Staff/Senior Staff Product Manager for Platform Innovation

Sonatus is a well-funded, fast-paced, and fast-growing company whose technologies and software help automakers build dynamic software-defined vehicles. With two generations of solutions already on the road with a top global OEM, our vehicle and cloud software solutions are at the forefront of the digital transformation of vehicles. The Sonatus team is a talented and diverse collection of technology and automotive specialists hailing from many of the most prominent companies in their respective industries.

The Staff/Senior Staff Product Manager for Platform Innovation is responsible for bridging between our hardware and software teams, ensuring the efficient development and deployment of our cutting-edge technologies. Your expertise in automotive system integration, hands-on hardware experience, and low-level software proficiency will be essential in this role.

You will drive the research and development initiatives, managing cross-functional collaboration to build compelling demos, proof-of-concept (PoC) projects, and prototypes that showcase cutting-edge software-defined vehicle (SDV) technologies and cloud-based orchestration platforms. This role requires a strong understanding of software development lifecycles, embedded systems, and cloud networking, ensuring that innovation projects transition into scalable product features or strategic business opportunities.

The ideal candidate is an experienced program and/or product leader who can navigate ambiguity, align stakeholders, and drive complex software releases while fostering a culture of rapid experimentation and learning.

Responsibilities:

• Product Management:
• Define product requirements and specifications based on internal stakeholder, external partner/customer’s needs, and industry trends.
• Drive cross-functional engineering teams to deliver PoC and demo projects for customers, partners, sales, marketing, and product teams.
• Prioritize features and manage the product backlog.
• Communicate product updates and roadmaps to internal stakeholders.
• Drive continuous improvement of the internal hardware platform and test vehicle capabilities.
• Develop project plans, monitor schedules, document agreements & action items, and track progress across multiple innovation projects.
• Hardware Platform Development:
• Define and manage the roadmap for our internal reference hardware platform, ensuring it meets the needs of our software development teams.
• Oversee the design, procurement, and assembly of hardware components, ensuring high quality and reliability.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to define hardware specifications and requirements.
• Manage vendor relationships and ensure timely delivery of hardware components.
• Manage Vehicle Integration:
• Lead the integration of the internal hardware platform into our test vehicles.
• Define and execute test plans to validate hardware and software functionality within the vehicle environment.
• Troubleshoot and resolve hardware and software integration issues.
• Drive the development of new features and functionalities within our test vehicles.
• Low-Level Software Knowledge:
• Work closely with software engineers to ensure proper integration of Board Support Packages (BSPs) and Hardware Abstraction Layers (HALs).
• Provide technical guidance and support to software teams on hardware-related issues.
• Automotive and Software-Defined Vehicle Expertise:
• Maintain a deep understanding of automotive system architecture and the software-defined vehicle concept.
• Stay up-to-date on industry trends and emerging technologies.
• Apply knowledge of automotive standards and regulations to ensure compliance.

Other

• Partner with engineering, design, business, and external ecosystem partners to evaluate technical feasibility, business impact, and market readiness of emerging technologies.
• Translate emerging technology trends into actionable product concepts, ensuring alignment with company strategy.
• Grasp business needs and technical challenges quickly, effectively communicating risks, insights, and progress to executives and customers.
• Cultivate collaboration across geographically distributed teams, fostering an iterative, fast-paced innovation process.

Qualifications:

• Proven experience in system integration for automotive components.
• Strong hands-on experience with hardware and low-level software development (BSP, HAL, etc.).
• Experience building reference hardware platforms for embedded software companies.
• Deep understanding of automotive system architecture and the software-defined vehicle concept.
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Experience working with automotive networks like CAN, Ethernet, or related technologies.
• Strong understanding of software/hardware development lifecycles, embedded systems, cloud networking, and SDV technologies.