Product Manager - Localization & Navigation (All genders)
About Us
STARK is a new kind of defence technology company revolutionising the way autonomous systems are deployed across multiple domains. We design, develop, and manufacture high-performance unmanned systems that are software-defined, mass-scalable, and cost-effective - providing operators with a decisive edge in contested environments.
We are focused on delivering deployable, high-performance systems - not future promises. In a time of rising threats, STARK is bolstering the technological edge of NATO Allies and their Partners to deter aggression and defend Europe, today
Your mission
You will own the product roadmap for one of the hardest and most consequential capabilities in our autonomy stack: how our platforms know where they are when GPS isn't available or can't be trusted. You won't be writing the estimation filters yourself, but you'll be translating deep technical complexity into a roadmap that ships, and making sure engineering effort lands on the problems that matter most. Success looks like a localization capability that improves predictably, release over release, with clear priorities that the technical team trusts.Responsibilities
Own and drive the product roadmap for localization and navigation
Translate platform-level requirements and operational needs into clear, prioritized technical requirements for engineering
Partner closely with engineering leadership to balance roadmap ambition against technical feasibility, risk, and timeline
Define and track success metrics for localization performance (accuracy, robustness, drift, time-to-reacquisition) in product terms
Run the prioritization process: gather input from engineering, systems, and field/operations stakeholders, then make the call
Represent the localization roadmap to the Head of Product and cross-functional leadership, including trade-off decisions and risk
Maintain close visibility into technical constraints and emerging approaches without owning the technical architecture directly
Write clear product requirement docs, acceptance criteria, and release narratives that engineering can build against
Track competitive and technological landscape developments relevant to GNSS-independent navigation
Qualifications
5+ years of product management experience, with demonstrated ownership of a technically complex roadmap
Strong technical fluency in localization, state estimation, or autonomy software - gained through close partnership with engineering (not necessarily as a hands-on engineer)
Proven ability to translate ambiguous, technically dense problems into clear product requirements and prioritized roadmaps
Track record of working directly with GNC, perception, or autonomy engineering teams to ship complex technical capability
Strong stakeholder management skills, with experience presenting roadmap and trade-off decisions to senior leadership
Excellent written communication: PRDs, requirements docs, and roadmap narratives that engineers can act on without a follow-up meeting
Fluent English; German is a plus
Nice to have
Background in robotics, autonomous vehicles, aerospace, or defence-adjacent product management
Familiarity with SLAM, or sensor fusion concepts at a working (non-implementation) level
Experience working on products where performance must hold under adversarial or degraded operating conditions
Prior experience in a startup or fast-scaling engineering organization
Technical degree (engineering, robotics, physics, or similar) even without a hands-on engineering career