Director of Product - Platform

1X • San Carlos, CA

3d • Onsite

About The Position

1X is building humanoid robots that work in any space humans exist, with the mission to create an abundance of labor. This involves solving robotics, AI, software, hardware, manufacturing, and operations simultaneously at scale. NEO is their flagship general-purpose robot designed to move, learn, and operate alongside people, and it is being shipped, not just demoed. The 1X Developer Platform aims to enable developers to build apps, integrations, and fine-tuned world models for 1X robots and potentially others. Software built on this platform will be available in a 1X app store that verifies safety, security, and privacy. This is positioned as the first large-scale robot developer platform offering more than a low-level SDK, involving the entire software engineering organization at 1X. The Director of Product - Platform will own the end-to-end developer platform experience, aiming for customer trust and adoption as APIs and services are rolled out incrementally. The role involves managing technical debt, in-development APIs, and competing priorities. The focus is on deeply understanding customers (commercial & consumer), prioritizing needs against engineering constraints, shipping effectively, and building an ecosystem on top of a single product. This role is critical as customers need the software to customize and extend robot capabilities and create new businesses.

Requirements

• 10+ years in product management, including time owning a platform product end to end.
• Proven track record of building developer or infrastructure platforms used by external customers, not internal-only tools.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and develop product managers, as a Group Product Manager, Director, or product lead running a pod.
• Experience improving APIs while customers actively depend on the product.
• Demonstrated ability to set and defend a prioritized roadmap grounded in customer outcomes.
• Translate complex technical systems into simple product experiences that delight our customers.
• Set product strategy grounded in the why, and hold a prioritized roadmap against constant pressure to do more.
• Operate with focus when everything is urgent, choosing the few things that matter and finishing them.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in engineering or design before moving into product management.
• Exposure to hardware and software products shipped together.
• Familiarity with products serving small and medium businesses.
• Experience founding or building a company from early stage.

Responsibilities

• Own platform product strategy and deliver a clear, prioritized roadmap that answers why a thing matters, not just what ships next.
• Drive measurable gains in customer confidence and platform adoption, so customers succeed on the platform rather than working around it.
• Work closely with the partnerships team to understand customers, both commercial and consumer, and anticipate customer needs in long-term roadmaps.
• Lead API improvement while customers actively depend on the product, designing platform APIs that stay reliable for the long term without versioning or breaking customer software.
• Simplify the platform experience by making complex technology feel obvious, reducing friction, and creating secure, intuitive paths through the product.
• Build and develop the product management team, mentoring product managers and raising the standard for product documentation and written communication.
• Drive focus across competing priorities, resolving tradeoffs inside the team rather than escalating them to the executive team.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Generous paid time off, company holidays, and parental leave
• 401(k) plan with company match (100% on the first 3% of contributions, 50% on the next 2%)
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) and Health Savings Accounts (HSA) options
• Commuter benefits (transit and parking)
• Short-term and long-term disability, and life insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for mental health, financial, and personal support
• Onsite snacks and catered lunches

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed