Senior Product Manager – Railway

Critical Software; Porto; On-site; EUR 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Employee assistance program

Home office support

Extra holidays

Parental leave

Sabbatical program

Training & mentorship

Job summary

Critical Software in Porto, Portugal, is looking for a Product Leader to own the roadmap for safety-critical rail-related products, balancing certification milestones, customer commitments, and long-term strategy. You will drive opportunities from concept to first paying customers, shaping pricing and go-to-market strategies across partnerships.

You will coordinate with engineering, safety and certification teams while engaging with operators and regulators to ensure compliant, market-ready

Qualifications

• Proven track record taking new products from zero to market in regulated or safety-critical domains.
• Familiarity with certification processes in safety-critical domains (EN 50126/50129/50716, DO-178, IEC 62443) is a strong plus.
• Experience with software-defined, connected or data-driven products; familiarity with cloud/edge, cybersecurity or AI for operations.
• Comfort working with long product lifecycles and complex, multi-stakeholder environments (operators, regulators, notified bodies).
• Strong communication skills to translate technical and regulatory complexity into clear product decisions.
• Fluent in English (C1/C2).

Responsibilities

• Own the product roadmap balancing certification milestones, customer commitments, and long-term product strategy.
• Identify and validate new product opportunities (market and competitive analysis, technology scouting, customer discovery), translating needs into product requirements and shaping the full portfolio.
• Own the business case, pricing and P&L for each product line, and take new products from concept through to their first paying customers.
• Build the go-to-market strategy for product placement and business expansion, working with commercial and business development teams on positioning, pricing, and partnership opportunities.
• Coordinate a small team with direct access to leadership — working closely with engineering, safety, and certification teams to align product decisions.

Skills

Product management

Regulated industry

Strategic planning

Cross-functional leadership

Communication skills

Market analysis

Job description

ABOUT THE ROLE

European railways are entering a new era. Train control is converging on a single, harmonized standard, communications are moving to modern digital networks, and the industry is taking its first real steps towards Automatic Train Operation. Critical Software contributes to this modernization by developing certified, safety-critical solutions that help operators run more trains, more reliably, while giving passengers a safer and smoother journey.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Own the product roadmap, balancing certification milestones, customer commitments, and long-term product strategy
• Identify and validate new product opportunities (market and competitive analysis, technology scouting, customer discovery), translating their specific needs into product requirements and shaping the full portfolio rather than a single feature
• Own the business case, pricing and P&L for each product line, and take new products from concept through to their first paying customers
• Build the go-to-market strategy for product placement and business expansion, working with commercial and business development teams on positioning, pricing, and partnership opportunities
• Coordinate a small team with direct access to leadership — working closely with engineering, safety, and certification teams to align product decisions

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• Proven track record taking new products from zero to market, ideally in a regulated or safety-critical industry
• Familiarity with certification processes in safety-critical domains (EN 50126/50129/50716, DO-178, IEC 62443, or equivalent) is a strong plus
• Experience with software-defined, connected or data-driven products; familiarity with cloud/edge, cybersecurity or AI applied to operations is a plus
• Comfort working with long product lifecycles and complex, multi-stakeholder environments (operators, regulators, notified bodies)
• Strong communication skills, able to translate technical and regulatory complexity into clear product decisions
• Fluent in English (C1/C2)

HOW YOU CAN INSPIRE

• You combine deep technical credibility with the confidence to lead a room, technical or commercial
• You spot problems early and you're not afraid to name them and propose a solution
• You build trust because you know what you're talking about, not because you're told to
• You see client relationships as long-term partnerships, not one-off wins

WHAT WE OFFER

We invest in the people who make it all possible. Here's what that looks like in practice.

• Private health insurance
• Employee Assistance Programme (mental health, legal, financial support)
• Home office support
• Extra holidays: 2 additional days after year one, more as time goes on
• Extra parental leave: 2 additional months fully paid
• Gradual return-to-work support: We’ll help you ease back from long breaks
• Sabbatical programme for long-term employees
• Training, mentorship, and growth opportunities: we'll invest in where you want to go next

ABOUT CRITICAL SOFTWARE

Every day we work on missions across industries as diverse as aerospace, space, defence, transport, telecoms, government, energy, finance, and healthcare. Building better and safer isn’t a slogan. It’s how we show up in the world.

Critical Software is a proud Benefit Corporation. A for-profit business legally committed to positive impact on society, workers, the community, and the environment — in addition to profit.

We are an equal opportunity workplace. If you need any adjustment in your recruitment process to show us what you can do, please let us know.

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