Product Manager/Fires SME

Agile Defense•Washington, DC

1d•$135,000 - $195,000•Onsite

About The Position

Agile Defense is hiring a Product Manager/Fires SME to support Target Effect Pairing (TEP), a USPACOM Joint Fires capability built on the Maven Smart System. TEP uses AI recommendations to support capabilities analysis, commander decision-making, and force assignment. Recommendations must be traceable, explainable, and auditable, while inherently governmental decisions remain with humans. The role applies operational targeting experience and product management practices to translate joint targeting doctrine, JFE and JTCB workflows, and target development standards into requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria. The Product Manager/Fires SME works with a Senior UX Designer, software engineers and architects, and a Technical Program Manager responsible for backlog priority and government acceptance. The role is accountable for ensuring the product is operationally sound and that recommendations are tested against representative scenarios before reaching commanders. The position involves collaboration at secure facilities and with government, development, and operational stakeholders. One position is with the development team in Honolulu; another is in the National Capital Region and travels 50% of the time. Work is primarily in professional office, government, and technical development environments, with regular on-site collaboration and possible periodic travel.

Requirements

Proven ability to drive progress and create clarity in fast-moving, ambiguous environments.
Ability to maintain required TS/SCI access.
Experience owning digital product requirements, including discovery, user stories, acceptance criteria, and shaping a backlog for a delivery team.
Experience explaining the basis, assumptions, and limits of a targeting recommendation to people outside targeting so they can build from it.
Experience working with UX and engineering teams through refinement, reviews, and demonstrations using an agile approach such as Scrum, Kanban, or SAFe.
Experience in DoW, Joint, combatant command, Navy/NIWC, or CDAO mission environments, including government milestone reviews or acceptance processes.
Familiarity with AI-enabled decision support, explainability, and human-machine teaming.
Experience using Jira, Confluence, or comparable product and agile delivery tools.

Nice To Haves

Targeting experience at a combatant command, the Joint Staff, a component, or an Air Operations Center, such as target development, target systems analysis, or combat assessment.
Graduation from Joint Targeting School.
Experience working within a JFE or JTCB process and explaining how its decisions are made.
Experience with Maven Smart System or Joint Targeting Toolbox.

Responsibilities

Map the current USPACOM targeting workflow from target development through nomination, approval, and assessment, and document departures from doctrine and the product's rationale for following a particular approach.
Translate joint targeting doctrine, JFE and JTCB workflows, and target development standards into buildable requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria.
Ensure requirements identify inherently governmental decision points and specify required human approvals.
Frame feature requests as operational problems and provide operationally grounded priority recommendations to the Technical Program Manager.
Develop representative scenarios and acceptance criteria to assess whether target-effect pairing recommendations are complete, relevant, and defensible.
Ensure recommendations explain why a pairing is recommended, state assumptions and limitations, and can be challenged by targeteers.
Demonstrate capabilities with targeteers, JFE and JTCB staff, and J32 operators, and use their feedback to influence product development.
Define success measures for capabilities before development and report results after release.
Communicate progress, risks, and open decisions to government stakeholders.
Collaborate with UX and engineering teams through refinement, reviews, and demonstrations.