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Salary: USD 188,000 - 302,000 / annual
Rachio is seeking a Senior Technical Product Manager to own one of its hardware product lines end-to-end: roadmap, product definition, and stage gates from concept through EVT, DVT, and PVT to market launch. The hardware portfolio includes smart sprinkler controllers, hose timers, outdoor lighting, and partner/OEM products, along with their tethered software experiences in the Rachio app.
You will be responsible for your hardware line's complete roadmap and product definition, driven by customer research, product telemetry, support data, channel input, and competitive intelligence. You will write "working backwards" documents for new products and major features, defining customer problems, value propositions, target pricing, and success criteria. You will translate these into detailed business requirements and user stories for Engineering and Design teams spanning hardware, firmware, and app experiences.
You will manage critical trade-offs among customer experience, performance, cost, schedule, and operational support, making clear decisions with written rationale when conflicts arise. You will run your line's stage gates as a mechanism with clear owners and exit criteria, contributing to engineering decisions on technology and architecture (radios, protocols, sensors, power, enclosures) with sufficient fluency to be valuable in technical discussions.
Working with Supply Chain and Operations from concept forward, you will own cost targets, supplier selection, tooling, and certification timelines. You will surface component shortages, cost overruns, schedule slips, and quality issues early. You will partner with Product Marketing on launches, own launch readiness (certification, firmware, app, documentation), and close the post-launch feedback loop by analyzing what confuses customers and drives returns.
You will instrument your line for measurable success: activation, engagement, return rate, defect and warranty rates, CSAT/NPS, and attach to software and subscription offerings. Rachio operates a flat organization with high ownership and startup culture. This is an individual contributor role where influence comes from product judgment, writing clarity, and credibility with engineers, designers, and operators. You are expected to step in and close organizational gaps standing between your product and launch, and to work AI-natively for research synthesis, data analysis, and first drafts.
REQUIREMENTS:
Minimum Qualifications:
- Lead PM on at least two consumer hardware products through complete cycle (concept, definition, development, certification, launch) with post-launch market experience
- Hands-on experience in builds: EVT and DVT reviews, failure analysis, re-tooling decisions
- Hands-on fluency across mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, industrial design, and firmware (not necessarily able to execute all four, but able to read schematics and mechanical drawings, understand tolerance and antenna placement costs, and assess estimate quality)
- Shipped products through contract manufacturers; working knowledge of DFM, tooling timelines, and certification (FCC, UL, CE)
- Working knowledge of embedded firmware, mobile technology, web services, and back-end application infrastructure
- Experience taking hardware concepts from raw intuition through fast, measurable tests to decisions, including tests that killed ideas
- Proficiency directing AI for research synthesis, data analysis, and first drafts
- Exceptional written communication; ability to distill complex trade-offs into narratives leadership can act on
- Comfort as hands-on individual contributor (writing working backwards docs, building requirements, running gates, attending DVT reviews)
- Bachelor's degree
Desired Qualifications:
- Experience with smart home platforms and protocols (Matter, Thread, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth) and platform partners
- Experience in two-step distribution or professional trade channels (irrigation, landscape, electrical, HVAC, plumbing, building products) alongside retail and D2C
- Experience with outdoor products, lighting, water management, or sustainability categories
- Experience with partner, OEM, or white-label hardware programs
- Experience running product line through NPI or stage-gate process you did not design and improving it
- Hands-on experience maintaining residential yard and irrigation system
- Engineering degree or advanced degree
