Generate a McCoy IQ challenge in 30 seconds.
See how candidates think and approach the work this role demands, before the phone screen. We'll build a video challenge from this posting, and you can edit or share it before it goes live.
Key details
Job Description
<div class="content-intro"><p>Kodiak Robotics, Inc. was founded in 2018 and has become a leader in autonomous ground transportation committed to a safer and more efficient future for all. The company has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) powered technology stack purpose-built for commercial trucking and the public sector. The company delivers freight daily for its customers across the southern United States using its autonomous technology. In 2024, Kodiak became the first known company to publicly announce delivering a driverless semi-truck to a customer. Kodiak is also leveraging its commercial self-driving software to develop, test and deploy autonomous capabilities for the U.S. Department of Defense.</p></div><p class="p1"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kodiak is seeking a Staff Product Manager to serve as a strategic product leader for our Level 4 autonomous trucking platform across customer applications. This is a senior individual contributor role with organization-wide influence — you will not only own a critical product area end-to-end, but shape how Kodiak thinks about product strategy, customer deployment, and the path to scaled commercialization. You will be the most senior product voice in the room for your domain, setting direction that other PMs and cross-functional leaders align to, and operating as a trusted thought partner to the VP level and above.</span></p>
<p class="p2"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><strong>What you'll do:</strong></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Product strategy and vision:</strong> Define the multi-year product roadmap for your area, grounded in customer needs, competitive dynamics, and Kodiak's commercialization trajectory. Make the case for what to build — and what not to — at the leadership level.</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Cross-functional leadership:</strong> Unify Engineering, Program Management, Operations, and Commercial around a shared product vision.&nbsp; You are the person who resolves ambiguity and ensures the right tradeoffs are made with clarity and speed.</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Execution at scale:</strong> Own the product lifecycle from opportunity identification through deployment and iteration — holding the bar on quality and metrics across multiple workstreams simultaneously.</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Prioritization and resource influence:</strong> Set prioritization frameworks that others adopt. Actively shape engineering roadmap and resourcing conversations, advocating effectively for customer-critical investments at the VP and executive level.</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Product definition:</strong> Author product requirements that set a high standard for rigor and customer fidelity. Partner deeply with Design and Engineering leadership to ensure architectural decisions reflect long-term product needs, not just near-term scope.</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Performance and readiness:</strong> Define the metrics and readiness criteria that determine when a product is ready to deploy. Own the system of record for product health and communicate it credibly to customers, leadership, and the board.</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Customer partnership:</strong> Serve as Kodiak's most senior product relationship owner with key customers — building deep trust, surfacing strategic feedback, and translating real-world operational complexity into product direction that engineering can act on.</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Organizational impact:</strong> Mentor senior PMs, contribute to the product management craft at Kodiak, and help define how the PM function operates — from how requirements are written to how tradeoffs are communicated.</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Travel:</strong> 10-20% travel to Kodiak commercial deployments and customer sites to maintain operational intuition and customer proximity.</span></li>
</ul>
<p class="p2"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><strong>What you’ll bring:</strong></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>10+ years</strong> of Product Management experience, with at least several years operating as a senior IC driving strategy independently across complex, technical product domains — ideally in autonomous vehicles, robotics, logistics, or safety-critical systems.</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Demonstrated organizational influence:</strong> Track record of shaping product strategy and roadmap decisions at the VP level and above; you have changed the direction of a program or product area through the strength of your judgment and communication, not just your title.</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Technical authority:</strong> Deep enough technical fluency to engage credibly with engineering leadership on architecture, system design, and feasibility tradeoffs — not just translate requirements. Background in engineering, computer science, or a related field required.</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Ambiguity at scale:</strong> Proven ability to set structure and direction in genuinely novel problem spaces — where there is no playbook, the market is evolving, and the cost of getting it wrong is high.</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Customer and commercial acumen:</strong> Experience owning high-stakes external customer relationships and connecting product decisions to fleet economics, operational outcomes, and contract commitments.</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Cross-functional leadership without authority:</strong> You are the person other functions bring in to drive alignment, not just participate in it. You set the agenda and hold teams accountable to shared outcomes.</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Communication at the executive level:</strong> Able to distill complex product and technical tradeoffs into clear, confident narratives for C-suite, board, and customer audiences — and to do so under pressure.</span></li>
</ul>
<p class="p2"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><strong>What we offer:</strong></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Competitive compensation package including equity and annual bonuses</span></li>
<li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Excellent Medical, Dental, and Vision plans through Kaiser Permanente, Cigna, and&nbsp; MetLife (including a medical plan with infertility benefits)</span></li>
<li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">MetLife Legal Services, Identity &amp; Fraud Protection, Hospital Indemnity Insurance, Accident Insurance, &amp; Critical Illness Insurance</span></li>
<li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Flexible PTO, 10 paid holidays, and generous parental leave policies</span></li>
<li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Our office is centrally located in Mountain View, CA</span></li>
<li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Office perks: dog-friendly, free catered lunch, a fully stocked kitchen, and free EV charging</span></li>
<li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Long Term Disability, Short Term Disability, Life Insurance</span></li>
<li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Wellbeing Benefits - Headspace through Cigna, Calm through Kaiser, One Medical, Gympass, Spring Health through Cigna, Rula (mental health navigation)&nbsp;</span></li>
<li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Fidelity 401(k)</span></li>
<li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Commuter, FSA, Dependent Care FSA, HSA</span></li>
<li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Various incentive programs (referral bonuses, patent bonuses, etc.)</span></li>
</ul><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="description"><p>The pay range listed below reflects the base salary&nbsp;<strong data-stringify-type="bold">in our SF/Silicon Valley location,&nbsp;</strong>across several internal levels. Actual starting pay will be based on job-related factors including: work location, experience, relevant training, education, skill level and performance during interview. Total compensation at Kodiak includes base pay, equity, bonus and a competitive benefits package</p></div><div class="title">California Pay Range</div><div class="pay-range"><span>$180,000</span><span class="divider">&mdash;</span><span>$240,000 USD</span></div></div></div><div class="content-conclusion"><div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>At Kodiak, we strive to build a diverse community working towards our common company goals in a safe and collaborative environment where harassment of any kind is strictly prohibited. Kodiak is committed to equal opportunity employment regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, or veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable law.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>In alignment with its business operations, Kodiak adheres to all relevant statutes, regulations, and administrative prerequisites. Accordingly, roles that carry more sensitive requirements may be limited to candidates that can satisfy additional scrutiny and eligibility for such positions may hinge on verification of a candidate’s residence, U.S. person status, and/or citizenship status. Should the position require, and Kodiak determines that a candidate’s residence, U.S. person status, and/or citizenship status necessitate an export license, bar the candidate from the position, or otherwise fall under national security-related restrictions, Kodiak will consider the candidate for alternative positions unaffected by such restrictions, under terms and conditions set forth at Kodiak’s sole discretion, or, as an alternative, opt not to proceed with the candidate’s application. If applicable, Kodiak may provide visa sponsorship for eligible candidates.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><em>We use a third-party AI tool (Endorsed) to assist in the initial screening of applications. As part of the evaluation process, we provide Endorsed with job requirements and candidate-submitted applications. Final hiring decisions are made by our human recruitment team, and no automated system makes the ultimate decision regarding hiring. Certain features of the platform may qualify it as an Automated Employment Decision Tool (AEDT) under applicable regulations. We began using Endorsed on January 1, 2026. You can review the independent bias audit report covering our use of Endorsed [here](</em><em><a href="https://endorsed.com/local-law-144" target="_blank" data-sk="tooltip_parent">https://endorsed.com/local-law-144</a></em><em>). By submitting your application, you acknowledge that your application may be processed by AI systems as part of the screening and selection process. If you have any questions or would like to request a separate review of your application, please contact </em><em><a href="mailto:careers@kodiak.ai" target="_blank" data-sk="tooltip_parent">careers@kodiak.ai</a></em><em> with "Separate Review Request" in the email subject line.</em></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p></div>
Audit details(provenance, verification trail, raw fields)
Core fields
kodiak-robotics:4308530009Provenance
kodiakVerification trail
This posting hasn't been probed by our closure verifier yet. Stream C runs on a rolling schedule against postings approaching the close-decision threshold.
LLM enrichment
See how we measure for definitions, or our corrections log for known issues. Found something wrong? Flag a correction.
