Senior Product Manager, UAS Development

Firestorm•San Diego, CA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Product Manager owns the definition and direction of Tempest, Firestorm’s modular fixed-wing unmanned aircraft system (UAS). Tempest can be reconfigured in the field for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and one-way attack missions, carries electronic warfare and communications payloads, and is built and repaired at the point of need using xCell, Firestorm’s deployable microfactory. The role defines who the product serves, what it must do, and the order in which new capabilities are introduced. The product manager owns the what and why, working closely with program management, which owns when and how much, and engineering, which owns how. The role requires experience taking hardware from requirements through fielding and comfort working at test ranges, with military units, and in design reviews. The product manager is accountable for ensuring delivered aircraft meet operators’ expectations in the field. Responsibilities include defining product missions, users, configurations, and requirements; setting measurable acceptance criteria; making trade-off decisions; maintaining the product baseline and documentation; developing the roadmap and business case; tracking competing systems; and defining validation, testing, and release readiness from a product standpoint. The role also gathers operator and field feedback, incorporates it into requirements and roadmap changes, supports business development and capture activities, and communicates product decisions, risks, and status to leadership, engineering, and customers. The position is based onsite at Firestorm’s headquarters in San Diego, California. Local candidates and candidates open to relocating are welcome; relocation assistance may be included in the offer where appropriate.

Requirements

At least 7 years of experience in product management, systems engineering, program management, or engineering roles involving hardware or electromechanical systems.
At least 3 years owning a product’s definition, requirements, or roadmap.
Experience taking a hardware product from development through test and customer acceptance into production or fielding.
Experience writing requirements with measurable acceptance criteria and using test results to determine product readiness.
Experience in defense, aerospace, or another regulated hardware industry.
Technical fluency to read system architectures, follow performance trade-offs involving weight, power, range, endurance, and payload, and understand the implications of changes.
Demonstrated ability to gather needs directly from end users and turn them into product decisions.
Clear, concise writing and briefing skills, including the ability to explain trade-offs to operators, program offices, and engineers.
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience.
U.S. citizenship and the ability to obtain and maintain a Department of Defense security clearance.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical, or systems engineering.
Private pilot certificate; significant military aviation or UAS operating experience is also relevant.
Experience with Group 2 or 3 fixed-wing aircraft, loitering munitions, or one-way attack systems.
FAA Part 107 remote pilot certificate, or willingness to earn one within 60 days of hire.
Military service, especially as an unmanned-systems operator or maintainer.
Experience with other transaction authority agreements, rapid fielding, and work with program offices.
Experience with modular open systems approach architectures and third-party payload integration, such as EO/IR sensors, electronic warfare, or communications relays.
Experience with additive or distributed manufacturing, or products designed for field repair.
Experience supporting proposals, white papers, or captures.
Working knowledge of ITAR and EAR as they apply to allied and partner sales.

Responsibilities

Own Tempest’s product definition, including the missions and users it serves, its configurations, and the capabilities each configuration must deliver.
Write and maintain capability- and system-level requirements with threshold and objective values and measurable acceptance criteria traced to operator needs and concepts of operations.
Make product trade-off decisions involving capability, unit cost, schedule, and producibility in collaboration with program management and engineering.
Maintain the Tempest capability baseline and product documentation as a single source of truth for business development, capture, and customers.
Own the product roadmap, selecting future configurations, payloads, and capabilities based on customer demand, funding signals, acquisition timelines, and technology readiness.
Justify new configurations and major investments, provide product input to pricing, and track competing systems to inform positioning and roadmap decisions.
Set release acceptance criteria and operational validation that demonstrate the product meets operator expectations.
Work with engineering and flight test to shape ground tests, flight tests, and demonstrations that validate important requirements.
Attend tests, review test data, and determine product readiness for customer release.
Account for setup time, training burden, maintainability, and field repair with xCell in product decisions.
Engage regularly with military operators, program offices, and allied and partner users to understand their missions, constraints, and buying paths.
Gather field feedback with the Mission Success Team, define field-performance metrics, and translate findings into requirement and roadmap changes.
Provide business development and capture teams with technical content, demonstrations, customer briefings, and white papers.
Communicate product decisions, risks, and status clearly to leadership, engineering, and customers.

Benefits

Competitive salary and comprehensive benefits.
Medical, dental, and vision plans.
401(k) Retirement Savings Plan.
Equity grants for new hires.
Unlimited PTO.
Company holidays, including a holiday hiatus in November and December.
Parental leave.
Lifestyle Spending Account.
FSA, DCFSA, and HSA.
Hospital indemnity insurance.
Critical illness insurance.
Accident insurance.
Basic life and AD&D insurance, plus the option to purchase additional life insurance.
Short-term and long-term disability insurance, 100% covered by Firestorm.
Free 24/7 mental health resources, including therapy.
Free legal and financial support services.
Career growth opportunities.
Relocation assistance may be included in the offer package where appropriate.