Technical Product Manager - Vehicle Diagnostics (Hybrid)

This role is based in Troy, Michigan, and follows a hybrid work model, requiring in-office presence three days per week.

Please note: Due to the in-office requirement, we will only be considering candidates that are local to the Metro Detroit area at this time.

Detroit Labs was founded in 2011 with a vision for building digital products, services, and the teams that power them. We create digital solutions that transform the way our clients do business. We build genuine relationships based on respect, trust, and results. We foster a diverse and inclusive culture that values people - providing them with the tools, resources, and support they need to thrive professionally, exceed client expectations, and be themselves at work. We have a variety of client teams we work with ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies so there are always new and exciting projects going on.

About the Technical Product Manager Role

The Technical Delivery Lead role is part of our staffing unit and will be embedded on a client team that is a startup Electric Vehicle company that is transforming the battery electric vehicle space, building affordable, highly personalizable trucks without a built-in screen. The mobile App is how owners understand what is happening inside their vehicle — reading ECU signals, surfacing diagnostic trouble codes, and guiding owners and technicians through structured repair routines. Getting diagnostics right is foundational to the success of this application.

As a Technical Senior Product Manager, you will own vehicle diagnostics and diagnostic routines within the mobile application. This is a narrowly scoped but deeply technical role. You will define how the app retrieves and presents ECU signal data through the SGIM (Secure Gateway & Ignition Module), how diagnostic trouble codes are interpreted and surfaced to users in plain language, and how guided diagnostic routines walk owners and service technicians step-by-step through structured troubleshooting and repair validation. You are comfortable working directly from ECU signal specifications and interface contracts with electrical engineering software. You ensure that diagnostic features are complete when a user can complete the full diagnostic job end-to-end with confidence: from alert through root cause through a validated resolution. You will own this domain from the DV milestone through V1.0 launch and into the post-launch roadmap.

Our Application

At Detroit Labs, a member of our team will read over every application (including yours), and will review your resume in addition to your responses to the application questions.

To help us get to know you better, we encourage you to answer these questions genuinely and honestly. We value each applicant and want to learn about the real you. Be yourself in your responses, and our team will look forward to understanding what you can bring to this role!

Requirements:
• 10+ years of experience in software product management or a related technical role.
• 7+ years of experience building and shipping technical products at the hardware-software interface: connected devices, IoT, automotive telematics, industrial diagnostics, or equivalent.
• Demonstrated ability to work directly from embedded system or hardware interface specifications — ECU signal dictionaries, API contracts, communication protocol docs, or equivalent — and translate them into precise, buildable product requirements.
• Experience defining products with meaningfully different access and permission models across consumer and expert/technician user types.
• Excellent communication skills; able to write crisp PRDs, represent technical tradeoffs clearly to engineering partners, and present status and strategy to senior leadership.
• Strong analytical skills; experience defining instrumentation requirements and using data to drive product decisions post-launch.

Responsibilities

Diagnostics

• Define the product vision and detailed requirements for vehicle diagnostics in the Slate Mobile App: ECU signal monitoring, diagnostic trouble code (DTC) reading and interpretation, and real-time vehicle state visibility across all relevant systems.
• Own the core diagnostic UX — how raw ECU signal values are presented alongside acceptable min/max ranges and plain-language status so that an everyday owner understands what is happening with their vehicle without needing a technician to interpret raw data.
• Define the permission and access model for diagnostics across the Owner and Service Technician user types: what signal data each role can see, what depth of access each is granted, and how the app enforces those boundaries through the SGIM authorization flow.
• Define the plugged-in vs. unplugged behavior for all diagnostic features: which capabilities require a live phone-to-vehicle connection, which can display last-known values, and how the app communicates data freshness and connection state accurately to the user.

Diagnostic Routines

• Define the guided diagnostic routine product: structured step-by-step troubleshooting flows that prompt the user, dispatch commands to the relevant ECUs via the SGIM, receive and validate vehicle-side responses, and present clear pass/fail or next-step outcomes at each stage.
• Own the advanced diagnostics experience for service technicians: deeper ECU signal access, dedicated structured support guidance, and the ability to validate that repair actions have produced the expected vehicle response before closing a routine.
• Work with Electrical Engineering Software to define the ECU dispatch model for routine execution: which signals and commands are sent, what response values constitute a valid outcome, how timeout and error states are handled, and what the app displays at each failure mode.
• •Define how completed diagnostic routines are recorded — what data is captured, how it is associated with the vehicle VIN, and what the service history entry looks like for both owner-executed and technician-executed routines.

Technical Partnership & Delivery

• Partner with Electrical Engineering Software to define and maintain the SGIM interface contract for all diagnostic and routine features: authentication flows, ECU signal mappings, authorization scopes, and the data validation model that ensures the vehicle is always the authority for signal values and action execution.
• Write detailed product requirements documents (PRDs) for all diagnostic APIs, signal presentation logic, and routine execution flows with sufficient fidelity for EE SW and Mobile Engineering to build and for QA to verify on software development bucks and DV vehicles.
• Own the diagnostics domain within the Mobile App milestone plan: Feature Complete for Diagnostics and Diagnostic Routines by DV on May 4, 2026; included in V1.0 Feature Complete by August 10, 2026.
• Define success metrics specific to diagnostics: diagnostic journey completion rate, routine completion rate, technician session success rate, and help-seeking rate per diagnostic workflow — and specify instrumentation requirements so these are tracked from launch day.

Benefits:
• The salary range for this role is from $150,000 - $170,000 commensurate with experience.
• Full medical, dental, vision benefits
• 401K contribution options
• Quarterly outings and events
• Paid holidays and vacation time
• Parental leave program
• Monthly budgets for “team fun” bonding events
• Free lunch for various company meetings and Lunch & Learns
• All-company remote-friendly activities
• Plenty of Detroit Labs swages
• Plenty of Detroit Labs swag