Product Manager, Natural Gas
Santa Clara, CA - Onsite
THE OPPORTUNITY
Picarro is looking for a talented and driven Product Manager to join our Natural Gas team at our Santa Clara headquarters. This is an exciting opportunity for an early-to-mid career professional with a strong technical foundation to take meaningful ownership across the full product lifecycle — from concept and requirements through development, launch, and iteration.
You will work at the intersection of hardware and software, partnering closely with R&D, engineering, data analytics, sales, field operations, and customer program management teams to define and deliver products that reinforce Picarro's position as the industry leader in data-driven methane emissions management and network intelligence for the Natural Gas market. Reporting to the Sr. Director of Product Strategy, you will help shape the roadmap for Picarro's gas product portfolio and grow into a key voice within the product organization.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
- Own your product roadmap. Define, prioritize, and communicate a product roadmap for natural gas solutions that balances near-term customer needs with long-term strategic bets, across both hardware and software dimensions.
- Drive market and customer insight. Conduct customer interviews, analyze field and usage data, and synthesize market research to identify high-impact opportunities, validate product concepts, and maintain a deep understanding of the natural gas and energy landscape.
- Write clear requirements. Author Marketing Requirements Documents (MRDs), Product Requirements Documents (PRDs), user stories, and acceptance criteria for both hardware features and software releases.
- Lead cross-functional execution. Partner with R&D, engineering, manufacturing, QA, software development, and data analytics teams to bring products to market on time and within budget.
- Champion Agile delivery. Serve as an active product owner in Agile scrum cycles — participate in sprint planning, backlog grooming, story review, and retrospectives for software and data platform initiatives.
- Support hardware NPI. Collaborate with engineering and operations on New Product Introduction (NPI) and Product Lifecycle (PLC) processes, ensuring smooth transitions from development to production.
- Enable the commercial team. Develop sales collateral, training materials, and competitive positioning to support the gas business team; respond to technical customer inquiries and assist in pre-sales activities.
- Represent Picarro externally. Present products and solutions at industry conferences, trade shows, and customer sites; build lasting relationships with key gas utility accounts and industry stakeholders to collaborate on new product breakthroughs and establish reference standards for the industry.
- Measure success. Define KPIs for product initiatives; track adoption and field performance post-launch and drive continuous improvement based on data and customer feedback.
- Stay ahead of the market. Monitor the competitive landscape, emerging technologies, and regulatory trends in methane emissions detection, leak detection, and natural gas network management.
REQUIREMENTS
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Environmental Science, or a related technical field. M.S. or Ph.D. a plus.
- 3–5 years of experience in product management and overall 5 to 10 years of experience in applications engineering, or an equivalent role with direct product ownership responsibilities.
- Hands-on experience managing both hardware products and software products
- Demonstrated familiarity with Agile software development methodologies
- Experience as a product owner or active participant in sprint-based development.
- Experience with hardware product development processes, including NPI, design verification, and product lifecycle management.
- Ability to comprehend and communicate complex technical concepts clearly to diverse audiences — from engineers and data scientists to executive leadership and non-technical utility customers.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills; experience writing MRDs, PRDs, or functional specifications.
- Strong aptitude to articulate and execute on business strategy with a results-oriented, 'make it happen' attitude.
- Willingness to travel domestically and internationally approximately 20% of the time for customer visits, conferences, and trade shows.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Demonstrated knowledge of the Natural Gas and Energy markets, including utility operations, DIMP, and emissions regulations.
- Familiarity with methane leak detection, emissions monitoring, or optical spectroscopy technologies.
- Experience with data analytics products, cloud-based SaaS platforms, or enterprise software for the energy sector.
- Proficiency with product and project management tools such as Jira, Confluence, Pendo, or Figma.
- Exposure to regulatory frameworks governing methane emissions, EPA reporting, or pipeline safety.
- Prior experience in a startup or high-growth technology company.
The base salary range for this full-time position is $125K to $140K. Our total compensation packages include base salary, bonus eligibility, and equity. Your base salary range and title will be determined based on the location, experience, qualification, skills, knowledge, level, and pay of employees in similar positions.
We offer a comprehensive benefit package including:
- Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance
- Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Health Savings Account (HSA) plans
- Life, Short-Term Disability, and Long-Term Disability Insurance
- Paid Time Off and Paid Holidays
- Employee Referral Program
- 401K
- Social events (summer picnic, holiday party, team lunches, etc.)
- On-site Health & Wellness programs (fitness challenges, outdoor bootcamp, flu-shots, etc.)
About Picarro:
We are the world's leader in timely, trusted, and actionable data using enhanced optical spectroscopy. Our solutions are used in a wide variety of applications, including natural gas leak detection, ethylene oxide emissions monitoring, semiconductor fabrication, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, atmospheric science, air quality, greenhouse gas measurements, food safety, hydrology, ecology, and more. Our software and hardware are designed and manufactured in Santa Clara, California and are used in over 90 countries worldwide based on over 65 patents related to cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) technology and are unparalleled in their precision, ease of use, and reliability.
At Picarro, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, color, religion, national origin, protected veteran status, gender identity, social orientation, or disability. Posted positions are not open to third-party recruiters/agencies, and unsolicited resume submissions will be considered free referrals.
At Picarro, we strive to ensure that all individuals, regardless of their abilities, have equal opportunities. If you are an individual with a disability and require reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process or are limited in the ability or unable to access or use this online application process and need an alternative method for applying, please contact Picarro, Inc. at disabilityassistance@picarro.com for assistance.
