Product Owner – Hardware

You’ll guide a multidisciplinary hardware product from concept to production. That includes planning, prioritising and translating customer needs into technical decisions the team can execute against.

You’ll get to work with specialists in hardware, electronics, mechanics, software, optics, testing, validation and quality. Your job is to help them move in sync so the right features land on time and at a high standard.

Expect variety. Expect challenge. Expect to be the person who finally gets the team aligned.

A typical week might include:

• Shaping the technical product vision with the Product Manager, then turning it into a clear technology roadmap

• Translating customer and market requirements into specifications the team can actually work with

• Coordinating hardware and software development so integration runs smoothly

• Prioritising the backlog, balancing technical constraints, effort, cost and customer impact

• Running sprint planning, reviews and retrospectives

• Guiding the product from prototype to testing and through to production

• Using performance data and real feedback to make informed improvements

What success looks like after a year

• A clear, well-structured roadmap that your team is delivering against

• Real progress visible in both velocity and feature completion

• A product that is evolving in a direction you’ve genuinely influenced

What you’ll need to bring

• A relevant MSc in science or engineering

• Experience in a Product Owner or similar role within a hardware development environment

• A strong grasp of hardware development cycles

• Experience coordinating cross-functional engineering teams

• The ability to balance technical decision-making with customer value

• A clear communication style and a proactive, problem-solving mindset

• Solid working knowledge of Agile ways of working

Nice if you have:

• Exposure to photonics

• Experience in regulated industries

• Familiarity with tools like Jira or Confluence

• A relevant PO or Agile certification

Why this will appeal to you

• You’ll join an innovative high-tech environment where the products being built genuinely push boundaries

• You’ll work in a flat, international organisation where hierarchy doesn’t get in your way

• You’ll have room to learn, develop and shape a product with real complexity

• You’ll collaborate with experts across disciplines, not sit in a silo

Darwin Recruitment is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.

Oliver Stewart