Product Manager

About the role

Our autonomous vehicle (AV) platform and hardware product ecosystem are delivering real value to real customers today. As a Product team our mission is to ensure were solving the right needs in the right order to the right scope. Product Managers own outcomes across engineering teams translating the broader product vision into decisions that hold up in the field.

As the Product Manager for our software product releases youll own the cross-functional core product baseline that every Forterra program builds on. You will shepherd what goes into each release across autonomy software tactical communications data platform edge compute hardware and third-party firmware. Each product sub-team is responsible for delivering a quality tested validated product into the Forterra ecosystem--you glue them together watch for interdependencies define user-centric tests and evaluate our products from the perspective of the customer. Acting as the glue between engineering growth and executives you answer the question daily: are we building the right things in the right order with the right characteristics

This role requires a seasoned PM who can operate at multiple levels zooming out to understand customer goals and roadmap alignment and zooming in to interrogate a test result a firmware version or a field failure. You will own the release contents and the release cadence define what supported means and ensure cross-functional stakeholders are aligned along the way. You must be proactive detail-oriented and fluent in both product thinking and technical execution.

This role has broad accountability and narrow formal authority. It works because the person doing it is right in public repeatedly.

What youll do

• Own the Release: Define what a supported baseline means whats in it and when it ships. Establish and enforce the criteria for inclusion stability value resourcing and risk.
• Shepherd the In/Out Call: Evaluate every candidate product and revision against the inclusion criteria. Guide the decision document the tradeoffs and communicate under pressure from programs engineering and leadership.
• Drive Alignment: Create the artifacts compatibility matrices diagrams decision records that let programs engineering and leadership act on the same picture without you in the room.
• Set the Bar: Make mole-hills out of mountains. Keep teams focused in sync and focused on the same customer outcomes through calm indirect leadership.
• Communicate Proactively: Keep engineering product leadership growth and other stakeholders informed. Share progress flag issues and raise tradeoffs early.
• Measure Release Health: Define the metrics that tell us whether the baseline is actually stable in the lab and in the field and use them to drive the next release.
• Own the Baseline of Record: Maintain the configuration documentation versions compatibility release notes and dependencies across hardware firmware and software including COTS components we buy rather than build.
• Escalate When Needed: Raise scope timeline and resourcing risks to Product Leadership early enough to act on.
• Make the Baseline Visible: Ensure the organization knows what is released what is supported and what it enables including demonstrating it to the company and to customers.

Minimum Qualifications

• 58 years of product management experience ideally on defense products.
• Youre comfortable operating at both strategic and tactical levelsable to align with business goals and get specific with technical teams.
• Strong product instinctsable to connect field needs and platform constraints to tactical engineering priorities.
• Experience owning a release baseline or integrated product across multiple engineering teams where you made the call on what shipped.
• Youre technical enough to earn the trust of engineers hold your own in brainstorming sessions and ensure feasibility.
• Deep familiarity with product development in systems with high performance safety and robustness requirements.
• You communicate clearly across rolesfrom engineers to executivesand thrive in cross-functional environments.
• You are rigorous about execution and care deeply that what is being built works for the user in the real world.
• Up to 25% travel may be required to support field testing customer deployments and in-person workshops. Preference for hybrid candidates near Forterras core offices: Clarksburg MD; or Arlington VA.

Preferred Qualifications

• Military background and/or Product Management experience with defense products.
• Background in autonomy robotics or software engineering.
• Experience in fast-paced or startup environments especially building 0-to-1 products.
• Familiarity with Agile environments and tools like Jira.

US Salary Range
$145000 - 165000

Location

Hybrid in Clarksburg MD

The salary range for this role is an estimate and is based on a wide variety of compensation factors. The salary offered to candidates will vary based on a variety of factors including (but not limited to) relevant work experience education specialized training critical expertise training and more. Equity in Forterra is included in most of our full-time high-demand roles and is therefore considered part of Forterras overall compensation addition to base salary and equity Forterra offers competitive benefits for full-time employees including:

• Premium Healthcare Benefits: Three plan options including an HSA-eligible plan with Forterra covering 80% of the plan premium for you and your dependents.
• Basic Life/AD&D short and long-term disability insurance plans 100% covered by Forterra plus the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your dependents.
• Extremely generous company holiday calendar including a winter break in December.
• Competitive paid time off (PTO) offering 20 days accrued per year.
• A minimum of 7 weeks fully paid parental leave for birth/adoption.
• A $9k annual tuition reimbursement or professional development stipend.
• Fully stocked beverage refrigerators with all the Celsius your little heart desires.
• 401(k) retirement savings plan including traditional Roth 401(k) and after-tax deferral with company match up to 4%.

Your recruiter will be able to share more information about our salary and benefits offering during the hiring process.

CLEARANCE ELIGIBILITY - This position may require eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance. For more information about U.S. Security Clearances:click here.

Forterra is an equal-opportunity employer providing and promoting equal employment opportunity in all personnel are unique talented individuals who are united through a shared passion to deliver autonomous systems that enable national resilience and a robust supply chain.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any factor including veteran and disability status and criminal history in accordance with applicable local state and federal laws.

Forterra is also committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. Please let your recruiter know if you need an accommodation at any point during the interview process.

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