RTI is seeking a Sr. Product Manager to drive the future of real-time software in the Aerospace & Defense (A&D) industry. RTI Connext software powers over 500 defense programs across land, sea, air, and space. We are looking for a product manager who possesses insights into emerging trends, particularly UAS, Autonomy, Maritime, and related mission systems.
In this role, you’ll drive product strategy for how Connext serves A&D customers. You’ll translate mission requirements into clear product needs, shape the roadmap with R&D, and ensure RTI’s platform solves real problems for defense programs.
This role is a fit for someone who enjoys defining what to build and why, grounding product decisions in customer needs, mission outcomes, and market realities.
✨ What You’ll Do / Responsibilities:
- Own the A&D product direction
- Build a deep view of UAS, autonomy, maritime, C-UAS, and JADC2/MOSA requirements and how they shape needs for distributed systems, security, real-time data, and interoperability.
- Translate customer/mission requirements into clear product requirements, use cases, and roadmap proposals.
- Represent the voice of the defense customer
- Conduct product discovery: pain points, operational workflows, constraints, integration patterns.
- Validate roadmap direction with key customers and convert insights into actionable product decisions.
- Shape RTI’s platform for A&D use cases
- Identify capability gaps and growth opportunities across key defense applications.
- Work with other Product and Engineering stakeholders to prioritize capabilities required for A&D adoption i.e. security, interoperability, platform support, performance, tooling, and integration needs.
- Collaborate with Sales and BD to optimize pricing, licensing, and the overall product strategy to ensure streamlined adoption within target accounts.
- Partner cross-functionally for successful adoption
- Partner with Sales, BD, and Marketing to translate technical capabilities into compelling value propositions and differentiators.
- Develop product positioning that help Sales and BD teams win new business in the top DoD priorities.
- Contribute to strategic go-to-market plans for key programs and partners. This includes strategic resource allocation decisions, including analyzing the ROI of existing programs/consortia (e.g., FACE) and ensuring resources are redirected to high-growth areas like Autonomy and C-UAS.
- Contribute to sales materials (battlecards, demo scripts, decks) and help train field teams on messaging and differentiation.
- Market & competitive insight
- Build and maintain deep insight into the competitive landscape, customer missions, and government modernization trends.
- Use this insight to drive RTI’s long-term A&D product strategy.
🎯 What We’re Looking For / Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical field (or equivalent military/industry experience).
- Strong understanding of UAS and/or Maritime systems, including autonomy, edge computing, mission control, and data distribution.
- Ability to connect technical features (e.g., data-centric middleware, security, interoperability) to mission outcomes and business value.
- Ability to collaborate across Product, Engineering, Sales, Marketing and Professional Services to align on strategy and execution.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills - clear, concise, and strategic.
- Travel about 25% to customer sites and corporate/market events.
- US Citizenship required*
- *Due to applicable laws, government regulations and contract specifications, we are required to fill this position only with an individual who qualifies as a "U.S. Citizen."
Don’t meet every single requirement? At RTI, we are dedicated to building a fair and inclusive workplace so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t perfectly align with all qualifications in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway! You may be just the right candidate for this or another one of our open roles. Learn more about our commitment to our workforce, here!
💎 Nice To Have / Preferred Skills:
- Experience in a product role within Aerospace & Defense domains, including Product Manager, Product Owner, Platform/Product Architect, or Platform/Product Engineer.
- Experience supporting DoD, OEMs, or Tier-1 primes in A&D programs. US Military Veteran status (or Reserve status) is a plus.
- Understanding of DoD acquisition processes, funding mechanisms (e.g. OTAs), and strategic initiatives.
- Familiarity with DDS, real-time systems, or distributed communication software.
- Hands-on experience developing or marketing autonomy, UxV, or C2 software.
- Exposure to international defense markets or export-controlled environments.
- Proven success driving go-to-market or growth experiments (pilots, demos, product-led outreach).
- Ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance may be required.
🌟 What We Offer You:
- Flexible Work: Hybrid office schedule (2 days a week in office) + Home Office Stipend to cover the costs of working from home.
- Comprehensive Benefits: Health, dental, flexible PTO, and an additional bonus for taking more than 1-week of uninterrupted vacation.
- Annual bonus based on individual and company performance + other prizes and awards.
- We recognize employees for their achievements, offer great opportunities for career growth and development, and provide the tools they need to succeed.
💙 How is life at RTI:
- We have been certified as a Great Place to Work for seven consecutive years both in Spain and the US. In addition, we were listed as one of the Best Companies for Women to Advance.
- We live and work by our core values, which emphasize excellence, teamwork, and reaching your potential. Our motto is “Enjoy the journey,” above all we must enjoy what we do and have fun at work. At RTI, you will work in a positive, supportive, diverse environment with a team that truly cares about you.
- We are defined by our “Working as One” culture and truly care about team’s interaction. That is why we plan trips for teams to get together in person, enjoy fun team-building activities and events, and feel more connected.
🌍 What We Do / About RTI:
RTI is the software framework company for physical AI systems, with a mission to run a smarter world. RTI Connext® provides the data architecture for over 2,000 designs in Aerospace and Defense, Medtech, Automotive, and Robotics – running in more than $1T of total deployed systems worldwide. Only RTI combines decades of technical expertise with industry-leading software and tools to develop smarter systems, faster. Learn more at www.rti.com.
RTI is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age status as a protected veteran, or status as a qualified individual with disability.
The compensation range for this role is 170K - 200K for Sunnyvale, California. The salary range displayed on this job posting reflects a minimum and maximum target. Individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Please note that this range reflects the base salary target range only, and does not include bonus, equity, or benefits.
For more information about how we collect and use your data, please see our Privacy Notice for US Job Applicants and Employees.
