Product Manager – Physical Products

ProFound People; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

ProFound People Pty Ltd in Melbourne is seeking a seasoned Product Manager to own a portfolio of physical hardware products end-to-end—from market insight and concept, through engineering, tooling and testing, to manufacturing and launch. This is a hands-on, cradle-to-grave role balancing strategy and delivery, with ownership of timeline and collaboration with engineering, quality, and manufacturing teams.

This role suits those with hands-on product development experience in in-house

Qualifications

• Managed physical products end to end, ideally made in-house.
• Able to pair market insight with engineering guidance through testing.
• Understanding of manufacturing fundamentals, tooling, assembly, testing and quality.
• Ability to build business cases with pricing, margins and lifecycle thinking.

Responsibilities

• Own a portfolio from concept through launch.
• Collaborate with engineering and manufacturing to balance technical risk and commercial realities.
• Develop and defend business cases and go-to-market plans.

Skills

End-to-end PM

Engineering collaboration

Stage-Gate process

Manufacturing fundamentals

Pricing & margin

Tools

Stage-Gate framework

Job description

Product Manager - Physical Hardware - Melbourne

I’m partnering with an established Australian business that designs, engineers and manufactures its own products, and they’re bringing in a seasoned Product Manager to own a product portfolio end to end. This is not a digital product, it’s physical hardware, designed and made here in Australia.

This is a true cradle-to-grave product role, not a front-end commercial one. You’ll take a portfolio of mechanical and electromechanical products from market insight and concept, through engineering, tooling and testing, and into manufacturing and launch. Because they build in their own factories, the job doesn’t stop at a supplier handover, you stay with the product all the way to the shelf.

What makes this one worth a look:

• It’s a step up. They’re lifting the level of the team and want someone who can run a portfolio autonomously, not someone who needs close direction.
• A real balance of strategy and delivery, roughly a quarter of your time on where the portfolio is heading and the rest hands‑on, executing. Expect a mix of enhancing existing products and genuine new product development.
• You own the timeline. You set the targets and work with engineering to balance commercial reality against technical risk, rather than building every plan yourself.
• It’s a roll-your‑sleeves‑up environment. Fast‑moving, high‑ownership and far from fully resourced, so you’ll back your judgement and drive things through the business rather than wait for perfect conditions.

You’ll likely suit this if you:

• Have managed physical products end to end, ideally made in‑house rather than fully outsourced to contract manufacturers.
• Pair real commercial and market instinct (spotting the opportunity and backing a direction with conviction on partial data) with the credibility to work shoulder to shoulder with engineers through design and testing.
• Know the manufacturing fundamentals, tooling, assembly, testing, quality, and structured development such as Stage‑Gate.
• Can build a business case and think in pricing, margin, cost and lifecycle.

Industry background is flexible, the key is hands‑on physical‑product development inside a manufacturing business.