Technical Product Manager

Summary/Primary Role:

This role is a technical leader who thinks like a founder and will become the company's in-house expert in large-scale geothermal system operations and optimization. This role combines deep energy engineering expertise with product ownership, driving the development of Brightcore EDGE, a software platform that intelligently manages geothermal assets at scale. The ideal candidate brings a strong understanding of HVAC and building energy systems, including performance analysis, fault diagnostics, and facility operations, with geothermal experience a significant plus. They will own both the execution of the current product roadmap and the strategic direction of future capabilities, working at the intersection of engineering, IoT, and applied machine intelligence. This is a rare opportunity to shape category-defining technology and to build software that systematically outperforms traditional human-led system management.

Principal Duties & Responsibilities:

(Management may amend or assign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time)

Geothermal HVAC System Expertise & Platform Intelligence 

• Become the internal authority on how geothermal systems behave, fail, degrade, and excel and translate that knowledge directly into product requirements.
• Define automated detection logic for system anomalies like borefield degradation, heat pump faults, performance drift, and thermal imbalances while being grounded in thermodynamic first principles.
• Design metrics, KPIs, and alert frameworks that allow EDGE to identify issues without a human in the loop.
• Actively use the platform as an expert operator: find what is missing, what should be amplified, and what the next level of intelligence should look like.
• Build a continuous feedback loop from field data and customer conversations into product insight and specification.

Roadmap Evolution & Product Strategy 

• Partner with leadership to shape the future EDGE roadmap.
• Identify where the platform must go next: new system types, new customer segments, new performance guarantee models.
• Synthesize inputs from the field, engineering, and market signals into a coherent product direction.
• Develop deep fluency with customer needs; how facilities managers think, what keeps building owners up at night, what language resonates with mechanical engineers and controls contractors.

Feature Specification & Engineering Execution 

• Author precise, developer-ready feature specifications: user stories, acceptance criteria, edge cases, data contracts, thermodynamic constraints.
• Translate complex domain knowledge such as control logic, sensor data quality, timeseries anomalies, and thermal system behavior into unambiguous engineering requirements.
• Own the sprint cycle: standups, backlog grooming, prioritization, and delivery accountability for a small, high-output engineering team.
• Unblock engineers quickly; protect their focus by making every requirement decision ahead of them.

IoT & Data Quality 

• Own data quality standards across cloud SaaS and on-prem edge deployments.
• Identify and resolve timeseries data challenges endemic to building systems: sensor dropout, calibration drift, latency, resolution mismatches, outlier propagation.
• Define data pipeline requirements, validation logic, and monitoring dashboards in collaboration with engineering.
• All other duties and projects as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Must have a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Energy Engineering, Controls Systems, or a closely related engineering discipline.
• Experience demonstrating thermodynamic fluency and systems depth.
• Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in product management, systems engineering, application engineering, or a technical role that required both engineering depth and customer-facing product.

• Experience with HVAC, heat pump systems, geothermal systems, hydronic systems, or building controls - you must be able to speak with credibility to facilities engineers and MEP contractors.

• Comfort reasoning through thermodynamic equations and system performance metrics (COP, EER, approach temperatures, heat transfer rates, etc.).

• Experience with IoT systems, sensor data, or building automation and control systems (BAS/BMS).

• Strong working knowledge of timeseries data: structure, common failure modes, and anomaly detection approaches.

• Demonstrated ability to write precise, developer-ready feature specifications.
• Experience running agile delivery for small engineering teams.

Supervisory Responsibility: 

• This position may have supervisory responsibility.

Expected Hours of Work & Compensation: 

An employee is expected to work a minimum of forty (40) hours per week. Non-exempt employees are eligible for overtime pay in accordance with applicable wage and hour laws, while exempt employees may be required to work additional hours as necessary to fulfill their job responsibilities. Overtime requirements will be determined based on the operational needs of the organization. The salary range and/or hourly rate listed is a good faith determination of potential base compensation that may be offered to a successful applicant for this position at the time of this job advertisement and may be modified in the future. When determining an employee’s base salary and/or rate, several factors may be considered as applicable (e.g., location, specialty, years of relevant experience, education, credentials, and internal equity). Brightcore also offers a comprehensive set of benefits to complement the base salary. The base annual salary range for this position is $140,000-$160,000 and is eligible for an annual performance-based bonus.

Travel Requirements:  

• Office presence required at least three (3) days per week, unless otherwise agreed upon with final approval by direct supervisor.

Work Environment:

• Office setting.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

• Sitting/desk work.
• Standing/walking.