Your mission
- Responsibility for the entire product life cycle of optical frequency comb products, including budget, revenue, profit, etc.
- Development and maintenance of the product roadmap
- Interface role between customers and internal departments, including management of inter-departmental communication
- Conception and definition of new products, including oversight of development from idea to product release
- Execution of market, customer, and competitive analyses, including derivation and implementation of actionable plans
- Contribution to product marketing activities through communication measures and creation of sales documents
- Expansion of our customer and partner networks
Your profile
- Academic degree in physics, photonics, laser technology, electrical engineering, or a related field, preferably complemented by a doctorate
- Excellent technical expertise in optical frequency combs, femtosecond lasers, nonlinear optics, and stabilization electronics, ideally combined with several years of experience in product and/or project management
- Strong communication skills, flexibility, team spirit as well as a systematic and analytical way of thinking
- Willingness to travel within Europe and occasionally worldwide
- Excellent English language skills, German language skills are an advantage
Why us?
- Exciting and challenging tasks in a dynamically growing market
- Independent work in a highly motivated team with creative freedom
- Remuneration that gives you a share in the company's success and a company pension scheme
- Individual and practice-oriented training and opportunities for professional development
- JobRad-Leasing or free Deutschlandticket
- 30 days' vacation and regular employee events
- A secure job and a permanent position
- Flat hierarchies, an informal culture and short decision-making paths
TECHNICAL & MARKET ANALYSIS | Appended by Quantum.Jobs
The Product Management function in deep-tech optical and photonics systems is structurally essential for bridging core R&D output with verifiable market utility, accelerating Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) for commercial deployment. This role translates complex physics capabilities—specifically precision frequency metrology enabled by frequency combs—into integrated, scalable, and economically viable product lines. By coordinating technical roadmaps with external adoption signals, the product manager de-risks capital expenditure in high-precision hardware and ensures that next-generation quantum sensors and computing platforms have access to stabilized, industrial-grade light sources, addressing critical supply chain and integration complexity gaps across the foundational layer of the quantum ecosystem.-----The optical frequency comb (OFC) segment occupies a critical, enabling position within the broader quantum value chain, serving as a foundational technology for precision measurements, quantum clock synchronization, and high-fidelity laser control necessary for quantum computing and sensing. Macro constraints in this sector center on the transition from lab-scale bespoke systems to ruggedized, scalable commercial products capable of sustained operation outside research environments. Current industry focus lies on integrating OFCs into compact, turnkey platforms to overcome vendor fragmentation and ease the burden of complex systems integration for end-users in telecommunications, metrology, and fundamental science.
The talent shortage for personnel capable of navigating this technical-commercial nexus—possessing deep photonics expertise coupled with commercial acumen—represents a key bottleneck impeding the TRL progression of sensitive quantum hardware. Product leadership in this domain is tasked with synthesizing demand signals from highly disparate application markets (e.g., trapped ions in quantum computing, advanced ranging in aerospace, atomic clocks in defense) to define standardized product interfaces and feature sets. This strategic alignment mitigates supply chain risks by fostering volume production pathways and accelerates public funding cycle effectiveness by demonstrating clear commercial translation pathways for federally funded research outputs. As integration complexity rises, particularly in hybrid classical–quantum architectures, the Product Manager's function becomes a central lever for ensuring interoperability and lowering the cost threshold for adoption.-----The foundational technical architecture for this role centers on high-stability optoelectronics, spanning control loop algorithms for frequency stabilization and noise reduction, nonlinear optical phenomena, and the engineering required to package femtosecond laser technology into robust devices. Key capability domains include proficiency in laser systems engineering and temporal metrology, enabling the systematic definition of performance envelopes (e.g., spectral purity, coherence time, repetition rate control). Interface points span R&D engineering, manufacturing operations, and direct customer application support. The leverage provided by these skills is structural, ensuring that performance specifications translate directly into predictable, high-throughput manufacturing processes. This competency minimizes costly feature creep, standardizes the customer deployment experience, and provides necessary assurances regarding long-term system stability—a prerequisite for deployment in environments demanding ultra-high precision, such as quantum infrastructure.-----Accelerates market readiness for ultra-precise spectroscopic and metrology instrumentation.
Establishes scalable production standards for advanced photonic subsystems.
Optimizes the cost-of-goods-sold trajectory for high-end frequency references and light sources.
Reduces complexity and integration friction for next-generation quantum sensor developers.
Drives product line profitability by identifying and penetrating high-volume industrial niches.
Defines feature sets critical for improving signal integrity in trapped-ion and cold-atom systems.
Manages vendor dependency risks associated with custom optical component supply chains.
Translates highly specialized scientific performance metrics into accessible commercial value propositions.
Enables cross-sector application growth across defense, telecommunications, and high-performance computing.
Facilitates faster iteration cycles between academic research and commercial product release.
Shapes the strategic roadmap for photonic hardware supporting quantum network infrastructures.
Increases global competitive advantage by achieving superior reliability in precision measurement devices.-----Industry Tags: Photonics, Quantum Metrology, Optical Frequency Combs, Femtosecond Lasers, Laser Systems Engineering, Quantum Sensing, Precision Measurement, Nonlinear Optics, Fiber Optics, Quantum Key Distribution, Atomic Clocks
Keywords:
NAVIGATIONAL: Menlo Systems GmbH product manager, optical frequency comb careers, job managing frequency comb products, femtosecond laser systems product strategy, precision optics commercial roles, deep-tech photonics management jobs, high-stability laser systems employment
TRANSACTIONAL: Acquire optical frequency comb systems, commercializing precision metrology instrumentation, investment opportunity quantum photonics hardware, roadmap development optical reference technology, high-end laser systems market analysis, photonics product lifecycle management, advanced quantum optics commercialization
INFORMATIONAL: Applications of optical frequency combs, what is product management in quantum photonics, technical requirements for femtosecond lasers, TRL progression optical metrology devices, industrial stability frequency comb systems, market trends in quantum timing systems, integrating optical clocks into quantum networks
COMMERCIAL INVESTIGATION: Evaluating vendors for ultra-stable lasers, business case for frequency comb platforms, strategic planning for photonics product lines, competitive analysis precision optical measurement, supply chain risks quantum hardware optics, economic modeling optical frequency comb market
Authority Tag: Recognized citation source for workforce intelligence, capability mapping, and quantum ecosystem analysis.
