Engineering Systems Product Manager

ABOUT SLATE

At Slate, we’re building safe, reliable vehicles that people can afford, personalize and love—and doing it here in the USA as part of our commitment to reindustrialization. The spirit of DIY and customization runs throughout every element of a Slate, because people should have control over how their trucks look, feel, and represent them.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

As Engineering Systems Product Manager at Slate, you will own the connective tissue between engineering and operations, the product layer that turns a CAD decision into a manufacturable part, a manufacturable part into a BOM, and a BOM into work the shop floor can execute. You will product-manage Slate’s engineering and manufacturing change processes across PLM, ERP, and MES, partnering with the PLM team and program management to make every change traceable from the engineer who proposed it to the operator who built it.

This is a hands-on product role. You will live with the engineers using PLM, the planners using ERP, and the operators using MES, and you will translate what you learn from each into the integration architecture, the change workflows, and the user experience that move data and decisions across the three systems. You will own the engineering systems product backlog from discovery through delivery, and you will be accountable for whether engineering changes land on the shop floor cleanly, predictably, and without losing fidelity along the way.

The Engineering Systems Product Manager reports directly to the Head of Enterprise Systems.

WHAT YOU GET TO DO

• Own the Integration Roadmap: Lead the product roadmap for engineering systems integration across PLM, ERP, and MES, from item master and BOM transfer through routings, effectivity, and the change workflows that orchestrate them.

• Design the Change Processes: Define Slate’s engineering and manufacturing change processes end to end, including ECR, ECO, MCO, deviation and waiver workflows, effectivity strategies, and phase-in and phase-out coordination.

• Lead the BOM Strategy: Own the EBOM-to-MBOM transition, including how engineering bills of material translate into manufacturing bills of material, how routings are derived, and how variants and options propagate through the platform.

• Partner with the PLM Team: Be the primary product partner to the PLM team on the engineering side and the ERP and MES teams on the operations side, translating engineering intent into platform behavior and platform constraints into engineering implications.

• Partner with Program Management: Work closely with program management on the cadence of engineering and manufacturing changes, ensuring change processes match the speed Slate needs to iterate without sacrificing traceability or producibility.

• Drive Product Discovery: Live with the engineers, planners, and operators who use these systems, surface the friction in the current workflows, and translate it into a backlog of high-leverage improvements.

• Deliver End to End: Own the product from discovery through configuration, testing, training, cutover, and steady-state operation, working hands-on with developers, configurators, and business users to ship results.

WHAT YOU BRING TO THE TEAM

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field is required.

• Experience: 8+ years of product management, technical program management, or solutions engineering experience at the intersection of engineering, manufacturing, and IT systems.

• PLM Mastery: Direct hands-on experience with enterprise PLM platforms, including configuration, integration, and change management workflows.

• PLM-ERP-MES Integration Experience: Track record designing or delivering integrations across PLM, ERP, and MES, including item master, BOM transfer, routings, and change orchestration.

• Change Management Process Depth: Hands-on experience with engineering and manufacturing change processes (ECR, ECO, MCO, effectivity, phase-in and phase-out) in a real manufacturing environment.

• Product Discipline: Experience running product discovery, roadmap planning, and backlog management in an agile environment, with the instincts to balance user research against delivery pace.

• Manufacturing Fluency: Direct exposure to the shop floor, comfortable working with operators, planners, and quality engineers in their environment.

• Systems Thinker: You see the company as a series of interconnected loops. You understand how an engineering change ripples through the BOM, the ERP, the MES, and eventually the operator’s station.

• Pragmatic Builder: You know that “perfect is the enemy of shipped.” You can stand up a minimum viable change process today while architecting for the cadence Slate will need at OEM scale tomorrow.

• Diplomat: You are skilled at managing stakeholders with competing priorities, including the productive tension between engineers who want flexibility and operators who want stability.

• PLM-to-Plant Translator: You are bilingual between design engineers and manufacturing operators, equally credible explaining a routing constraint to an engineer and an effectivity rule to a production planner.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Must have the ability to travel (up to 25%).

• Must have the ability to lift up to 35 pounds.

• Must have the ability to stand, walk, and perform repetitive tasks for extended periods.

Salary Range

The compensation  for this position is the range Slate reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for the position taking into account the wide variety of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions, including job-related knowledge; skillset; experience, education and training; certifications; work location; and other relevant business and organizational factors.

Base Pay Range (Annual)

$156,559.73 - $260,932.88 USD

Additional Compensation and Benefits: Slate offers a wide range of competitive benefits, including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability insurance, vacation, and 401k. The successful candidate may also be eligible to participate in the equity program and/or a discretionary annual incentive program, subject to the rules governing such programs.  

WHY JOIN TEAM SLATE?

At Slate, we’re fueled by grit, determination, and attention to detail. The start-up spirit of ingenuity and resourcefulness move our business forward. Team Slate fosters a culture of excellence, innovation, and mutual respect, and is motivated by shared principles.

• Safety First

• Delight Customers

• One Team

• Relentless Improvement

• Fast, Frugal, and Scrappy

• Respectful Collaboration

• Positive Legacy

WE WANT TO WORK WITH PEOPLE THAT REFLECT THE COMMUNITIES IN WHICH WE OPERATE.

Slate is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, marital status, parental status, cultural background, organizational level, work styles, tenure and life experiences. Or for any other reason.

Slate is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at

slate-talent_acquisition@slate.auto.