Product Management Intern

Parallel Systems • Los Angeles, CA

9h

About The Position

Parallel Systems is seeking a Product Intern to help shape the software platform used by its team, operators, and rail partners to run an autonomous freight network. This hands-on role involves owning a real product problem and working at the intersection of engineering, operations, and customers. The intern will speak with users, analyze data, define requirements, and collaborate with software engineers to scope and deliver a platform feature.

The intern will own a specific product problem aligned with team priorities. Example areas include user and customer research; turning research into problem statements, user stories, and engineering requirements; collaborating with engineering and design to prioritize, build, and launch features; improving fleet operations workflows; defining success metrics and analyzing fleet and usage data; and assessing opportunities, competition, and tradeoffs to inform the roadmap. Work will follow a product lifecycle from discovery and problem definition through requirements, engineering delivery, launch, and results measurement.

The 12-week program includes onboarding and platform orientation, project assignment and user discovery, requirements and design reviews, build and testing support, and launch or handoff with measurement, documentation, recommendations, and a presentation to the broader team. Progress is tracked through weekly mentor check-ins, specification and design reviews, and feedback from engineering, operations, and users.

The posted target hourly range is $50–$50 USD. Final compensation will depend on the candidate’s final level. The range represents base compensation only and does not include equity or benefits, if applicable. Parallel Systems is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities during the application and interview process and in performing essential job functions.

Requirements

• Currently pursuing a degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Hands-on product, engineering, or startup experience through internships, student teams, research, or personal projects.
• Technical fluency sufficient to read code, understand system architecture, and discuss tradeoffs with engineers.
• Experience working with data, such as writing SQL or analyzing data in Python or spreadsheets.
• Strong written communication, including the ability to write clear, concise specifications and documents.
• Ability to structure ambiguous problems and drive work forward with limited direction.
• Excitement about working in a hard-tech environment where software meets physical vehicles and real operations.

Nice To Haves

• Prior software engineering or product management internship, or experience shipping a software product at a startup or on a student team.
• Experience conducting user interviews or usability testing and translating findings into requirements.
• Experience building prototypes or simple apps, or comfort with design tools such as Figma.
• Familiarity with B2B, enterprise, or operations software.
• Interest in logistics, transportation, rail, robotics, or industrial technology.
• Experience with hands-on extracurricular engineering teams such as Formula SAE, robotics, autonomous systems teams, or similar.
• Strong documentation habits and attention to detail.

Responsibilities

• Own a specific product problem on the software platform, scoped to team priorities.
• Interview operators, rail partners, and internal teams to understand workflows and pain points.
• Turn research into clear problem statements, user stories, and requirements for engineers.
• Work with engineering and design to scope, prioritize, build, and launch a platform feature.
• Improve workflows for monitoring, dispatching, and managing vehicles and freight.
• Define success metrics, query fleet and usage data, and use findings to inform product decisions.
• Assess opportunities, the competitive landscape, and tradeoffs to inform the product roadmap.
• Support feature building and testing, conduct user feedback sessions, and iterate on scope.
• Measure early results, document findings and recommended next steps, and present outcomes to the broader team.

What This Job Offers

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