---
title: 'Director of Product Management - Hardware at Taara'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/director-of-product-management-hardware-taara-sunnyvale-c8wndxcamgwn'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-17'
---

# Director of Product Management - Hardware at Taara

- **Company:** Taara
- **Location:** Sunnyvale, CA
- **Compensation:** $200k–$250k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-10-14
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-17
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/taaraconnect/2932d39a-1523-4e7c-a542-d4be0a8daa8f/application

**Skills:** Product Management, Product Roadmapping, Telecommunications, Networking Concepts, FCAPS, Fiber Optics, Microwave Technology, Layer 2 Switching, On-prem Deployments, Backlog Management, Stakeholder Management, Optical Systems, Wireless Backhaul Technologies, AI-driven Systems, Data Analytics

> The Director of Product Management will shape Taara's product portfolio, owning product direction from customer needs to revenue-driving capabilities. This role involves defining the roadmap, collaborating with engineering and sales, and mentoring team members to build scalable solutions in the optical wireless netw...

## Job description

## About the Team

Taara extends and amplifies global communications infrastructure using beams of light to deliver high-speed connectivity. Born at X, Google’s moonshot factory, Taara works with telecommunications providers, partners, and internal teams to plan, deploy, and operate optical wireless networks around the world. As Taara scales, we are building a new category of connectivity, combining the speed of fiber with the flexibility of wireless. Taara is seeking a Director of Product Management - Hardware to help define this category, drive adoption, and build products that solve real customer problems while scaling revenue.

## About the Role

This role is responsible for shaping the product strategy and commercialization of Taara's emerging chip-based technologies. You will identify new market applications, understand customer needs, and define product roadmaps that translate technical capabilities into commercially viable products, including opportunities for high-volume adoption. You will partner closely with engineering, business development, and customers to translate market insights into product requirements, influence technical direction, and identify new applications for Taara's technologies. This role is ideal for someone who is comfortable operating in ambiguity, has strong technical depth, and is excited about building products in a frontier technology space.

## What You Will Own

- Define long term product strategies and roadmaps for Taara's chip-based technologies, identifying emerging new market opportunities and establishing key milestones to reduce commercialization risk.
- Own product outcomes, including market validation, product adoption, commercial viability, and contribution to long-term revenue growth.
- Translate customer needs into clear product requirements, while balancing user experience, technical feasibility, and business impact
- Partner with engineering to deliver high-quality products on time
- Partner closely with ASIC and PIC engineering teams to translate market feedback into product requirements and influence technical direction.
- Engage directly with customers and industry stakeholders to uncover unmet needs, identify emerging applications, and validate product-market fit.
- Collaborate with business development, sales, and cross-functional teams to evaluate new market opportunities and support successful commercialization and adoption.
- Prioritize product and technology investments based on market opportunity, customer needs, technical feasibility and commercialization risk.
- Evaluate market size, pricing, unit economics, and total cost of ownership to guide product strategy and commercialization decisions.

## How You Will Make 10x Impact

- Identify and develop new market opportunities for Taara's chip-based technologies, unlocking new applications, revenue streams, and long-term commercial growth.
- Translate customer and market needs into product solutions that address real-world challenges and enable broader commercial adoption.
- Establish long-term product direction in an evolving market, identifying critical milestones, strategic tradeoffs, and opportunities to reduce commercialization risk.
- Expand Taara's addressable market by identifying applications for its chip-based technologies beyond traditional telecommunications and connectivity infrastructure.
- Translate complex telecom and infrastructure challenges into scalable product solutions
- Bridge technology, and commercial strategy to develop differentiated products with the potential for high-volume adoption.

## What You Should Have

- 10+ years of product management experience in semiconductor or chip-based product development and commercialization.
- Experience bringing semiconductor-based technologies into commercially successful products, with an understanding of product integration, market requirements, and high-volume adoption.
- Strong understanding of data networking concepts (e.g. OSI model)
- Strong understanding of semiconductor technologies, chip-to-system integration, and the technical requirements involved in bringing chip-based products to market.
- Ability to think long term and develop products for the future
- Demonstrated ability to identify emerging market opportunities and translate long-term technology potential into actionable product strategies, roadmaps, and commercialization milestones.
- Experience owning product roadmaps and driving cross-functional execution
- Ability to translate customer needs into clear product direction and prioritized backlogs
- Strong analytical and commercial judgment, including the ability to evaluate market size, pricing, unit economics, total cost of ownership, and product viability.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
- Excellent communication skills and ability to influence stakeholders

## Nice to Have

- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field; MBA preferred.
- Experience building products for telecom operators or large infrastructure customers
- Experience developing semiconductor-based products for industries such as telecommunications, automotive, robotics, or other high-volume commercial applications.
- Familiarity with optical systems or wireless backhaul technologies
- Familiarity with silicon photonics, optical systems, or high-speed communication technologies.
- Experience working in startup or high-growth environments

The US base salary range for this full-time position is $200,000-$250,000 + bonus + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your location during the hiring process.

## About Taara

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Taara uses invisible beams of light to deliver high-speed, low-latency wireless internet connectivity, acting as a fiber alternative for hard-to-reach areas.
- **Entity Type**: Private (spun out from X, Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory in March 2025; backed by Series X Capital, with Alphabet retaining a minority stake)
- **Headquarters**: Sunnyvale, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2025 (spin-out); predecessor Project Taara began in 2017
- **Founders**: Mahesh Krishnaswamy

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Telecommunications technology / Free-space optical communications
- **Target customers**: B2B – mobile operators, wireless ISPs, fiber operators, enterprises, smart city operators, government/emergency response, and innovation partners (satellite operators, photonics companies)
- **Mission**: “Bringing high-speed, affordable and abundant connectivity to people everywhere using beams of light.”

## Products & Services
- **Taara Lightbridge**: Free-space optical terminal delivering up to 20 Gbps over line-of-sight distances up to 20 km with carrier-grade availability. Used for backhaul, fronthaul, and mesh.
- **Taara Lightbridge Pro**: Enhanced version offering “five nines” (99.999%) availability for mission-critical networks.
- **Taara Beam**: First product built on Taara's Integrated Photonics Platform, designed for expansion with flexibility in a smaller form factor.
- **Integrated Photonics Platform**: Silicon photonics chip that uses light to transmit data through the air, enabling miniaturized terminals and reduced mechanical complexity.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding – undisclosed round led by Series X Capital at spin-out (2025); Alphabet retains minority stake
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Series X Capital, Alphabet (via X Development); strategic partners include T‑Mobile, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Econet Group, Digicomm International
- **Growth Signals**: Deployments in over 20 countries across Africa, India, North America, and Southeast Asia; recognized as TIME Best Invention of 2024 and Fast Company World Changing Ideas Award; successful live events connectivity (Coachella, Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta with T‑Mobile)

## Competitive Advantages
- **No trenching or spectrum licensing**: Light beams travel through air, avoiding costly fiber deployment and radio spectrum constraints.
- **Rapid deployment**: Can be deployed in hours instead of months – ideal for disaster recovery and temporary capacity.
- **Silicon photonics platform**: Proprietary chip technology that shrinks hardware and lowers cost, enabling mass scalability.
- **Fiber-class performance**: Delivers symmetrical 20 Gbps+ with ultra-low latency, competing directly with fiber in capacity.

## Strategic Focus
- **Expand photonics-based connectivity** beyond telecom into data centers, industrial campuses, and satellite communications.
- **Scale manufacturing** of its Integrated Photonics Platform to serve global demand.
- **Deepen partnerships** with mobile operators, internet service providers, and government entities to close the digital divide.

## Why Work Here
- **Innovation pedigree**: Born inside X (Google’s Moonshot Factory) – a culture of tackling world-scale challenges with ambitious technology.
- **Mission-driven impact**: Work directly on bringing affordable internet to underserved communities and disaster zones.
- **Cutting-edge tech**: Hands-on with advanced photonics, optical engineering, and system-level hardware/software design.
- **Growth phase**: Recently spun out as an independent company – opportunity to shape engineering culture and processes from an early stage.
- **Hybrid/office**: Based in Sunnyvale, CA; roles range from hardware engineering (optical, mechanical, FPGA) to software (backend, Linux, cloud) and go-to-market (sales, customer success). Per company careers page: open roles include Principal Optical Engineer, Director of Product Management, Senior Backend Software Engineer, etc.
- **Perks & culture**: Described as “a new technological era” with a focus on collaboration, rapid iteration, and global impact.

## Sources
1. [taaraconnect.com](https://www.taaraconnect.com/) – Homepage product details
2. [taaraconnect.com/careers](https://www.taaraconnect.com/careers) – Open roles and engineering focus
3. [taaraconnect.com/about](https://www.taaraconnect.com/about) – Leadership, history, milestones
4. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taara_(company)) – Company overview, spin-out, funding, deployments

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