Staff Product Development
About The Position
The Staff Product Line Manager serves as a senior technical and strategic partner within the Warfighter Systems business, owning one or more major product groups and driving their multi-year roadmaps, technology integration, and market direction. The role influences cross-product architectural decisions, investment priorities, and long-term capability evolution. It requires subject matter expertise in night vision technologies, imaging sensors, optical systems, soldier-borne systems, and networked battlefield architectures, as well as the ability to translate customer needs, operational use cases, and mission requirements into product strategies, requirements, and business cases. This is a high-impact leadership position without direct people management. The role works across engineering, operations, business development, program management, and senior leadership to guide product strategy and technical direction. It includes regular engagement with domestic and international customers, support for product demonstrations and business development activities, and approximately 25% travel to TSDEF sites, trade shows, and customer locations worldwide.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering, systems engineering, or a related field.
- 10 or more years of experience in night vision, warfighter systems, optics, sensors, radios, or related defense technologies.
- Strong experience translating customer requirements into technical specifications and product strategies.
- Demonstrated ability to lead complex product initiatives without direct people management.
- Eligible to obtain and maintain a DoD Secret Security Clearance.
- Ability to prioritize tasks and drive projects to conclusion.
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to influence engineering, business development, and leadership.
- Approximately 25% travel to TSDEF sites, trade shows, and customer locations worldwide.
Nice To Haves
- Advanced degree.
- Active DoD Secret Security Clearance.
- Military experience or familiarity with dismounted soldier operations.
- Deep technical understanding of imaging sensors, optical systems, radio technologies, and soldier-network architectures.
- Ability to integrate financial, technical, and market inputs into strategic recommendations.
- Enjoyment of collaborative environments, relationship building, and mentoring early-career product professionals.
- Proven experience with customer-facing engagements, requirement capture, and technical presentations.
Responsibilities
- Own the strategy, roadmap, and lifecycle for one or more Warfighter Systems product groups.
- Develop multi-year product strategies based on customer needs, market assessments, and technology trends.
- Facilitate product trade studies and prioritize features for next-generation night vision and soldier-borne capabilities.
- Create product investment business cases, including IRAD justifications, ROI assessments, and value-based pricing strategies.
- Align product-level roadmaps with the broader Warfighter Systems portfolio.
- Capture customer requirements, operational use cases, and CONOPS and translate them into clear technical requirements.
- Lead customer technical interactions, product demonstrations, prototype planning, and requirement validation.
- Author and socialize product-offering requirements and supporting documentation across engineering, business development, program management, and operations.
- Guide engineering teams on component and architecture selections consistent with market and other key requirements.
- Work with cross-functional leaders to shape development priorities, investment decisions, and technology integration paths.
- Partner with PEM to lead or support major product checkpoint reviews, ensuring designs meet cost, schedule, performance, and user-driven requirements.
- Establish and maintain DTUPC targets and coordinate with engineering and operations to meet cost-performance objectives.
- Assess competitive positioning, emerging technologies, and market shifts to guide product evolution.
- Support system-level architectural decisions spanning multiple products and provide technology assessments for product strategies and roadmaps.
- Contribute to cross-product system concepts involving integrated night vision, soldier power, tactical radios, shared situational awareness, AR displays, and networked sensor systems.
- Help ensure technical cohesion and interoperability across the Warfighter Systems product family.
- Monitor development activities for assigned product lines, identify risks, and align priorities with strategic objectives.
- Collaborate with program management on schedule, cost, and engineering deliverables.
- Support proposal development, customer reviews, and internal strategy reviews.
- Provide input into IRAD and EAID rationalization for related technologies and product lines.
- Engage domestic and international customers to strengthen relationships and identify product and capability growth opportunities.
- Deliver technical briefs and support business development capture activities with technical insight.
- Support prototype demonstrations and align them with product strategy and business development capture plans.
- Author and socialize white papers and product or technology briefings to influence or define potential CRAD projects, CRADA relationships, or other customer collaborations.
- Work with other TSDEF business units to leverage technologies that enhance Warfighter Systems offerings.
- Participate in enterprise-level technology discussions when relevant, contributing product-level insights to broader architectural initiatives.
- Travel approximately 25% to TSDEF sites, trade shows, and customer locations worldwide.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
