Vice President, Product Development

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.
• Embody our core values: safety-minded, mission-critical, customer-centric, & caring about people.
• 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.