Hardware Product & Program Manager

Salient Systems; Texas; On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Salient Systems is seeking a Hardware Product & Program Manager to own the recording-platform portfolio, focusing on hardware product management and a future certified-manufacturer program. You’ll balance performance, cost, and margin while shaping a scalable commercial model.

You’ll drive a rolling roadmap for PowerProtect and Vantage, work with Engineering on platform configurations, and build a partner ecosystem to enable licensed Salient-certified platforms.

Qualifications

• Five+ years managing networked or appliance-class hardware products through launch and end of life.
• Experience with platform cost, price, and margin tradeoffs.
• Experience with product qualification, performance evidence, and lifecycle decisions.

Responsibilities

• Set the platform direction for PowerProtect and Vantage, including configurations and SKUs.
• Establish policy for support windows, end-of-life, last-time buys, and migrations.
• Own validated specifications and align datasheets, price books, and quoting tools.
• Manage BOM-cost targets, pricing structure, and margin by platform.
• Build the certified-manufacturer program with licensing and reporting terms.
• Collaborate with contract manufacturers, OEM partners, and cross-functional teams.

Skills

Hardware PM

Cost optimization

OEM collaboration

Lifecycle management

Platform strategy

Excellent communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Tools

Pricing tools

Quoting tools

Spreadsheets

ERP systems

Job description

Good video security software still needs somewhere reliable to record. At Salient, that means making thoughtful choices about the hardware underneath CompleteView: what we offer, how it performs, what it costs, and how long a customer can count on it.

We’re looking for a Hardware Product & Program Manager to own our recording-platform portfolio and help shape a new way of bringing those platforms to market. This is a role for someone who likes both the product decision and the operating model that makes the decision stick.

Why Salient, and why this role

Salient Systems makes CompleteView, an open video management platform for organizations managing security across many sites. We don’t require customers to buy our recording hardware, but we offer it for those who want a validated platform. Today that portfolio includes PowerProtect, based on Dell platforms, and Vantage, built with a contract manufacturer.

The job has a clear progression. At first, you’ll spend most of your time on hardware product management: the roadmap, platform configurations, performance and cost tradeoffs, lifecycle decisions, and a dependable source of product specifications. Over roughly the next two years, more of your work will be building a certified-manufacturer program: a model in which qualified partners can build and sell Salient-certified platforms under license, with commercial terms and reporting that work in practice.

That progression is the opportunity. Not many roles let you steward a live hardware portfolio and design the partner-led program that changes its economics in the same seat. It is a way to broaden from strong platform product management into commercial and program leadership, with outcomes you can point to on both sides.

What you’ll do

• Set the platform direction. Own a rolling roadmap for PowerProtect and Vantage, including platform tiers, configurations, and when to add, consolidate, or retire a SKU. Work with Engineering to identify the performance questions worth testing, interpret the results, and make product calls that balance workload, reliability, availability, and margin.
• Make lifecycle predictable. Establish clear policies for support windows, end-of-life notice, last-time buys, spares, and migration paths. Stay ahead of component and operating-system changes, and give Sales, Support, OEM partners, and customers time to act. A hardware change can mean a visit to a customer’s site, so the notice matters as much as the spreadsheet.
• Create one reliable product record. Own validated specifications for shipping configurations and help turn the current source of truth into a structured system. Keep datasheets, price books, quoting tools, the website, and sizing guidance aligned with it. We appreciate a good spreadsheet; we just don’t want it to be the only thing that knows which configuration is current.
• Own the commercial tradeoffs. Manage BOM-cost targets, pricing structure, and margin by platform. Work with Finance and Operations on forecasts and inventory exposure, and make sensible calls when component costs or supply conditions change.
• Build the certified-manufacturer program. Help recruit and qualify partners, define what certification requires, shape licensing and royalty terms, and make the reporting auditable without making the program impossible to operate. Work with Engineering and Product on the systems needed to support it. The goal is a repeatable commercial model, not a nice-looking partner slide.
• Be the connective tissue. Work closely with contract manufacturers, OEM partners, Engineering, Operations, Sales, and Support, including visits with manufacturing and OEM partners. You’ll be the person people turn to for a clear answer about the platforms, and you’ll build the systems that make those answers easier to find.

This role reports to the VP of Product. You’ll work closely with the people who know the current portfolio as you take ownership of it, rather than being expected to learn two product lines by osmosis.

What you’ll bring

• About five or more years managing networked or appliance-class hardware products, such as servers, recorders, or gateways, through launch, revision, and end of life.
• Firsthand accountability for platform cost, price, and margin, as well as the judgment to make tradeoffs when the numbers and the technical ideal disagree.
• Experience with product qualification, performance evidence, component substitutions, and lifecycle decisions.
• Experience working with OEMs, ODMs, or contract manufacturers, including the practical details of specifications and build changes.
• Comfort with server architecture and storage, and the ability to turn test results into a product recommendation.
• Experience building or running a partner, certification, licensing, or other commercially accountable program, or a strong track record that shows you can take on that next step.
• Writing and communication that make a roadmap, policy, or business case useful to both executives and technical teams.
• Video security experience, familiarity with channel sales, and experience guiding a hardware portfolio through a structural change would all be useful. We care more about sound judgment and evidence of ownership than a particular degree.

What a good first year looks like

There is a roadmap for both product lines, a lifecycle policy people can actually use, and a dependable path from validated specs to customer-facing information. Platform pricing and margin decisions are deliberate rather than reactive. The certified-manufacturer program has clearer qualification and commercial mechanics and is beginning to generate measurable royalty revenue.

You will inherit real products, real partners, and real decisions. You will also get to leave the portfolio and the program in better shape than you found them. That’s a satisfying kind of work, and one you can point to long after the launch announcement has scrolled away.

Additional Requirements

This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship

Candidates will be subject to a background check in accordance with federal and state regulations.

Equal Employment Opportunity Salient Systems is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.
This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and transfer. Salient Systems makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.