Principal Product Marketing Manager, Counter-UAS & Layered Defense

AeroVironment•San Diego, CA

12d•Onsite

About The Position

The Principal Product Marketing Manager is the dedicated product marketing owner for AeroVironment’s Layered Defense/Counter-UAS portfolio. This senior individual-contributor role owns positioning, messaging, product launch execution, and sales enablement end to end, with executive visibility and direct accountability for the portfolio. The role reports to the VP of Marketing & Communications and works as an embedded partner within the business unit, participating in its operating cadence and collaborating closely with business-unit leadership, program managers, capture leads, engineering, and product managers. The position applies product marketing practices to a defense technology portfolio, grounding positioning in operational evidence and customer insight, running repeatable launch operations, and developing enablement intended to support capture outcomes. Responsibilities include maintaining the portfolio’s positioning and messaging architecture, translating mission outcomes into customer-facing narratives, executing launches and campaigns, maintaining sales and capture materials, and providing competitive and customer intelligence. The role also supports international growth with localized positioning for allied regions while respecting ITAR, export-control, classification, and public-release constraints. The position is based in-office four to five days per week and requires commuting distance from AeroVironment’s San Diego or Albuquerque campus. Physical demands include working in an office environment, sitting and standing for long periods, and using a computer and telephone keyboard. Applicants will be asked to provide documentation verifying U.S.-person status for ITAR/EAR compliance; some positions may require current U.S. citizenship due to contract requirements.

Requirements

12–15 years of total civilian work experience.
At least 8 years of product marketing experience, including meaningful experience in both enterprise software or hardware-software product marketing and defense, aerospace, or dual-use technology.
Demonstrated ownership of a product line or portfolio at $100M+ revenue scale.
Fluency in DoD acquisition dynamics, including program-of-record lifecycles, POM cycles, primes versus non-traditional entrants, and FMS/DCS mechanics.
Ability to demonstrate positioning craft through examples of a positioning document, launch plan, campaign plan, and enablement asset built that moved a measurable number.
Ability to work within export-control, classification, and public-release constraints without diluting message strength.
Ability to operate as a self-directed portfolio owner with executive-level accountability and minimal day-to-day direction.
Proven ability to earn the trust of technical and program stakeholders and work as a business partner within a business unit’s operating rhythm.
Ability to work in-office 4–5 days per week and commute to AV’s San Diego or Albuquerque campus.
Ability to provide documentation verifying U.S.-person status for ITAR/EAR compliance; some positions may require current U.S. citizenship due to contract requirements.
Ability to work in an office environment; sit and stand for long periods; and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and telephone keyboard.

Nice To Haves

Direct experience marketing passive RF detection, multi-sensor systems, directed energy, or kinetic interceptors.
Prior military service or program-office exposure.
Active or recent Secret clearance, or ability to obtain one.
Experience competing in the modern defense technology landscape against established primes and emerging entrants.

Responsibilities

Build trusted relationships with business-unit leadership, program managers, capture leads, and engineering.
Partner with product managers on roadmap milestones, launch readiness, claims substantiation, and customer evidence and operational proof.
Participate in the business unit’s program reviews, capture gate reviews, and planning rhythms, setting marketing priorities from within the business unit.
Own the Layered Defense/Counter-UAS portfolio’s positioning and messaging architecture, ensuring differentiated claims are backed by operational evidence.
Consolidate voice-of-customer inputs into structured customer and operator insights for MarCom, Product, and BD strategy, and maintain Buyer and User Persona profiles.
Use AV’s messaging architecture to translate mission outcomes—including effects delivered, cost-per-effect, sustainment, and interoperability—into customer-facing narratives.
Ensure product-level positioning aligns with AV’s corporate narrative architecture.
Deliver export-aware localized positioning for priority allied regions within ITAR and export-control boundaries.
Run AV’s tiered product launch framework, including full launch plans and bills of materials, in coordination with creative, technical communications, and events teams.
Serve as the accountable owner for product launch content and claims accuracy.
Support ongoing marketing campaigns using AV’s integrated campaign model.
Build and maintain sales and capture enablement materials, including battlecards, an operational proof library, and demo and trade-show messaging.
Support marketing’s contribution to AV’s international growth targets.
Own the competitive picture for the counter-UAS category, covering competitors’ capabilities, production capacity, pricing posture, and acquisition traction.
Make autonomous decisions on messaging and claims within approved positioning, enablement priorities, launch sequencing within the portfolio, and competitive response content; escalate portfolio-positioning changes, budget impacts, and corporate-narrative or public-release risks to the VP.
Partner with the Head of Product Marketing on shared product-marketing standards and cross-portfolio consistency.