucks and robotaxi, converting field and integration feedback into requirements for future revisions and new vehicle platforms.
- Define how vehicles interact with people around them—riders, law enforcement, first responders, and the public—covering exterior communication, signaling, cabin monitoring, security, in-cabin safety, and resilience to tampering and vandalism.
- Lead product definition for new hardware programs before engineering kickoff, translating real-world scenarios into requirements with clear acceptance criteria and verification plans.
- Apply industrial design and human factors perspective to physical touchpoints including displays, lighting, reach, and controls, validating them in mock-ups and real vehicles.
- Build trusted relationships with OEM and supplier partners, understanding their constraints and processes while keeping requirements aligned across organizations.
- Represent hardware credibly in cross-functional product decisions about feasibility, cost, and scope.
Requirements:
- Hardware background through an engineering degree (mechanical, electrical, systems, or similar) or equivalent hands-on experience, deep enough to earn engineering teams' trust 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.
- Track record of taking hardware from concept to production, with 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, with strong instincts for HMI and human factors.
- Strong requirements writing skills: ability to turn messy real-world scenarios into clear, testable requirements with acceptance criteria and verification methods (test, analysis, inspection, or demonstration).
- Experience building working relationships with OEMs and suppliers, and understanding of how they develop, source, and deliver hardware.
- Commitment to trust, transparency, and honesty in a safety-critical environment.
- Willingness to be on site regularly for mock-ups, vehicle evaluations, and testing.
Bonus/Nice to Have:
- Experience on autonomous vehicles or robotaxi, especially rider experience, external communication with road users, or first responder interaction.
- Familiarity with automotive development processes such as APQP, PPAP, and A/B/C sample phases.
- Exposure to functional safety and AV safety standards such as ISO 26262, SOTIF (ISO 21448), or UL 4600, or to vehicle regulations.
