Lead Product Manager, Hardware Platform

About the role

Waabi, a Physical AI company behind autonomous trucks and robotaxis, is hiring its first dedicated hardware product manager. The role leads product definition for the hardware platform that carries the Waabi Driver, across autonomous trucks and robotaxi. It sits between requirements and implementation: turning the needs of autonomy, safety, operations, riders and the public into clear requirements, and working with hardware engineering, OEMs and suppliers until the product is right.

Key responsibilities

• Own product requirements for the hardware platform across trucks and robotaxi, turning field and integration feedback into requirements for future revisions and new vehicle platforms.
• Define how vehicles interact with riders, law enforcement, first responders and the public, covering exterior communication and signaling, cabin monitoring and security, in-cabin safety and resilience to tampering and vandalism.
• Lead product definition for new hardware programs before engineering kickoff, with clear acceptance criteria and a plan to verify and validate each one.
• Bring an industrial design and human factors perspective to displays, lighting, reach and controls, validating them in mock-ups and real vehicles.
• Build relationships with OEM and supplier partners, keeping requirements aligned across organizations.
• Represent hardware credibly in cross-functional product decisions about what is possible, costly and out of scope.

Required profile

• Hardware background through an engineering degree (mechanical, electrical, systems or similar) or equivalent hands-on experience.
• 8+ years in product management, hardware product or systems engineering on physical products, ideally in automotive, autonomous vehicles, robotics or complex consumer hardware.
• Track record of taking hardware from concept to production, with an understanding of how requirements evolve across prototype and sample stages.
• Industrial design experience, formal or through close work with industrial designers, and strong instincts for HMI and human factors.
• Experience building relationships with OEMs and suppliers, and willingness to be on site regularly for mock-ups, vehicle evaluations and testing.

Required skills

• Strong requirements writing, with acceptance criteria and a verification method such as test, analysis, inspection or demonstration.
• Bonus: experience on autonomous vehicles or robotaxi, familiarity with automotive processes such as APQP, PPAP and A/B/C sample phases, and exposure to functional safety standards such as ISO 26262, SOTIF or UL 4600.