Technical Product Manager – Robotics, Mechanical Engineering

Role Overview

• You act as the interface between our customers, our software and hardware teams, and our industrial partners.
• You are responsible for Smarcel products across the board: from customer and market requirements through technical development and IT interfaces to piloting and market success.
• The core of the role is the further development of our Smarcel platform.
• You will drive WALLGATE and CABIN based on the ONE platform.
• You gather requirements from leading parcel delivery companies and translate them into clear product specifications.
• You plan and manage pilots, define KPIs together with customers, and secure pilot and market success.
• You support the technical development and IT interfaces.
• You define cost targets and success metrics for our products and monitor them throughout the development and rollout process.
• You monitor milestones, schedules, and deliverables and ensure management always knows our status.

Requirements

• Technical background in the mechanical engineering domain: via a degree (e.g., Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Robotics, or Industrial Engineering), a PhD, or several years of professional experience.
• Affinity for IT and mechatronics: you understand how mechanics, electronics, and software interact in a complex product, ideally with experience in product or project management.
• Experience in developing and coordinating complex (hardware) products, ideally working closely with suppliers and manufacturing partners.
• Structured, analytical, and pragmatic working style.
• Excellent communication and coordination skills — you can engage stakeholders from developers to customer executives.
• Entrepreneurial mindset, independence, and the desire to help shape something of your own.
• Willingness to travel for regular visits to our industrial partners and customers across Europe.
• Residence in the Cologne area or willingness to relocate there is desirable.
• Fluent in German and English (our partners and customers are international).

Benefits

• Participation in company success (VSOP) — we want you not only as a colleague but as a co-entrepreneur. If we succeed, you benefit.
• Direct access to everyone — we are a small, flat team. Your ideas are heard and taken seriously; decisions are made at the table, not in loops.
• Responsibility from day one — you will immediately take ownership of your own topics and partners instead of spending two years onboarding.
• Flexible work — you are welcome to work from home; ideally we meet 2–3 times per week in our lab and office in Cologne-Rodenkirchen.
• Steep learning curve — at the intersection of robotics, AI, and logistics innovation, with international partners and customers.
• A meaningful product — we make the last mile more efficient, more automated, and more sustainable.
• Flexible working hours.