Vice President, Product Development

McLean, VA, United States

Company Overview:

Aireon deployed the worlds first global space-based air traffic surveillance system, providing real-time aircraft monitoring capabilities around the world, including over the poles, over the oceans and in remote areas.

Aireon data enables safer, more efficient and more environmentally friendly aviation travel, resulting in significant CO2 emission reductions. More than 20 Air Navigation Service Providers representing more than 40 countries including NAV CANADA, NATS (UK), Air Traffic and Navigation Services (South Africa), Airports Authority of India (AAI), and ASECNA (Africa) -- rely on Aireon data to navigate aircraft in their airspaces.

We are committed to offering an employment experience and benefits package that enables you and your family to grow with us and to share in our success.

Position Summary, Job Requirements & Responsibilities:

Aireon is seeking a Vice President of Product Development to lead and manage the ideation, development, launch and 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 individual will be responsible for product development and shaping the commercial data services product roadmap for Aireon, delineating technology goals and the building blocks necessary for achieving them.

Foundational to this role is establishment and maintenance of the partnership between the VP of Product Strategy and Product Development. The VP must have the ability to lead, mentor, and manage a diverse team of architects, data analysts, engineers, computer scientists, technicians, and managers, nurturing a culture of collaboration and peak performance. This position will be in McLean, VA and will lead, develop, and manage the overall strategy and execution of an approximately $25M aerospace, defense, and civil aviation business.

What You'll Do

Manage the complete product lifecycle from product ideation through launch and sustainment.

Establish a strong partnership with the sales, marketing, business development, and product management team.

Implement repeatable, scalable, innovative standard operating procedures, and practices for the department, in alignment with corporate policies and procedures to ensure proactive predictability of performance across commercial data services operations.

Obtain, retain, and lead a team of highly skilled and motivated managers and employees.

Drive the development, implementation, and operational maintenance of an integrated commercial data product strategy with strong sales and product management collaboration.

Identify opportunities for enhancements and process improvements.

Manage the financial performance of product development in support of Aireons corporate objectives.

Develop and implement an integrated high-performance culture that consistently strives to set the standard across the company.

Develop and maintain a strong process for technology transfer across the assigned portfolio supported by a clear and deep understanding of evolving market trends and specific opportunities.

Effectively serve as the executive point of contact for the product development team while developing and managing relevant senior level internal and external stakeholder relationships.

Effectively represent Aireon in community and industry engagements.

Lead end-to-end solution designs across functional areas when required for new business requirements.

Collaborate with product owners, architects, and development leaders to help iterate, prioritize, and execute the product life cycle definition, development, test, implementation, and operations.

Document and share best practice knowledge for new solutions. Regularly communicate new features and benefits to internal and external stakeholders.

Monitor the competitive landscape and new technologies. Proactively assess opportunities for integrations to add value to existing products or entirely new offerings.

Develop proof-of-concept or minimal viable product projects to validate and market test.

Manage the development and sustainment of a product portfolio with a demonstrated track record of delivering products on time and within budget.

Experience & Education Requirements / EEO:

Required Qualifications

Bachelors degree in engineering, computer science or related discipline.

15+ years of progressive leadership experience with proven track record of success in leading industry or civil / DoD mid to large functional and/or business level organizations.

People management: challenges employees to be extraordinary, embraces ambiguity and complexity, and utilizes coaching to grow and improve employee capabilities.

Ability and passion to drive a complex, high-tech organization.

Effectively communicate the expectation levels and vision of the organization in a way to motivate and encourage staff to achieve high performance and generate growth.

Ability to establish and maintain a strong network of customers, industry partners, and other relevant sources of information and influence.

Visionary, driven, innovative, and takes initiative without being asked.

Excellent verbal and written communication and strong leadership skills.

Ability to work independently and collaborate in a team setting.

Act as a role model according to our core values: safety-minded, mission critical, customer centric, and caring about people.

A proven track record of managing SaaS, PaaS, and DaaS.

Desired Qualifications

Masters degree in computer science or equivalent.

Strong proficiency in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Cognitive sensing at both the sensor and network levels.

Certifications in AI, Microsoft Azure, AWS or GCP equivalent, GovCloud, and PMP.

About You

You are a natural leader. You demonstrate hands-on experience building and scaling software products & solutions. You have a natural ability to provide cross-functional leadership, motivate, and mentor teams in a matrix environment. Exhibit entrepreneurial mindset, and prioritize the customer experience.

You value collaboration and promote Aireon's core values. As a competent leader you possess strong relationship building skills and are highly collaborative; excellent listening skills while facilitating & guiding senior executives and stakeholders. Works effectively and collaboratively with the Aireon team, supply chain support, stakeholders, and customers. Maintain and build strong partnerships with product management in the development, launch, and sustainment of products.

You embrace change and act as a change agent within Aireon. You are Intellectually curious, stay abreast of emerging technologies, trends, risks, and opportunities. Highly analytical, able to solve complex and ambiguous problems. With strong oral and written communication skills you can communicate vision, thoughts, ideas, and solutions to various audiences.

You Inspire those around you to innovate. As an innovative leader, you are focused on the big picture. Achieving results throughout the product lifecycle and the technical roadmap while you are consistently evaluating new disruptive technologies.

1-3-6-12 Month Plan

In the first month well expect you to

Take the time to get to know team members, understand their strengths and weaknesses, and build relationships with them. This will help to create a more cohesive and productive team.

Establish accountability and responsibility within the product development team in alignment with the new VPs authority.

Build relationships with your leadership, peers, and direct reports with special emphasis on the product management department.

Seek to understand the company's culture and politics, and to get buy-in for employees initiatives.

Review the current organizational structure and determine optimization opportunities for personnel realignment to leverage the team's strengths.

Learn the company's history, products or services, target market, and competitive landscape.

Understand product baseline and budget to support operational customer services.

Set up strategic one on ones with product department, product management, sales, engineering, and operations key personnel.

Review direct reports performance plans and prepare a cadence of interactions to ensure clarity and demonstrate empathy.

Be humble and willing to learn. You don't know everything, and that's okay. Be open to feedback and be willing to learn from your mistakes.

At 3 months well expect you to

Establish and refine a baseline of performance for department.

Establish mentoring relationships with personnel to ensure employee succession plans.

Review the product development culture based on baseline survey data and determine if culture tune up is required to inspire employees.

Develop a draft commercial data services strategic plan for the department that aligns with the company's overall goals and includes specific objectives and metrics for success.

Be patient. It takes time to make a difference in a large organization. Don't get discouraged if you don't see results overnight.

Be visible and accessible, ensuring your team members and colleagues know who you are and how to reach you.

At 6 months well expect you to

Develop commercial data services strategic plan with VP of product strategy to grow business from approximately $25M to $100M in commercial data services within 5 years.

Map out current year product launches and ensure all elements required for success have been addressed.

Celebrate successes. Take the time to celebrate your team's successes, big and small. This will help to boost morale and keep your team motivated.

At 12 months well expect you to

Develop annual budget in collaboration with the CFO, CEO, CTO, VP of Product Strategy, and VP of ANSP Sales.

Determine employee succession plans and ascertain personnel budgetary needs for annual submission to the corporate budget.

Perform end of year performance reviews.

Support Aireons perpetual transformation initiative.

Develop upcoming year department goals in alignment with the corporate objectives.

Establish and participate in customer forums to ensure 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 and ensure product roadmap portfolio supports growth in business.

About the Team

The product development team is currently close to 30 internal people with staff augmentation to accommodate product management and customer needs. In addition, product development is supported by matrixed personnel for program management, service desk, finance, systems engineering, and operations. The culture of Aireon is embodied within the integrated products team with a focus on customer centricity, employee engagement, urgency towards performance, and innovation insertion into the product roadmap.

Perks and Benefits

Premium medical, dental and vision plan

Life Insurance and AD&D

Short Term and Long Term Disability

Health Savings Account (HSA)

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)

Retirement 401K plan with Employer Matching

Education Assistance and 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 and other protected categories.