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

About 1KOMMA5°

1KOMMA5° builds an integrated energy system that controls solar, batteries, heat pumps, and EV charging as one unit through its Heartbeat AI platform. The company operates a virtual power plant connected directly to the electricity market, with over 3,000 employees across 80 locations. The goal is to transition 1.5 million households to renewable energy by 2030.

About the role

You own the Energy Management System as a product. You decide how solar, batteries, heat pumps, AC, and EV charging are controlled and optimized as one system. You set the direction for which hardware worlds the system supports and how it creates more value from every kilowatt-hour.

A typical day

You might review real-time data from the virtual power plant, decide on control logic changes for battery or heat pump assets, and align with engineering and regional teams on the next hardware integration. You could also analyze how market signals affect optimization and set priorities for the next product cycle. Specific daily routines are not described in the job post, so ask the hiring team how they structure product discovery and delivery.

Who 1KOMMA5° is looking for

• Experience managing a technical product where software controls physical hardware or energy assets.
• Background in energy systems, IoT, or virtual power plants, with understanding of solar, batteries, heat pumps, or EV charging.
• Comfortable making product decisions in a fast-scaling environment with regional craftsmanship and software teams.
• Ability to define product strategy for an optimization system that runs around the clock and connects to electricity markets.

Tips for this application

• In your resume, highlight any product you managed that involved controlling or optimizing physical devices, not just software features.
• Mention specific energy assets you have worked with (solar, batteries, heat pumps, AC, EV charging) and what you decided about their control logic.
• Reference 1KOMMA5°'s virtual power plant and Heartbeat AI by name to show you read beyond the job title.
• Explain how you measure value from a kilowatt-hour or similar energy metric in past products.
• If you have worked with hardware partners or regional craftsmanship teams, describe how you aligned software and installation realities.

What to cover in your cover letter

Your experience owning a product that controls physical energy assets. How you decide which hardware to support and how to control it. A concrete example of increasing value from an energy system over time. Why you want to work on a virtual power plant connected to the electricity market.

Research before applying

• Read how 1KOMMA5° describes its virtual power plant and Heartbeat AI on their website and product pages.
• Look up what hardware brands and energy assets 1KOMMA5° currently integrates (solar, batteries, heat pumps, AC, EV charging).
• Check recent news or press releases about 1KOMMA5°'s expansion to 80 locations and the 1.5 million household goal by 2030.
• Find any public talks or articles by the Product & Tech team to understand their product development approach.

Likely interview topics

Based on the job description, expect questions about:

• How would you decide which hardware worlds Heartbeat should support next?
• Describe a time you improved the control logic for a physical system and measured the value gain.
• How do you balance real-time electricity market signals with household comfort and hardware constraints?
• What metrics would you use to track whether Heartbeat is creating more value from each kilowatt-hour?
• How would you work with regional craftsmanship teams and software engineers to ship product changes?

Common mistakes to avoid

• Applying with only SaaS product experience and no exposure to hardware, energy, or physical systems.
• Writing a cover letter that talks about renewable energy in general but never mentions Heartbeat, virtual power plants, or specific assets.
• Ignoring the seniority of the role by describing only execution tasks instead of product direction and hardware strategy decisions.