Senior Product Manager, Teleoperation New Austin, TX

Apptronik Systems, Inc.; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Apptronik Systems, Inc. is seeking a Product Manager to drive the Teleoperation roadmap, translating market needs into actionable roadmaps across hardware and software.

You will own the teleoperation interface, VR/XR rigs, and data-collection workflows, partnering with design and engineering to deliver operator-centric products. You bring at least 7 years in product management, a background in human factors or HCI, and hands-on experience with teleoperation of autonomous systems.

Qualifications

• Experience shipping VR/XR or immersive interface products to real users.
• Background in human factors, HCI, or applied ergonomics.
• Experience with teleoperation or remote operation of physical systems.
• Strong analytical skills with data-driven decision making.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Ability to make decisions in uncertainty and prioritize velocity.
• Advocating for operator feedback to internal teams.

Responsibilities

• Own and maintain Teleoperation roadmap: scope, sequencing, feature priorities across operator interface and data workflows.
• Define requirements for teleoperation interface — VR/XR rigs, control mappings, haptic/visual feedback, displays.
• Apply human factors rigor to operator experience: cognitive load, ergonomics, latency tolerance, learnability.
• Partner with Data Collection to maximize throughput and quality of teleoperated data.
• Connect operator experience to training outcomes and demonstrations for robot learning.
• Define and own customer-facing fine-tuning workflow for deployed robots, including safety controls.
• Write clear requirements docs and diagrams for engineering and cross-functional teams.
• Prioritize use cases by business impact and customer value.
• Collaborate with UX/UX Research and industrial design to validate interfaces.
• Synthesize insights from operator feedback, usage data, and customer meetings into strategy.

Skills

VR/XR products

Human factors / HCI

Teleoperation experience

Data-driven decision making

Communication skills

Decision making under uncertainty

Advocating for operator feedback

Education

Bachelor’s in HCI or Engineering

Cognitive science background

Job description

Apptronik is a human-centered robotics company developing AI-powered robots to support humanity in every facet of life. Our flagship humanoid robot, Apollo, is built to collaborate thoughtfully with people, starting with critical industries such as manufacturing and logistics, with future applications in healthcare, the home, and beyond.

We operate at the cutting edge of embodied AI, applying our expertise across the full robotics stack to solve some of society's most important problems. You will join a team dedicated to bringing Apollo to market at scale, tackling the complex challenges like safety, commercialization, and mass production to change the world for the better.

JOB SUMMARY

You will focus on driving the product vision, ensuring seamless execution across the complex hardware/software divide, and translating market demands into user-oriented, executable product roadmaps.

You will own the teleoperation product: a first-rate interface for teleoperated data collection, serving both our data collection environment and customers who want to improve fleet performance. You will draw on virtual reality / XR experience and a human factors background to create interfaces genuinely suited to the operators who use them, maximizing data throughput and quality while keeping operators effective, comfortable, and safe.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES or KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Own and maintain the Teleoperation roadmap: scope, sequencing, and feature priorities across the operator interface, data collection workflows, and customer fine-tuning workflows.
• Define requirements for the teleoperation interface — VR/XR rigs, control mappings, haptic and visual feedback, and situational-awareness displays — in partnership with design and engineering.
• Apply human factors rigor to the operator experience: cognitive load, fatigue, ergonomics, latency tolerance, embodiment mismatch, motion sickness, learnability, and time-to-proficiency.
• Partner with Data Collection operations to maximize teleoperated data collection throughput and quality.
• Connect operator experience to training outcomes: define the metrics that tie interface quality to the quality of demonstrations used for robot learning.
• Define and own the customer-facing fine-tuning workflow for deployed robots, including permissioning, safety controls, and operation over real-world networks.
• Define product features/enhancements and communicate requirements to engineering teams via clearly written requirements documents, diagrams, and concise verbal communication.
• Prioritize use cases based on business impact, feasibility, and customer needs, and ensure product development efforts align with real-world economic value for customers.
• Partner with UX, UX Research, and industrial design to validate and refine operator interfaces before deployment.
• Synthesize insights from operator feedback, usage data, customer meetings, and data-quality metrics into a strategy that delivers business objectives.

SKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS

• Demonstrated experience shipping virtual reality, XR, or immersive interface products to real users.
• Background in human factors, HCI, or applied ergonomics — you understand how to design interfaces suited to operators, and how to measure operator performance and comfort.
• Experience with teleoperation or remote operation of physical systems (robots, vehicles, drones, or similar).
• Strong analytical skills with experience in performance tracking and data-driven decision-making.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, enabling translation of technical insights into business impact.
• You make decisions in uncertainty, prioritizing velocity over perfection.
• You prioritize operator and user feedback, promoting and advocating for that voice to internal teams.

NICE TO HAVE

• Familiarity with robot learning data pipelines — imitation learning, demonstration quality, and what makes teleoperated data useful for training.
• Experience working with customers in light and heavy duty industrial environments.
• Experience deploying products into industrial or warehouse environments.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

• At least 7 years of experience in product management. Bachelor’s in HCI or Engineering preferred.
• Experience in human factors, HCI, cognitive science, or a related field.
• Experience with motion capture, hand tracking, or haptic input devices.
• Experience with autonomous robots or autonomous vehicles.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Must be able to lift 15 pounds at times.
• Vision to read printed materials and a computer screen.
• Hearing and speech to communicate.
• Ability to wear and operate VR/XR headsets and teleoperation rigs for evaluation purposes.

Apptronik provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.