# Product Manager - DroneStack

**Company:** [Applied Intuition](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/applied-intuition)
**Location:** Sunnyvale, CA
**Role:** Product Management
**Salary:** $150k – $220k/yr
**Experience:** 5+ years
**Skills:** Product Strategy, User Research, Roadmapping, Product Design, UX Design, Technical Systems, Hardware Software Integration, Real-Time Systems, Developer Tools, Infrastructure
**Posted:** 2026-05-07

> Owns product strategy, roadmap, and execution for DroneStack autonomous drone software/hardware, transitioning from bespoke programs to scalable products. Conducts operator research, shapes intuitive interfaces, and drives technical direction with engineering team. Requires 5-7 years PM experience and technical aptitude.

## Job Description

## Responsibilities

- Own product strategy for DroneStack. Define the roadmap that transitions the team from program-driven deliveries to a scalable, multi-customer product line. Make hard prioritization calls across ISR, strike, hardware, and tooling.
- Become the voice of the operator. Conduct primary user research — in the field, at bases, and with international partners — to deeply understand how operators plan, execute, and debrief autonomous missions. Travel up to 20% of the time, including internationally.
- Drive the programs-to-products transition. Identify the patterns across current customer engagements and define the abstractions, configurations, and interfaces that turn one-off solutions into repeatable products.
- Shape product design and experience. Work with engineering to design operator interfaces (mission control, mission planning, mission review) that are intuitive enough for non-technical users to operate without engineering support in the field.
- Set the technical direction with engineering. Partner with the engineering manager and technical leads to balance near-term delivery commitments with long-term product architecture.
- Build and communicate a market thesis. Develop a point of view on where the autonomous drone market is heading — across DoD service branches, allied nations, and commercial applications — and position Applied Intuition to capture it.
- Represent the product internally and externally. Be the connective tissue between DroneStack engineering, Applied Intuition's defense business development team, and customers. Present at demos, program reviews, and industry events.

## Requirements

- 5–7 years of product management experience across at least two meaningfully different environments (different industries, product types, company stages, or customer segments).
- A track record of shipping products, not just features. Owned a product end-to-end — from research and strategy through design, build, launch, and iteration.
- Exceptional research instincts. Learned a market from scratch: talking to users, studying workflows, reading doctrine, attending field exercises, and synthesizing into actionable product direction.
- Comfort with deep technical systems (hardware + software, real-time systems, developer tools, infrastructure, etc.).
- Strong design sensibility. Collaborated closely with designers or driven UX decisions for workflow-heavy or operations-focused tools.
- Clear, structured communication. Write crisp product briefs, present strategies, run design reviews.
- BS/BA degree in a technical or analytical field (Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, Economics, or similar).

## Nice to Have

- Experience with defense or government customers.
- Experience working on products that span hardware and software.
- Prior work at an early-stage or high-growth company.
- Exposure to international markets or customers.
- Experience founding a company or leading a 0-to-1 product initiative.

## Compensation

Base salary range: $150,000 - $220,000 USD annually (plus equity and benefits).

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