Senior Software Product Manager - Embedded & Real-Time Systems (Automotive) (f/m/d)

Senior Software Product Manager – Embedded & Real-Time Systems (Automotive)

Location: Munich, DE, Bucharest, RO, Austin, TX (or flexible NXP location)

Function: Automotive Processors – Senior Software Product Management

Role Overview

We are hiring a Senior Software Product Manager to own the low-level software stack for next-generation automotive real-time processing. You will drive product roadmap, strategy and execution across Real-Time Drivers (RTD), Firmware, Security, and BSP, ensuring alignment from silicon to system integration. This role is critical to enabling system bring-up, software quality, and scalable customer deployment in Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) architectures.

Key Responsibilities

Product Ownership

• Define, execute, and own the product roadmap for:
  • Low-level real-time software including RTD (drivers), BSP (Board Support Package), RTOS, RTHV(virtualization/isolation)
  • System management (boot, firmware services, PMIC control)
  • Security (secure boot, crypto, key management)
• Translate OEM, Tier 1, and systems requirements into clear product feature definitions and priorities
• Balance trade-offs across timeline, quality, performance, safety, security, and scalability

System Bring-Up & Integration

• Responsible for:
  • Boot and power sequencing
  • Driver and peripheral enablement (CAN, LIN, DDR, PCIe, Ethernet)
  • System firmware, safety and security framework
• Drive adoption of:
  • AI-assisted tools across SW lifecycle
  • Define and enable AI-driven customer experience on platform
• Ensure low-level software enables end-to-end platform bring-up to ensure system-level readiness, not just feature delivery.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Serve as the single owner bridging:
  • Software R&D (feature delivery)
  • Applications Engineering (customer enablement, integration)
  • Product & Systems Engineering Teams (platform definition and roadmap)
• Drive clear ownership, dependency management, and execution alignment across teams

Execution & Delivery

• Own delivery across:
  • Pre-silicon bring-up, NPI, customer deployment and maintenance
• Track and communicate:
  • System readiness
  • Risks and dependencies
  • Execution gaps and mitigation plans

Customer & Ecosystem Engagement

• Engage with OEMs and Tier 1 partners to understand real-world requirements.
• Translate customer feedback into product improvements
• Drive simplification, usability, and reduced complexity to accelerate adoption and design wins
• Represent low-level SW in customer discussions on bring-up, performance, safety, and security

Qualifications

Required

• 10+ years in embedded software, automotive systems, or related field
• Strong background in low-level SW:
  • Drivers, bootloaders, firmware, BSP
  • AUTOSAR, RTOS, or Zephyr environments
• Experience in product management, technical leadership, or system architecture
• Solid understanding of system bring-up and HW/SW integration challenges

Preferred

• Experience with automotive SoCs or industrial systems
• Familiarity with safety (ISO 26262) and security (ISO 21434, HSE)
• Experience with CI/CD and OTA-based software delivery
• Experience enabling:
  • AI-assisted development tools
  • AI-driven developer and customer workflows
• Customer-facing experience with OEMs or Tier 1s

What Success Looks Like

• Improved software quality for first-time success rate
• Reduced customer escalations
• Strong alignment across SW R&D, Applications, and Product teams
• Faster customer enablement and NPI execution
• Reliable system-level bring-up readiness for new platforms

More information about NXP in Germany...