SAEKI - Manufacturing at software speed
Europe's industrial base cannot respond at the speed modern conflict requires. Legacy suppliers operate on month-long timelines. Tribal knowledge is retiring. Supply chains are fragile. SAEKI is building the operating system for autonomous factories — the infrastructure that lets Europe manufacture mission-critical components at software speed.
Our software is written in Zurich. It runs in Factory ONE, where robots, tooling, material and people meet it every single day. Keeping those two worlds aligned is one of the most important things we do, and today it is one responsibility among many for people who already have full plates.
This role changes that. You own the link between the software and the factory floor as your single priority, end to end and on your own. You are the product manager on the ground: standing in the factory, watching the operating system meet the physical world, and shaping the software around what you see.
The Role
Own the operating system that runs our factory. The full bandwidth of it, from job preparation and path generation through robot execution, process control, quality and traceability. You decide what gets built next and why.
Live in the physical world. You are in the factory, not in a meeting about the factory. You watch runs, talk to the technicians, see where the software makes their day harder, and understand what a machine, a material or a tolerance actually demands.
Point the software team at the core of the problem. Engineering can only solve what it can see. Your job is to bring the real constraint back to Zurich, precisely and with evidence, so the team builds through the problem instead of around it. That means writing specs people can build from, and saying no to the ones that miss the point.
Close the loop, daily. Ship, watch it run, learn, refine. Over the next twelve months the mandate is straightforward: make the software that runs Factory ONE fast, reliable and efficient enough that the factory scales on it.
Build the function. You are our first product hire. There is no process waiting for you. You define how product works here, and you grow with it as the team and the factory expand.
What We're Looking For
- 3 to 5 years in product management, with real craft behind it: discovery, prioritization, specs, and a working relationship with engineers who respect you.
- You have worked close to hardware. Manufacturing, robotics, industrial automation, machinery, somewhere the software had physical consequences. Ideally you can hold both sides: you understand the machine and you understand the code.
- You think in systems. You see how a change in one part of the process shows up three steps later, and you reason about the whole chain rather than the ticket in front of you.
- You set your own agenda. Nobody is going to hand you a backlog. You find the problem that matters most this week and go after it.
- You are comfortable on the shop floor, in the noise, next to the machine, in a safety vest, with your hands on the part.
- Fluent English. German is a plus for the factory floor, suppliers and partners, but not a hard requirement.
- Willing to be based in the Munich area and occasional travel to Zurich.
What we're not looking for
- Someone who waits to be told what to do.
- Someone who doesn't think in systems, who optimizes a single step and breaks the two around it.
- A pure roadmap-and-slides PM who manages a process rather than a product.
- Someone who wants to run the factory from a desk. This role only works on-site.
What we offer
- Mission: Rebuild the industrial sovereignty of the West — in an environment where logistics isn't a support function but a precondition.
- Ownership of a function: From day one you own a function, not a task list. Your decisions stand.
- Growth path: The function grows with the company. Whoever builds it has the first claim on leading it.
- Short paths: Direct line to management, production, and engineering. "Special Forces" model — everyone ships, no politics, no bureaucracy.
- The environment: State-of-the-art manufacturing technology, a data-driven production environment, a site under construction.
- Compensation: Competitive salary incl. share options.
- Location: Factory ONE, greater Munich area.
Apply
- Resume: Show us what you've actually owned, not just where you've been.
- Cover letter: Why this mission? Why now? And: what's the most complicated problem between software and the physical process you've personally resolved?
