Position Summary, Job Requirements & Responsibilities
Aireon is seeking a Vice President of Product Development to lead & manage the ideation, development, launch, & sustainment of its portfolio of air traffic services. Service management spans from cloud-based air traffic management to monitoring and control products to administering service operations for the global aviation customer base. This role will be responsible for product development & shaping the commercial data services product roadmap for Aireon, delineating technology goals & the building blocks necessary for achieving them.
Foundational to this role to establish & maintain the partnership between the VP of Product Strategy & Product Development. The VP must have the ability to lead, mentor, & manage a diverse team of architects, data analysts, engineers, computer scientists, technicians, & managers, nurturing a culture of collaboration & peak performance. This position will lead, develop, manage the overall strategy, & execution of an approximately $25M aerospace, defense, & civil aviation business.
What You'll Do
Manage the complete product lifecycle from product ideation through launch & sustainment.
Establish a strong partnership with the sales, marketing, business development, & product management team.
Implement repeatable, scalable, innovative standard operating procedures & practices for the department in alignment with our policies to ensure proactive predictable performance across commercial data services operations.
Obtain, retain, & lead a team of highly skilled & motivated managers & employees.
Drive the development, implementation, & operational maintenance of integrated commercial data product strategy with strong sales & product management collaboration.
Identify opportunities for enhancements & process improvements.
Manage the financial performance of product development in support of Aireon’s objectives.
Develop & implement an integrated high-performance culture that consistently strives to set the standard across the company.
Develop & maintain a strong process for technology transfer across the assigned portfolio supported by a clear understanding of evolving market trends & specific opportunities.
Effectively serve as the executive point of contact for the product development team while developing & managing relevant senior-level internal & external stakeholders.
Effectively represent Aireon in community & industry engagements.
Lead end-to-end solutions across functional areas when required for new business requirements.
Collaborate with product owners, architects, & development leaders to iterate, prioritize, & execute the product life cycle definition, development, test, implementation, & operations.
Document & share best practice knowledge for new solutions. Regularly communicate new features & benefits to internal & external stakeholders.
Monitor the competitive landscape & new technologies. Proactively assess opportunities for integrations to add value for entirely new offerings.
Develop proof-of-concept or minimal viable product projects to validate & market test.
Manage the development & sustainment of a product portfolio with a demonstrated track record of delivering products on time & within budget.
Required Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, or related discipline.
15+ years of progressive leadership experience with a proven track record of success in leading industry or civil/DoD mid to large functional organizations.
People management: challenges employees to be extraordinary, embraces ambiguity & complexity, & utilizes coaching to grow and improve employee capabilities.
Ability to drive a complex, high-tech organization.
Highly communicative, develop a vision of the organization to motivate & encourage staff to achieve high performance & generate growth.
Ability to establish & maintain a strong network of customers, industry partners, & other relevant sources of information & influence.
Visionary, driven, innovative, & takes initiative without being asked.
Excellent verbal & written communication & strong leadership skills.
Ability to work independently & collaboratively in a team.
A proven track record of managing SaaS, PaaS, & DaaS.
Desired Qualifications
Master’s degree in computer science or equivalent.
Strong proficiency in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, & Cognitive sensing at both the sensor & network levels.
Certifications in AI, Microsoft Azure, AWS or GCP equivalent, GovCloud, & PMP.
About You
You are a natural leader. You demonstrate hands-on experience building & scaling software products & solutions. You have a natural ability to provide cross-functional leadership, motivate & mentor teams in a matrix environment. Exhibit an entrepreneurial mindset & prioritize the customer experience.
You value collaboration and promote Aireon's core values. As a competent leader, you possess strong relationship-building skills & are highly collaborative; excellent listening skills while facilitating & guiding senior executives & stakeholders. Works effectively & collaboratively with the Aireon team, supply chain support, stakeholders, & customers.
You embrace change and act as a change agent within Aireon. You are Intellectually curious, & abreast of emerging technologies, trends, risks, & opportunities. Highly analytical, able to solve complex & ambiguous problems.
You Inspire those to innovate. As an innovative leader, focused on the big picture. Achieve results throughout the product lifecycle & the technical roadmap while you are consistently evaluating disruptive technologies.
1-3-6-12 Month Plan
In the 1st month, we’ll expect you to…
Understand cross-functional team members, their strengths & weaknesses, & build relationships. Creating a more cohesive & productive team.
Establish accountability & responsibility within the product development team in alignment with the new VP’s authority.
Build relationships with your leadership, peers, & direct reports with special emphasis on the product management department.
Seek to understand the company's culture & politics, & to get buy-in for employee initiatives.
Review the current organizational structure & determine optimization opportunities for personnel realignment to leverage the team's strengths.
Learn the company's history, products or services, target market, & competitive landscape.
Understand product baseline & budget to support operational customer services.
Set up strategic one-on-ones with product department, product management, sales, engineering, & operations key personnel.
Review direct reports' performance plans & prepare a cadence of interactions to ensure clarity & demonstrate empathy.
At 3 months we’ll expect you to…
Establish & refine a baseline of performance for the department.
Establish mentoring relationships with personnel to ensure employee succession plans.
Review the product development culture based on baseline survey data & determine if training is required to inspire employees.
Develop a draft commercial data services strategic plan for the department that aligns with the company's overall goals & includes specific objectives & metrics for success.
Be an agent of change driving forward as we affirm and empower employees for growth.
Be visible & accessible, ensuring your team members & colleagues know who you are & how to reach you.
At 6 months we’ll expect you to…
Develop commercial data services strategic plan with VP of product strategy to grow business from $25M to $100M in commercial data services within 5 years.
Map out current year product launches & ensure all elements required for success have been addressed.
Celebrate successes. Take the time to celebrate your team's successes, big & small. This will help to boost morale & keep your team motivated.
At 12 months we’ll expect you to…
Develop annual budget in collaboration with the CFO, CEO, CTO, VP of Product Strategy, & VP of ANSP Sales.
Determine employee succession plans & personnel budgetary needs for annual submission to the budget.
Perform performance reviews.
Support Aireon’s perpetual transformation initiative.
Develop upcoming year department goals in alignment with Aireon’s objectives.
Establish & participate in customer forums to ensure an understanding of customer needs.
Continuing education to ensure new ideas in developing the transformative product roadmap.
Incorporate continuous process improvement for product delivery.
Execute commercial data services strategic plan for product development & ensure product roadmap supports business growth.
About The Team
The product development team is currently close to 30 internal people with staff augmentation to accommodate product management & customer needs. In addition, product development is supported by matrixed personnel for program management, service desk, finance, systems engineering, & operations. The culture of Aireon is embodied within the integrated products team with a focus on customer centricity, employee engagement, urgency towards performance, & innovation insertion into the product roadmap.
Perks And Benefits
Premium medical, dental & vision plan
Life Insurance & AD&D
Short Term & Long Term Disability
Health Savings Account (HSA)
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
Retirement 401K plan with Employer Matching
Education Assistance & Tuition Reimbursement
Paid Time Off, Sick Leave, Floating Holidays
Paid Parental Leave
Company Sponsored Events
Employee Referral Program
Aireon is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or status as a protected veteran. EOE of Minorities/Females/Vets/Disability & other protected categories.
Seniority level
Executive
Employment type
Full-time
Job function
Product Management and Marketing
Industries
Aviation and Aerospace Component Manufacturing
Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at Aireon LLC by 2x