Principal Hardware Product Manager – Security Appliances

OPSWAT a global leader in IT OT and ICS critical infrastructure cybersecurity delivers an end-to-end platform that gives public and private sector organizations and enterprises the critical advantage needed to protect their complex networks secure their devices and ensure compliance. Over the last 20 years our commitment to innovative technology has earned the trust of more than 1700 organizations governments and institutions globally solidifying our role in protecting the worlds critical infrastructure and securing our way of life.

About the Role

We are looking for a Principal Hardware Product Manager to own the strategy roadmap and lifecycle of our security appliance portfolio. Our appliances sit at the front line of our customers most sensitive environments critical infrastructure defense government and enterprise OT/IT boundaries and the physical platform is as much a part of the security promise as the software running on it.

This role is the single point of accountability for the hardware itself: from market and customer requirements through industrial design and NPI to certification mass production sustaining and end-of-life. You will operate at the intersection of hardware engineering supply chain software product and compliance translating business strategy into a hardware portfolio that is differentiated certifiable manufacturable and serviceable at scale.

This is a builder role for someone who thinks in product speaks the language of EEs and supply chain and is comfortable owning million-dollar BOM and inventory decisions alongside go-to-market positioning.

Key Responsibilities

Hardware Roadmap & Lifecycle Ownership

• Own the multi-year hardware roadmap across the appliance portfolio SKU strategy form factors performance tiers refresh cadence and platform consolidation.
• Drive the full NPI lifecycle (Concept Proto EVT DVT PVT Mass Production) in partnership with hardware engineering and operations owning gate criteria schedule and go/no-go decisions.
• Manage product lifecycle stages end-to-end General Availability sustaining End-of-Sale End-of-Service and End-of-Life including last-time-buy planning customer migration paths and field replacement strategy.
• Define and publish lifecycle policies (support windows RMA terms spare-parts SLAs) that customers sales and support can rely on.
• Own the appliance P&L levers the PM controls: BOM cost targets ASP margin attach rates refresh-driven revenue and inventory exposure.

Hardware Innovation & Competitive Differentiation

• Translate customer market and threat-landscape insights into hardware requirements performance ports/throughput tamper resistance secure boot TPM/HSM integration ruggedization and physical security features.
• Run structured competitive analysis against peer security appliance vendors; identify and close hardware gaps and create defensible differentiation.
• Evaluate and pilot emerging technologies new silicon (x86 ARM custom acceleration) networking interfaces storage AI/ML acceleration secure enclaves and decide what graduates into the roadmap.
• Own the appliance design language and customer experience: chassis indicators serviceability deployment ergonomics for both SOC operators and non-technical field users.
• Build the hardware business case for each new platform: TAM/SAM target customer profile pricing projected volumes payback period and risk register.

Certifications & Regulatory Compliance

• Own the certification roadmap across the portfolio: FIPS 140-3 Common Criteria / NIAP (against the relevant Protection Profiles e.g. NDcPP) DoDIN APL FCC/CE/UKCA UL/IEC 62368 RoHS/REACH and country-specific marks.
• Sequence certifications against customer demand and revenue impact scope budget schedule and lab selection and manage them as first-class roadmap items not afterthoughts.
• Coordinate with software PM and compliance engineering on dependencies between hardware certifications and the cryptographic modules / OS / firmware they validate against.
• Maintain a certification matrix by SKU and by market and ensure sales marketing and customers always have accurate current claims.
• Plan for recertification delta evaluations and assurance maintenance as platforms evolve and standards (e.g. FIPSnew PP versions) change.

Resourcing & Cross-Functional Program Management

• Build the resourcing plan for each hardware program: engineering headcount ODM/EMS partner allocation lab time certification budget and tooling investment.
• Defend program priorities in portfolio reviews; make explicit trade-offs between competing hardware initiatives sustaining work and certification load.
• Track NRE tooling and prototype budgets with finance and operations; flag overruns early and propose recovery options.
• Run a clear cadence of program reviews gate reviews and exec readouts so leadership always knows the state of each platform without having to ask.

Supply Chain Collaboration

• Partner with supply chain and operations on sourcing strategy ODM/EMS selection dual-sourcing geographic diversification and tariff/trade-compliance posture.
• Co-own demand forecasting and the rolling S&OP signal for each appliance SKU balancing stock-out risk against inventory write-off exposure.
• Lead the response to component EOL notices allocation events and supply disruptions assess design/certification impact of substitutions drive Last-Time-Buy sizing and approve alternate-component qualifications.
• Set and track quality KPIs with manufacturing partners DPPM FPY RMA rate MTBF and drive corrective action when they drift.
• Own cost-down programs in mature platforms: component renegotiation design-for-cost revisions test-time optimization and logistics restructuring.

Collaboration with Hardware Engineering

• Be the voice of the customer and the market inside the hardware engineering team clear prioritized technically credible requirements not wish lists.
• Co-author the PRD and platform spec with engineering leads; sign off on trade-offs between performance cost schedule certifiability and serviceability.
• Stay close to the technical work attend design reviews read schematics-level summaries understand thermal/power/EMC constraints enough to make informed product calls without trying to do engineerings job.
• Drive HW/SW integration decisions with software PMs and firmware leads: secure boot chain provisioning telemetry in-field update strategy and diagnostics.
• Champion serviceability and field experience as a first-class design requirement installation replacement diagnostics and on-site support workflows.

Qualifications

Required

• 10 years of product management experience of which at least 6 in hardware product management for networked embedded or appliance-class products with a track record of leading multiple platforms from concept to mass production.
• Deep working understanding of the NPI process and gate model (Concept Proto EVT DVT PVT MP) and the artifacts and decisions at each gate.
• Strong commercial instincts: comfortable owning BOM cost ASP margin and inventory exposure as product KPIs not just feature lists.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; able to brief executives write a defensible business case and run a productive cross-functional program review.
• Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering Computer Engineering Computer Science or a related technical field or equivalent practical experience.

Strongly Preferred

• Domain experience in cybersecurity products network security (NGFW IDS/IPS segmentation) OT/ICS security USB/peripheral security secure gateways or data diodes.
• Familiarity with public sector and defense procurement: DoDIN APL CSfC federal channel motions and how certification status drives deal flow.
• Exposure to ruggedized air-gapped or critical-infrastructure deployments and the constraints they impose on hardware design (environmental EMC supply chain provenance).
• Familiarity with secure hardware primitives: TPM HSM secure enclaves secure boot anti-tamper and supply-chain integrity controls (e.g. SBOM for hardware attestation).
• MBA or equivalent commercial training is a plus but a strong track record matters more.

What Success Looks Like in the First 12 Months

• A clear published 24-month hardware roadmap with explicit positioning target customer segments certification plan and NPI schedule for each platform.
• A documented lifecycle policy adopted across product sales support and operations with no ambiguity on EOS/EOL dates or migration paths.
• At least one platform shipped or de-risked through a major NPI gate on cost and on schedule.
• A certification matrix that sales can trust and that proactively unlocks at least one new market segment or named customer opportunity.
• A measurably tighter feedback loop with supply chain fewer surprise EOL events faster substitution cycles and a defensible inventory posture.

How We Work

We expect hardware PMs to operate as owners. That means making the call on trade-offs not escalating every decision; writing things down so the organization can move faster; saying no to good ideas when they dont fit the strategy; and bringing the business case before the wish list. We dont expect you to know everything on day one we do expect you to be the person the company turns to for an answer on this portfolio within your first two quarters.

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