Product Manager II (U.S. Air Force)

Description

The company is a digital consultancy that uses design and technology to help government agencies deliver better public services.

It is part of a wider civic effort to change how every level of government serves people in a digital age. The team is made up of public interest technologists.

The client is a U.S. Air Force program office that runs a set of civil engineering systems used by civil engineering, security forces, services, readiness managers, range staff, and fire and emergency services.

Releases are slow right now: testing is manual, security review comes last, and code freeze before production can take a month or more.

The plan is to move the program to an outcome-driven model with automated testing and security built into the pipeline, starting by moving the first application onto a DoD software factory. Leadership hopes this office becomes a model for other Air Force offices.

Product managers own strategy, planning, execution, stakeholder management, and team health, working with researchers, designers, engineers, and client staff. Their core question is what to build next and why.

This role is execution-focused. Your first 30 days are spent getting to know the team and government staff, learning how work is tracked today, and helping move the backlog and documents from Jira and Confluence to GitLab and Mattermost. Tools and processes will change as the work progresses, and you will work with government staff and other contractors.

The role depends on the company winning the underlying contract. If it does not, the company will tell you promptly and discuss other openings that may fit.

Responsibilities

• Keep deliverables, documentation, and schedules organized and visible to government partners, working with the engagement manager.
• Own a prioritized backlog by writing user stories, keeping priorities current, and drafting release plans with the team.
• Guide the move from Jira and Confluence to GitLab and Mattermost, keeping configuration, tracking, and documentation accurate throughout.
• Run team ceremonies, including planning meetings, stakeholder syncs, and retrospectives.
• Turn the needs of users and government partners into product objectives, success measures, and roadmap items.
• Help government teams build digital skills and product knowledge during the project.

Requirements

• Apply lean product thinking, such as minimum viable products, at each stage of the product life cycle to reduce risk, test assumptions, and build learning.
• Build a product strategy grounded in the problem you are solving, ranking outcomes above feature lists, setting direction over time such as a roadmap, and defining success criteria.
• Split scope into valuable pieces that can ship early, and keep a prioritized backlog of validated user stories while running iteration ceremonies.
• Understand human-centered design and use it to shape product direction.
• Work well with people outside your discipline, such as researchers, designers, and engineers, to get things done.
• Manage clients and stakeholders in ways that build trust, alignment, and healthy environments for people and teams.
• Know the trade-offs between software development methods such as agile and lean, and put them into practice.
• Show strong organization, with experience keeping deliverables, documentation, and action items on track for an agile delivery team.
• Have worked on cross-functional teams spanning product, design, engineering, and operations in iterative delivery.
• Work in a way that matches the company's core values.
• Some federal contracts accept a degree or additional years of experience in place of a listed requirement.
• Nice to have: project management experience running schedules, risks, and dependencies for a delivery team.
• Nice to have: configuration management experience, or experience moving a team's tools and workflows, such as from Jira and Confluence to GitLab.
• Nice to have: experience with legacy modernization or launching a new product from zero to one.
• Nice to have: consulting experience, or military or Department of Defense experience.
• Nice to have: experience delivering technology in government, regulated industries, or other public-benefit settings.
• Nice to have: a track record of staying aligned and accountable on remote teams.

Conditions

This is a fully remote role.

Occasional travel to Montgomery, AL, and other Air Force bases is included.

The target start date is November 30, 2026, pending contract award.

This is a full-time, exempt position.

All work must be performed within the U.S., excluding U.S. territories.

This contract requires U.S. citizenship for employment.

You must be able to obtain a Common Access Card (CAC) and any special access the contract requires.

Salary is set by your interview results and current seniority. Current ranges: Associate Product Manager $90,000 to $125,000; Product Manager I $120,000 to $140,000; Product Manager II $135,000 to $160,000; Senior Product Manager $150,000 to $185,000; Staff Product Manager $170,000 to $203,000; Principal Product Manager $180,000 to $230,000.

The interview process includes a preliminary screen, a skills interview, a behavioral interview, and a reverse interview with your potential team, usually four conversations over two to three weeks.

Reasonable accommodation requests during hiring go to the recruiting team.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance.
• Life and AD&D insurance.
• Dependent care FSA, healthcare FSA, and health savings account.
• 401(k) with a dollar-for-dollar match up to 10% of salary and no vesting period.
• Flexible paid time off, generally around 25 days per year, plus 11 paid federal holidays.
• Up to 12 weeks of paid time off for eligible new birth, adoption, or foster parents.
• Performance rewards: annual salary increase, annual performance bonus, spot bonuses, and stock options.
• Business development and sales bonuses.
• Referral bonuses.
• $2,000 per year for professional development.
• $750 per year for tech-related purchases.
• $100 per year swag budget for company merchandise such as hoodies and hats.
• Flexible, remote-friendly work setup.