How to apply for (Senior) Product Manager Energy (m/f/d)

About 1KOMMA5°

1KOMMA5° builds a virtual power plant that connects solar, batteries, heat pumps, and EV charging into one system tied directly to electricity markets. The goal is 1.5 million households on renewable energy by 2030, with over 3,000 people across 80+ locations. This role sits in Heartbeat AI, the software layer that controls the energy system.

About the role

You own the software that lets households participate in energy markets: dynamic tariffs, market access, and flexibility. You sit with engineering teams and decide what gets built, in what order, and where the energy software roadmap goes next. Germany is the home market, but energy products already run in other European countries.

A typical day

You sit with engineering teams, review what is in progress, and adjust the order of what ships next. You spend time on market access questions for Germany and other European markets, and you translate household flexibility requirements into software decisions. The exact daily rhythm is not described in the job post, so ask about team setup, meeting cadence, and how product and engineering split decisions.

Who 1KOMMA5° is looking for

• Has shipped software products in energy markets, virtual power plants, or flexibility trading, ideally with direct exposure to German market rules and grid operators.
• Can work with engineering teams daily and make build-order decisions without waiting for consensus.
• Understands dynamic energy products, market access, and how household assets like batteries and heat pumps earn revenue.
• Is comfortable owning a roadmap across multiple European markets and can separate what is reusable from what is country-specific.

Tips for this application

• Name specific energy market mechanisms you have worked with, such as balancing markets, redispatch, or dynamic tariffs, instead of saying 'energy markets' in general.
• Reference Heartbeat AI by name and explain how your past product work connects to a virtual power plant that controls solar, batteries, heat pumps, and e-mobility.
• State your experience with the German market first, then list other European markets you have shipped in, because the job description calls Germany the home market.
• Describe one product decision where you chose what not to build and how you sequenced the rest, since the role explicitly owns build order.
• If you have worked with craftsperson-led or installation-heavy businesses, say so. 1KOMMA5° combines regional craftsmanship with software.

What to cover in your cover letter

['A concrete example of software you owned that let households or assets participate in an energy market.', 'How you decide what gets built first when engineering capacity is limited, with a real trade-off you made.', 'Your knowledge of German energy market rules and which parts you believe transfer to other European markets.', 'Why a virtual power plant model, not a standalone solar or battery product, is the right framing for your product work.']

Research before applying

• Read how Heartbeat AI connects solar, batteries, heat pumps, and e-mobility into one virtual power plant, and be ready to describe where product decisions enter that loop.
• Look up 1KOMMA5°'s current energy products and which European countries they run in, so you can ask specific questions about the roadmap.
• Check German energy market basics relevant to households: dynamic tariffs, flexibility markets, and how virtual power plants participate.
• Find out how 1KOMMA5° combines regional craftsmanship with software, since the company describes this as central to its model.

Likely interview topics

Based on the job description, expect questions about:

• How would you sequence the roadmap for household flexibility software across Germany and one other European market?
• Walk through a dynamic energy product you shipped and how it interacted with market access or grid rules.
• How do you decide between building a reusable platform feature and a country-specific workaround?
• How would you work with engineering teams that sit in different locations and time zones?
• What metrics would you use to know that household participation in energy markets is working?

Common mistakes to avoid

• Applying with a generic product manager resume that does not mention energy markets, flexibility, or virtual power plants.
• Claiming broad energy market knowledge without naming specific markets, rules, or products you have worked on.
• Treating this as a pure software role and ignoring the hardware side: solar, batteries, heat pumps, and e-mobility are part of the system.