Senior Product Manager (Backend)
Job Summary
Job Description
Drivemode is seeking a Senior Product Manager (Backend) to own and evolve the backend systems powering their IVI, Companion App, and data services. The role involves balancing near-term delivery with a long-term vision for a scalable, compliant platform in the electric vehicle market. Responsibilities include defining product vision and roadmap, creating system diagrams and API specifications for audits, managing backlog health, aligning stakeholders by translating needs into user stories, and making data-informed decisions by monitoring platform performance and driving prioritization. The company is a subsidiary of Honda, focused on making vehicles smarter, safer, and more connected.
Must have:
- 3-5 years of Product Management or Business/System Analysis roles
- Shipped backend of API-centric products at scale
- Experienced in Business Systems Analysis
- Learner mindset for compliance and audit-readiness
- Strategic mindset connecting daily work to platform vision
- Collaboration and influence skills
- Decisiveness and transparency
- Must be able to communicate in English
Good to have:
- Experience with connected-vehicle, IoT, or automotive software stacks
- Working knowledge of Agile and iterative release process
- Personal projects demonstrating technical depth and product thinking
- Japanese language skills
Perks:
- Exciting startup environment
- Vibrant culture
- Impactful work
- Competitive compensation
- Excellent benefits
- Opportunity to drive Honda's EV market success
4 skills required
Job Details
Our Mission:
Driving technology always feels old. Not by a little bit. We believe vehicles can be a thousand times smarter, safer, and more connected to the world around us, and our mission is to see it happen. In 2019, we joined forces with Honda as their first startup acquisition, and now we’re expanding our vision into building the future of electric vehicles (BEV) for millions of people around the world.
Why Drivemode:
Join Drivemode for an exciting startup environment and a vibrant culture that combines impactful work, competitive compensation, and excellent benefits. By becoming a part of our team, you'll contribute to a crucial mission that revolutionizes the way people engage with vehicles, addressing both business needs and the world's environmental challenges. This presents an exceptional opportunity to be at the forefront of innovation and drive Honda's success in the EV market.
About the Role:
Own and evolve the backend that powers our IVI, Companion App, and data services. You’ll balance near-term delivery with a clear vision for a scalable, compliant platform that keeps pace with our connected platform roadmap.
What You Will Do:
- Product vision & roadmap – Define and socialize a multi-year backend strategy that aligns with IVI and Companion App goals.
- Requirements & documentation – Create system diagrams, API/interface specs, data-flow models, and other artifacts required for A-SPICE / cybersecurity audits.
- Backlog health – Partner with the Project Manager to assess velocity, surface risks, and recommend head-count or outsourcing as needed.
- Stakeholder alignment – Translate OEM and internal needs into actionable user stories; maintain crisp comms with Engineering, QA, Design, and Honda counterparts.
- Data-informed decisions – Define KPIs, monitor platform performance, and use evidence to drive prioritization.
What We Are Looking For:
- 3-5 years of Product Management or Business/System Analysis roles focused on backend or platform products.
- Technical depth - Shipped backend of API-centric products at scale; comfortable discussing cloud architecture, micro-services, or data pipelines.
- Systems thinking - Experienced in Business Systems Analysis—able to model complex flows, surface edge-cases, and trade-offs clearly.
- Learner mindset for compliance - Actively seeks out A-SPICE, ISO 21434 / UN R155, and traceable-documentation know-how by collaborating with in-house SME and external consultants; apply new knowledge to keep our platform audit-ready.
- Strategic mindset - Connects day-to-day work to a longer-term platform vision; anticipates future requirements and actively manages technical debts.
- Collaboration & Influence - Builds shared ownership across disciplines, frames decisions, gains buy-ins, and mentors by example
- Decisiveness & Transparency - Uses data and critical thinking to make durable decisions, able to communicate rationale and next steps clearly.
- Communication - Must be able to communicate in English. Japanese proficiency is nice to have.
Nice to have:
- Experience with connected-vehicle, IoT, or automotive software stacks
- Working knowledge of Agile and iterative release process
- Personal projects demonstrating technical depth, product thinking, and curiosity in the Backend discipline (e.g. a project involving open-source API wrapper or SDK, Home IoT orchestration using Raspberry Pi, etc.)
- Japanese language skills
EEOC Statement: Drivemode is proud of a very diverse team with employees coming from 5 continents/20 countries as of today. Diversity in our workplace has played an important part in our success; we recognize each employee’s unique background, knowledge, experiences, ideas, and viewpoints which are all critical in developing a product that has the greatest impacts on drivers all over the world. Drivemode provides equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or any other characteristics that make you unique.
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