Associate Product Manager, Hardware

The Position

One of the largest scaling challenges that we have today in Framework is that our CEO (who is also writing this job description) is also the Hardware Product Manager for several of our product lines. We’re creating a new Associate Product Manager, Hardware role to continue to enable scalability of our mission and roadmap. This role is a little different from most PM roles in that we’re not looking for a depth of history of being a PM in a consumer electronics company. Our core product philosophy, internal operating structure, brand, and audiences are so far from what's common in the field that we are instead going to grow a new Framework Hardware Product Manager (that’s you) from the right raw ingredients. You’ll bring the necessary combination of technical depth, product taste, audience understanding, cross-functional connection ability, and sheer willpower to become the Hardware PM that we need, and we’ll train you along the way. We’re hiring for growth trajectory, and expect you to level up from APM to PM within the first year.

In the role itself, you’ll be the overall owner of one or more product lines, across categories we are already in and ones we’re expanding into on our roadmap. You’ll do customer and market research, perform competitive analysis and teardowns, collaborate with engineers on technology assessment, work with designers on hardware UX, facilitate architecture and implementation decisions, set and hold the bar for product quality and performance, bridge the full span of teams across Framework to deliver an excellent product.

This role will start as local to our SF office, averaging 2-3 days per week in-office. After reaching the APM→PM transition, we’ll shift the role to being remote-first.

What You'll Do

• Be the overall owner of one or more of our hardware product lines.
• Be the cross-functional glue between design, engineering, operations, and Go to Market teams, driving alignment and facilitating decisions.
• Research competitive and audience dynamics of consumer electronics categories to identify and exploit market opportunities.
• Ensure the products we’re launching are robust, high performance, and high quality by being the harshest user and holding the necessary bar of excellence.
• Tactically, write MRDs, PRDs and technical specifications, collaborate with the engineering and design teams to iterate on hardware, drive external partners and suppliers, build business models, develop and execute go to market strategies with the Marketing team, and more.

What You Need

• A demonstrated history of self-driven hardware project execution (meaning, you’ve built things you wanted to see exist in the world without being assigned it)
• As much familiarity picking up a soldering iron or screwdriver as a spreadsheet or slide deck.
• Depth of understanding of the target audiences (Linux users, power users, environmentally conscious consumers, etc) and cultural and competitive dynamics of the categories we’re entering.
• Extreme drive, with the ability to bulldoze through obstacles, while also remaining tactful and effective at getting buy-in.
• Strong opinions on what makes products good or bad along with the underlying technical expertise to understand the design and implementation constraints that resulted in the outcome.

What's Nice to Have

• Previous experience working in a startup.
• Prior experience as a startup Founder or Co-Founder.
• A career background or education in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, or computer science.
• Familiarity with Linux, PC gaming, PC building, and/or DIY/repair.
• A passion for consumer rights and sustainability.

What You'll Love

• Competitive salary, equity, and health benefits
• Paid company holidays plus 20 PTO days per year
• Paid Parental Leave
• Flexible work hours and locations, including every other Friday off!
• 401K with matching for US employees
• The chance to work at a startup that is making a positive social and environmental impact

Equal Opportunity

We commit ourselves to the principles of equal employment and a diverse work environment. With inclusion being one of our core values at Framework, we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws. We will consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and Los Angeles Fair Chance Ordinance.

We are also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all qualified individuals with disabilities. If you require an accommodation to participate in the application or interview process, please let us know by reaching out to [email protected].

The pay range for this role is $105,000 - $130,000 USD per year. The base salary range for this position may vary depending on various factors such as professional background, work experience, work location, market demand, etc. In certain circumstances, the final offer may vary from the amounts shown in this job description.