Product Manager-Hardware

Job description

HELP US TACKLE THE GROWING WILDFIRE CRISIS WITH THE LATEST ADVANCEMENTS IN AI AND IOT WHO WE ARE The challenge: Every minute matters in wildfire response. As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of wildfires—with longer fire seasons, drier fuels, and more extreme weather—new ignitions can spread rapidly, putting communities, critical infrastructure, and ecosystems at risk. Today, many wildfires are first reported by members of the public, meaning it can take valuable time to detect a fire, confirm its location and size, and mobilize responders. Fire agencies need faster, more reliable ways to detect, verify, and pinpoint new ignitions so they can respond quickly and prevent small fires from becoming catastrophic events. About Pano AI: Pano AI is the leader in AI-powered wildfire detection and intelligence, helping fire professionals detect, respond to, and contain wildfires faster and more safely. Our platform combines advanced hardware, software, artificial intelligence, satellite imagery, and other data sources to provide real-time situational awareness and actionable intelligence. Using a network of ultra-high-definition, 360-degree cameras positioned across high vantage points, Pano AI delivers a real-time view of wildfire activity, enabling faster, more informed decision-making when every second counts. We are a team of more than 175 people working in a hybrid-remote environment across North America and Australia, with headquarters in San Francisco. Our customers include government agencies, utilities, insurers, and private landowners who rely on Pano AI to help protect people, property, and natural landscapes. Pano AI currently serves customers across the United States, Australia, and Canada, monitoring more than 50 million acres worldwide. Our values are part of everything we do at Pano AI. They guide how we work together, how we serve our customers, and how we approach our mission. Impact: As we scale our business, we grow our impact—enabling emergency managers to protect people, infrastructure, and the environment from devastating wildfires. Service: We serve those who serve, and the teammates beside us. Trust: We earn trust through integrity, accountability, and an obsession with quality so that our partners can rely on us. Excellence and Speed: We produce exceptional work quickly because our mission demands both precision and urgency. Innovation: We apply cutting-edge technology to what we build and how we work. Our work has been recognized by Fast Company as one of the Top 10 Most Innovative AI Companies in 2023 https://www.fastcompany.com/90846670/most-innovative-companies-artificial-intelligence-2023 and one of the World's Most Innovative Companies in 2026 https://www.fastcompany.com/91502951/pano-ai-most-innovative-companies-2026, ranking #1 in Sustainability. We have also been named to TIME's https://www.linkedin.com/company/time/ list of the 100 Most Influential Companies of 2025 https://time.com/collections/time100-companies-2025/7289577/pano-ai/ and recognized by MIT Technology Review https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/01/1104375/2024-climate-tech-companies-pano-ai-fire-detecting-ai/as one of the top climate technology companies to watch. Backed by $89 million in funding https://techcrunch-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/techcrunch.com/2023/07/10/pano-series-a-extension/amp/ from leading investors including Giant Ventures, Liberty Mutual Ventures, Tokio Marine Future Fund, Congruent Ventures, Initialized Capital, Salesforce Ventures, and T-Mobile Ventures, we're building technology that helps communities around the world become more resilient to wildfire. Learn more at www.pano.ai http://www.pano.ai. The Role Pano AI is looking for an experienced Hardware Product Manager to own the definition and execution of new hardware products, from concept through production and field deployment. Our proprietary 360-degree, ultra-high-definition cameras operate at high vantage points across millions of acres in demanding outdoor conditions, and advancing that hardware is central to our mission and our growth. Embedded with our hardware engineering team, you'll serve as the product voice across each development cycle—owning requirements, managing tradeoffs, aligning cross-functional stakeholders, and ensuring every product ships to spec, on time, and ready for field deployment. This is a high-impact role with direct visibility to senior leadership and meaningful influence over the future of Pano's roadmap. This role is ideal for a seasoned hardware PM who thrives in fast-paced startup environments, can establish new product processes from the ground up, and is energized by building technology that helps confront the climate crisis and save lives. What you’ll do - Own the product requirements and hardware specifications for Pano's hardware NPI initiatives—starting with our current flagship camera initiative—ensuring requirements are precise, complete, and traceable throughout each development lifecycle - Partner closely with hardware engineering, quality and manufacturing teams to define, prioritize, and refine product requirements based on cost, performance, reliability, and schedule tradeoffs - Lead customer and field discovery sessions to validate requirements, surface pain points from fire agency operators and field technicians, and translate insights into actionable specifications across current and future hardware products - Collaborate with supply chain, operations, and contract manufacturing partners to ensure new products are manufacturable, sourced sustainably, and deployable at scale across diverse environmental conditions - Drive NPI program milestones in partnership with hardware engineering—tracking EVT, DVT, and PVT build cycles, flagging risks early, and coordinating go/no-go decisions with leadership - Define hardware acceptance criteria, test coverage requirements, and field pilot success metrics to validate that each product meets deployment readiness standards - Partner with the software and AI teams to ensure firmware, connectivity, and platform integration requirements are captured, prioritized, and delivered in lockstep with hardware milestones - Manage BOM/launch cost targets, identify cost reduction opportunities, and drive tradeoff decisions in alignment with Pano's commercial and margin objectives - Establish and continuously improve Pano's NPI playbook—the repeatable processes, templates, and stage-gates that govern how new hardware products move from concept to field - Present hardware roadmap status, risks, and decisions clearly to senior leadership, operations, and go-to-market stakeholders What you’ll bring Required - 8+ years of product management experience with at least 3 years focused on hardware products—cameras, sensors, IoT devices, embedded systems, or ruggedized field-deployed devices - A track record of taking multiple hardware products from concept or early development through mass production, including experience with EVT/DVT/PVT build cycles and manufacturing ramp - Strong technical fluency in hardware development—comfortable reviewing schematics, engaging with electrical and mechanical engineers, reading firmware requirements, and interpreting test data - Experience owning PRDs and hardware specifications in a cross-functional environment, including managing requirements changes and version control across design iterations - Familiarity with BOM cost management, supply chain tradeoffs, and contract manufacturing or ODM/OEM partnerships - Proven ability to operate with autonomy in a fast-paced, resource-constrained startup environment, managing multiple concurrent workstreams and establishing process where none exists - Strong communication and documentation skills—able to write crisp specs and status updates, and to translate technical hardware details for non-technical stakeholders - Comfort presenting to and collaborating with executive leadership in a high-stakes, high-visibility environment Nice to Have - Experience with outdoor, ruggedized, or field-deployed hardware—particularly cameras, panoramic imaging systems, or remote sensing devices - Familiarity with connectivity technologies relevant to remote field deployments, including LTE/5G, LoRa, satellite backhaul, or solar-powered edge devices - Experience in climate tech, public safety, infrastructure, or government/utility technology products - Background in optical systems, image quality optimization, or computer vision hardware - Experience standing up or scaling an NPI function, or zero-to-one hardware product initiatives, including founding/scaling a hardware-focused startup - A passion for climate resilience, wildfire prevention, environmental protection, or public safety Final compensation for regular full-time employees is determined by a variety of factors, including job-related qualifications, education, experience, skills, knowledge, and geographic location. In addition to base salary, regular full-time roles are eligible for equity. Benefits are tailored to local market standards and statutory requirements in the employee's country of employment, and may include health coverage, retirement or pension contributions, and paid time off. Specific benefit details will be shared during the interview process.