Product Manager Smarcel (m/w/d)

We want to revolutionize parcel logistics again - with mobile package robots that fit every parking space, and a seamless automation of the last mile. The start is made by Smarcel ONE: with a strong industrial partner, with several of the largest European package delivery companies as pilot customers. On the same platform, Smarcel WALLGATE and Smarcel CABIN are emerging next. Exactly for that we're looking for you.

Innovative Robot Delivery GmbH - Smarcel - was founded in 2021 and develops automated parcel infrastructure for the last mile. Three products, one platform: the mobile Smarcel ONE Locker, the integrated Smarcel CABIN into the delivery vehicle, and the wall-integrated Smarcel WALLGATE.

Founded by experienced logistics and product experts (including the inventors of DHL-Packstation), we're currently working with leading European package delivery companies on concrete pilot projects. Behind us stands an established set of investors that has continuously accompanied us over the years.

Our lab and office are located in Cologne-Rodenkirchen. We're a small, agile team with short decision-making paths and a clear mission: to rethink last-mile logistics in Europe.

Aufgaben

Your role

You sit at the interface between our customers, our software and hardware teams, and our industrial partners. You are responsible for our Smarcel products overall: from customer and market requirements to technical development and IT interfaces up to pilotage and market success.

The focus of the role is on the further development of our Smarcel platform. With Smarcel ONE, we've laid the foundation. On this platform, we're now developing the next two products together with our industrial partners and customers: Smarcel WALLGATE as a wall-integrated, high-capacity package transfer and Smarcel CABIN as automation in the delivery vehicle.

Specifically:

• Industrial partner: You are the central interface to our industrial partners across all three products. Common roadmap, technical development, delivery and series issues for Smarcel ONE, joint industrialization of WALLGATE and CABIN.
• Platform further development: You drive WALLGATE and CABIN forward based on the ONE platform.
• Customer and market requirements: You take customer requirements from leading package delivery companies and translate them into clear product requirements for our internal teams and industrial partners.
• Pilot steering: You plan and steer the pilots, define together with customers the KPIs and ensure pilot and market success.
• Technical development & IT interfaces: You accompany technical development and IT interfaces to customers and partners.
• Cost and performance targets: You define cost targets and performance indicators for our products and keep them in mind throughout the development and rollout process.
• Milestones & status updates: You monitor milestones, timelines, and deliverables and ensure that management always knows where we stand.

Qualifikation

What you bring

We're not looking for a classic corporate product manager - we're looking for someone with enthusiasm to develop a completely new product platform, to maintain intense contact with customers and industrial partners, and to be willing to build on an actual startup journey.

• Completed studies in engineering, economics, business administration, or comparable
• First-hand experience in product or project management, ideally with customer contact and/or in the hardware-software environment
• Experience in coordinating with external development or production partners is a clear plus
• Structured, analytical, and practice-oriented working style
• Excellent communication and coordination skills - you bring people together from developers to customer-facing staff
• Entrepreneurial thinking, self-reliance, and the willingness to create something of your own
• Travel readiness for regular visits to our industrial partners and customers in Europe
• Residence in the Cologne area or willingness to relocate there, desirable
• Fluent in German and English (our partners and customers are international)

Benefits

What we offer

• Market-average fixed salary (depending on experience)
• Participation in the company's success (VSOP) - we want you not only to be a colleague but also a co-founder. If we're successful, you'll benefit from it.
• Direct line to everyone - we're a small team without hierarchies. Your ideas will be heard and taken seriously, decisions are made at the table, not in loops.
• Responsibility from day one - you'll immediately take on your own topics and partners, and won't spend two years getting settled.
• Flexible working - you can work from home, ideally we see each other 2-3 times a week in our lab and office in Cologne-Rodenkirchen.
• Steep learning curve - at the interface of robotics, AI, and logistics innovation, with international partners and customers.
• A product with meaning - we're making the last mile more efficient, automated, and sustainable.

To be honest

We're a startup. That means: short paths, quick decisions, but also unfinished processes, occasional chaos, and a lot of responsibility from day one. If you're looking for clear structures, long onboarding times, and corporate comfort - we're probably not the right employer for you. If you want to shape things and are willing to step out of your comfort zone – then we're looking forward to you.

Does that sound like you?

If so, send us your CV and a few lines on why you're excited about this role.

We don't need a classic application. Three to five sentences on why you're exactly right for this job are enough. We'll get back to you within a week.