Product Manager-Hardware

Pano AI is a leader in AI-powered wildfire detection and intelligence, helping fire professionals detect, respond to, and contain wildfires faster and more safely. They are seeking an experienced Hardware Product Manager to define and execute new hardware products, ensuring that every product ships to spec and is ready for field deployment.

Responsibilities:

• 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

Requirements:

• 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
• 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