Sonatus is a well-funded, fast-paced, and rapidly growing company whose software products and solutions help automakers build dynamic software-defined vehicles. With over four million vehicles already on the road with top global OEM brands, our vehicle and cloud software solutions are at the forefront of automotive digital transformation. The Sonatus team is a talented and diverse collection of technology and automotive specialists hailing from many of the most prominent companies in their respective industries.
The Staff/Senior Staff Product Manager for Platform Innovation is responsible for bridging between our hardware and software teams, ensuring the efficient development and deployment of our cutting-edge technologies. Your expertise in automotive system integration, hands-on hardware experience, and low-level software proficiency will be essential in this role.
You will drive the research and development initiatives, managing cross-functional collaboration to build compelling demos, proof-of-concept (PoC) projects, and prototypes that showcase cutting-edge software-defined vehicle (SDV) technologies and cloud-based orchestration platforms. This role requires a strong understanding of software development lifecycles, embedded systems, and cloud networking, ensuring that innovation projects transition into scalable product features or strategic business opportunities.
The ideal candidate is an experienced program and/or product leader who can navigate ambiguity, align stakeholders, and drive complex software releases while fostering a culture of rapid experimentation and learning.
Responsibilities:
- Product Management:
- Define product requirements and specifications based on internal stakeholder, external partner/customer’s needs, and industry trends.
- Drive cross-functional engineering teams to deliver PoC and demo projects for customers, partners, sales, marketing, and product teams.
- Prioritize features and manage the product backlog.
- Communicate product updates and roadmaps to internal stakeholders.
- Drive continuous improvement of the internal hardware platform and test vehicle capabilities.
- Develop project plans, monitor schedules, document agreements & action items, and track progress across multiple innovation projects.
- Hardware Platform Development:
- Define and manage the roadmap for our internal reference hardware platform, ensuring it meets the needs of our software development teams.
- Oversee the design, procurement, and assembly of hardware components, ensuring high quality and reliability.
- Collaborate with engineering teams to define hardware specifications and requirements.
- Manage vendor relationships and ensure timely delivery of hardware components.
- Manage Vehicle Integration:
- Lead the integration of the internal hardware platform into our test vehicles.
- Define and execute test plans to validate hardware and software functionality within the vehicle environment.
- Troubleshoot and resolve hardware and software integration issues.
- Drive the development of new features and functionalities within our test vehicles.
- Low-Level Software Knowledge:
- Work closely with software engineers to ensure proper integration of Board Support Packages (BSPs) and Hardware Abstraction Layers (HALs).
- Provide technical guidance and support to software teams on hardware-related issues.
- Automotive and Software-Defined Vehicle Expertise:
- Maintain a deep understanding of automotive system architecture and the software-defined vehicle concept.
- Stay up-to-date on industry trends and emerging technologies.
- Apply knowledge of automotive standards and regulations to ensure compliance.
Other
- Partner with engineering, design, business, and external ecosystem partners to evaluate technical feasibility, business impact, and market readiness of emerging technologies.
- Translate emerging technology trends into actionable product concepts, ensuring alignment with company strategy.
- Grasp business needs and technical challenges quickly, effectively communicating risks, insights, and progress to executives and customers.
- Cultivate collaboration across geographically distributed teams, fostering an iterative, fast-paced innovation process.
Qualifications:
- Proven experience in system integration for automotive components.
- Strong hands-on experience with hardware and low-level software development (BSP, HAL, etc.).
- Experience building reference hardware platforms for embedded software companies.
- Deep understanding of automotive system architecture and the software-defined vehicle concept.
- Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills.
- Strong communication and collaboration skills.
- Experience working with automotive networks like CAN, Ethernet, or related technologies.
- Strong understanding of software/hardware development lifecycles, embedded systems, cloud networking, and SDV technologies.
The posted salary range is a general guideline and represents a good faith estimate of what Sonatus ("Company") could reasonably expect to pay for this position. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, departmental budget availability, geographic location and external market pay for comparable jobs. The Company reserves the right to modify this range in the future, as needed, as market conditions change.
Sonatus Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Sonatus and has not been reviewed or approved by Sonatus.
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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage is repeatedly characterized as very strong, with medical/dental/vision described as “very good,” “above average,” and even “one of the best.” The package is framed as a standout area for a venture-backed startup, especially for U.S. roles.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Unlimited PTO is explicitly promoted, alongside paid holidays and sick time in multiple descriptions of the total rewards package. Flexibility is positioned as part of how time off is supported and used in practice.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity participation is positioned as a core component via a stock option program, often cited alongside competitive salaries for U.S. HQ roles. This framing supports the idea of ownership-based upside as part of total compensation.
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What We Do
Sonatus is a global vehicle software company enabling AI-powered, software-defined vehicles through its platform, which is deployed in over 5 million cars, helping automakers continuously improve cost, performance, reliability, and user experience.
Why Work With Us
Working at Sonatus means collaborating with top-tier engineers and industry leaders to shape the future of connected, intelligent mobility. With a dynamic and fast-paced environment, Sonatus offers opportunities for growth, creativity, and making a real impact in the evolution of modern vehicles.
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