IoT Product Owner

IoT Product Owner

Location: Charlotte, NC
Department: Technical Services
Reports To: VP of Product
Role Type: Full‑Time

Role Overview

V‑Track’s interconnected hardware ecosystem includes BLE beacons, trailer trackers, telematics/black‑box devices, environmental sensors, and 4G/5G IoT hardware. We are seeking a hands‑on IoT Product Owner who will own both the hardware and software implementation lifecycle, acting as the end‑to‑end Product Owner for all non‑camera hardware initiatives.

This role is responsible for sourcing the right hardware, defining the technical and functional requirements, writing user stories, managing engineering backlogs, guiding firmware/software/cloud integration work, running field pilots, and delivering scalable, production‑ready IoT capabilities into the V‑Track platform.

Key Responsibilities

1. Fully Own Hardware Product Development (PO + PM Execution)

• Act as the Product Owner for all non‑camera IoT devices.
• Write user stories, functional requirements, acceptance criteria, and system behaviors for:
  • Trailer trackers
  • Telematics boxes
  • LTE/4G/5G IoT devices
  • BLE beacons and sensors
• Own the end‑to‑end delivery process: grooming, sprint planning, story clarification, acceptance testing, roadmap management.
• Run cross‑functional standups, backlog prioritization, and release planning.

2. Hardware Supplier Sourcing & Evaluation

• Source and compare vendors for BLE beacons, GNSS/cellular trackers, telematics boxes, and sensor hardware.
• Execute RFI/RFP processes, technical evaluations, and environmental testing.
• Lead on‑device testing for battery life, connectivity, BLE RSSI behavior, temperature durability, IP ratings, and firmware reliability.
• Negotiate pricing, MOQs, warranty terms, certifications, and long‑term supply plans.
• Work with procurement to establish sustainable vendor relationships.

3. Software, Cloud & Firmware Integration

You will directly own delivery across all software components related to hardware:

Firmware / Device Integration

• Collaborate with firmware teams on BLE advertisement formats, GNSS fix logic, cellular heartbeat behavior, and OTA update processes.
• Define device‑identity patterns, provisioning flows, and pairing processes for V‑Track.

Mobile App Integration

• Define BLE scan logic, data batching, device pairing UI flows, background behavior, and in‑app diagnostic tools.

Cloud Platform Integration

• Own requirements for ingestion APIs, device registries, telemetry pipelines, storage schemas, and event processing.
• Define data ingestion requirements for mobile and web applications consuming telemetry from IoT devices.
• Specify API contracts, payload schemas, and communication patterns.

Dashboard / UI

• Define monitoring, asset visualizations, health dashboards, installation workflows, and alerting flows.
• Outline UI/UX functional requirements for device workflows.

4. Pilot Programs, Field Testing & Operational Enablement

• Run pilot deployments with internal teams and select customers.
• Gather telemetry and real‑world performance data to refine hardware behavior.
• Build installation guides, support processes, troubleshooting flows, and training for Ops, Support, and Customer Success.

5. Leadership & Cross‑Team Collaboration

• Coordinate across engineering, QA, supply chain, field ops, and support.
• Act as the single accountable owner for IoT (non‑camera) hardware programs.
• Clearly communicate timelines, risks, dependencies, and expected outcomes.

Required Skills & Experience

• 5+ years in IoT, telematics, connected devices, or fleet hardware product management.
• Proven experience executing hardware + software product development.
• Hands‑on Product Owner experience (stories, backlog management, acceptance testing).
• Understanding of BLE, GNSS, LTE‑M/NB‑IoT, 4G/5G, sensors, and low‑power device design.
• Experience with OTA updates, device telemetry, ingestion pipelines, and IoT cloud architectures.
• Strong cross‑functional leadership and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building fleet tracking systems, telematics platforms, rugged industrial device ecosystems, or RTLS solutions.
• Experience with FCC/PTCRB/carrier certification.
• Experience managing offshore firmware/embedded engineering teams.
• Experience managing external vendors.