Category	Engineering & Information Technology
Location	PALO ALTO, California
Requisition ID	282262
Type	Full-time

Job Description

Tesla is looking for a highly technical and motivated Product Manager to define Design Technology's vendored-software portfolio — and to test every application in it.Design Technology owns the commercial and open-source applications Tesla uses to design cars and robots. Accountability is split across product teams, SRE, license analysts, and Support. This role is systems design, not product coding. You will gather requirements, write them down, assess risk, and verify and validate. An application that is on a list but has never been tested is not in the portfolio — it is an unowned availability, licensing, and security risk. Untested software is what factory line-downs and multi-hour designer outages look like in production.We are a high-impact team that values curiosity, learning, mentorship, open discourse, and making disciplined decisions by weighing trade-offs. You will participate in on-call, including weekends.Join us in accelerating the world's transition to sustainable energy.

Job Responsibilities

Enumerate our commercially acquired software portfolio used in the design of cars, robots, and facilities
Write down a coherent strategy for ownership of components in the portfolio. End the scavenger hunt across disconnected catalogs and monitoring tools
Map every application in that portfolio to a problem domain in our design engineering organization
Define targets for data consistency, usability, availability, and cost quantitatively, with falsifiable acceptance criteria. Be accountable for keeping this dictionary up to date
Work with software engineers to verify that the portfolio is correctly implemented
Personally validate that the portfolio applications meet their targets
Document the incident management process for what to do when validation fails unexpectedly, including runbooks and an on-call rotation
Put ownership on the product team that owns the problem. This role does not remain the shadow product manager, implementor, and process consultant for every vendor app
Investigate new applications and new versions the same way: requirements, risk, test, then enroll or kill
Provide technical leadership across vendors, Support, and design teams. Drive this roadmap to completion instead of letting it get pulled onto the next platform upgrade

Job Requirements

Demonstrated experience with at least 2 of: (1) SRE fundamentals — networking, infrastructure, paging, incident response; (2) vendored / legacy software for manufacturing and design; (3) scientific computing or design tools like MATLAB, NI, or SolidWorks; (4) commercial / licensed engineering apps and how they are managed
Interest or experience in defining a portfolio of applications as a system, then verifying each one — not only operating a single product or owning a simple greenfield domain
Comfort with requirements management, risk analysis, and verification & validation. You write the test and you run it — with extreme problem-centric (not solution-centric) thinking
Domain experience is welcome, but not required
Familiarity with license-server architectures and on-prem Windows / Linux hosts
Ability to read how designers actually use CATIA, 3DX, MATLAB, NI, and Ansys-class tools and turn that into a testable requirement. Working knowledge of 3DX as Tesla uses it, or the ability to get there fast; this seat is not a first introduction to PLM
Strong understanding of system design: availability, reliability, interfaces, and the difference between "the vendor says it works" and "we tested it"
Effective verbal and written communication. Decisions happen in the open
Ability to navigate uncertainty and loosely defined problem statements
Five days per week on-site. Participates in on-call, including weekends

About the company

Tesla makes electric cars and batteries that store power for homes and utilities, and it develops self-driving software and humanoid robots. In 2023, its Model Y became the first electric vehicle to rank as the world's best-selling car. Buyers order the Model 3 sedan, Model Y SUV, or Cybertruck pickup directly from Tesla instead of through dealers, and they charge on its Supercharger fast-charging network. It also sells Megapack and Powerwall batteries, runs a robotaxi service, and charges drivers a monthly fee for self-driving software that still needs their supervision. Tesla was founded in 2003, with Elon Musk as its lead early investor and a recognized co-founder, and it is based in Austin, Texas.

Company Size

10,001+

Company Stage

IPO

Headquarters

Austin, Texas

Founded

2003

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

Sales are growing again: revenue rose 26% to $28.2 billion in the June 2026 quarter, after falling 3% in 2025.
Software adds income beyond cars: paid users of its supervised self-driving feature rose 56% to 1.48 million by June 2026.
Hiring is back: Tesla's headcount grew 7% to 134,785 by December 2025, after layoffs shrank it 11% in 2024.

What critics are saying

Growth isn't reaching profit: operating profit fell 57% to $398 million in the June 2026 quarter, a 1.4% margin.
Alphabet's Waymo is far ahead in robotaxis: Texas records in May 2026 listed 577 Waymo vehicles to Tesla's 42.
Stock grants have lost value: Tesla shares fell 17% in 2026 through October 8, after a December 2025 record.

What makes Tesla unique

Energy storage punches above its weight: Tesla's energy unit made 13% of 2025 sales but 22% of gross profit.
Tesla set the charging standard: Ford, GM and all major EV sellers in North America adopted its plug by 2024.
Robots are written into Musk's pay: his 2025 award sets goals of 1 million humanoid robots and 1 million robotaxis.

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Benefits

Remote Work Options
Flexible Work Hours

Growth & Insights and Company News

6 month growth

1 year growth

2 year growth

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Tesla

Product Manager - Design Technology

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