Senior Product Manager
Summary
Leads product strategy for defence and national security tech, overseeing end-to-end mission capabilities in aerospace, cyber, and digital domains.
The Company
Our client is a global defence and national security technology organisation that designs, builds and operates mission capabilities across aerospace, electromagnetic and cyber, and digital environments. Rather than simply supplying technology, the business owns capability end-to-end, from initial development through to deployment and operation in the field.
This is not an early-stage company trying to establish whether the Australian opportunity exists. It is an established international organisation investing heavily in the region, backed by engineering and operational capability across the US, UK and other global locations. The Australian team gets the opportunity to build locally while drawing on the technology, expertise and resources of a much larger global enterprise.
The Role
As the first dedicated Product hire in Australia, the Senior Product Manager will sit at the intersection of Australian customers, the local software engineering team and the organisation's global Product function.
Your job is to deeply understand the operational problems facing key Australian customers and turn those insights into intelligent product decisions. That means getting close to customers, asking the right questions, understanding what they actually need and determining whether the answer is a change to the core product, a configuration, a customisation or something that should influence the wider roadmap.
You will also act as the Product Owner for the local development team, taking ideas from discovery through scoping, prioritisation and ultimately software delivery. It is a role with significant autonomy and visibility, and as the first Product Manager on the ground, you will have genuine influence over how the Product function develops in Australia.
Duties will include, but not be limited to:
You are a Product Manager who wants to be close to the problem.
You are comfortable sitting with a customer, asking questions and challenging assumptions until you understand what they actually need, then walking back into an engineering team and turning that understanding into something that can realistically be built.
You will need enough technical depth to communicate credibly with software engineers, but this is not a role for someone who wants to disappear into a backlog. Customer engagement is fundamental. Equally, this is not a purely strategic Product position where the roadmap is managed from a distance. You will be involved from customer discovery through to delivery.
The environment will suit someone comfortable with ambiguity, ownership and change. The Australian operation is growing quickly, so there is significant opportunity to shape how things are done rather than inherit a mature local Product structure.
Experience working with Australian Government, Defence or national security stakeholders will be particularly valuable because understanding how these customers operate and building credibility with them, is central to the position.
Skills & Experience
To be effective in this role, you will likely bring:
Existing Baseline, NV1 or NV2 clearance would also be valuable, although it is not essential.
Security Clearance Due to the nature of the work, Australian citizenship is required and you must be eligible to obtain and maintain an Australian Government security clearance.
Candidates do not need to already hold NV1. The organisation can sponsor the clearance process for eligible Australian citizens, significantly opening the role to strong commercial Product candidates with relevant government, regulated or mission-critical experience.
What's On Offer
Click Apply Now to submit your application or contact Will Gordon at P&C Partners for a confidential discussion.
Our client is a global defence and national security technology organisation that designs, builds and operates mission capabilities across aerospace, electromagnetic and cyber, and digital environments. Rather than simply supplying technology, the business owns capability end-to-end, from initial development through to deployment and operation in the field.
This is not an early-stage company trying to establish whether the Australian opportunity exists. It is an established international organisation investing heavily in the region, backed by engineering and operational capability across the US, UK and other global locations. The Australian team gets the opportunity to build locally while drawing on the technology, expertise and resources of a much larger global enterprise.
The Role
As the first dedicated Product hire in Australia, the Senior Product Manager will sit at the intersection of Australian customers, the local software engineering team and the organisation's global Product function.
Your job is to deeply understand the operational problems facing key Australian customers and turn those insights into intelligent product decisions. That means getting close to customers, asking the right questions, understanding what they actually need and determining whether the answer is a change to the core product, a configuration, a customisation or something that should influence the wider roadmap.
You will also act as the Product Owner for the local development team, taking ideas from discovery through scoping, prioritisation and ultimately software delivery. It is a role with significant autonomy and visibility, and as the first Product Manager on the ground, you will have genuine influence over how the Product function develops in Australia.
Duties will include, but not be limited to:
- Building trusted relationships with Australian Government and national security customers
- Developing a deep understanding of customer requirements, operational challenges and emerging priorities
- Continuously gathering feedback, ideas and market intelligence to inform product decisions
- Running product discovery and translating complex customer problems into clear development opportunities
- Scoping potential software developments and defining requirements with engineering teams
- Acting as Product Owner for the local software development team
- Prioritising requirements, user stories and development work against customer and broader product needs
- Working with global Product leaders to influence and optimise the wider product roadmap
- Determining when customer requirements should drive core product changes, configurations or customisations
- Supporting customer visits, product discussions, demonstrations and contract performance reviews
- Working closely with software engineers throughout discovery, development, testing and delivery
- Helping establish the organisation's Product capability and presence in Australia as the local operation continues to grow
You are a Product Manager who wants to be close to the problem.
You are comfortable sitting with a customer, asking questions and challenging assumptions until you understand what they actually need, then walking back into an engineering team and turning that understanding into something that can realistically be built.
You will need enough technical depth to communicate credibly with software engineers, but this is not a role for someone who wants to disappear into a backlog. Customer engagement is fundamental. Equally, this is not a purely strategic Product position where the roadmap is managed from a distance. You will be involved from customer discovery through to delivery.
The environment will suit someone comfortable with ambiguity, ownership and change. The Australian operation is growing quickly, so there is significant opportunity to shape how things are done rather than inherit a mature local Product structure.
Experience working with Australian Government, Defence or national security stakeholders will be particularly valuable because understanding how these customers operate and building credibility with them, is central to the position.
Skills & Experience
To be effective in this role, you will likely bring:
- Strong experience as a Product Manager, Senior Product Manager, Product Owner or similar within a software environment
- Experience building trusted relationships within Australian Government, Defence, national security or another highly regulated environment
- Strong product discovery skills and the ability to uncover the underlying customer problem rather than simply capture requirements
- A solid understanding of Agile software development and how effective Product and Engineering teams work together
- Experience working directly with software engineers to scope and deliver product changes
- Experience shipping software within regulated, secure or mission-critical environments
- The ability to balance individual customer requirements against broader product and market priorities
- Experience operating within complex software environments where multiple versions, configurations or customer requirements may exist concurrently
- Strong stakeholder management and communication skills across technical, operational and senior customer audiences
Existing Baseline, NV1 or NV2 clearance would also be valuable, although it is not essential.
Security Clearance Due to the nature of the work, Australian citizenship is required and you must be eligible to obtain and maintain an Australian Government security clearance.
Candidates do not need to already hold NV1. The organisation can sponsor the clearance process for eligible Australian citizens, significantly opening the role to strong commercial Product candidates with relevant government, regulated or mission-critical experience.
What's On Offer
- The opportunity to become the first dedicated Product hire in Australia for a rapidly expanding global defence technology organisation
- Genuine ownership and influence over Australian product direction rather than inheriting a tightly prescribed roadmap
- Direct exposure to Australian national security customers and complex real-world operational problems
- The opportunity to work closely with a local software engineering team while collaborating with Product and technical leaders globally
- Join during a major Australian growth phase, with Brisbane established as the organisation's long-term Australian headquarters
- Hybrid working arrangements in Brisbane
- Competitive base salary plus an annual incentive plan
- Private health insurance
- Generous paid time off
- Paid parental leave
- Life and TPD insurance
- Income protection insurance
- Employee Assistance Program
- Novated car leasing
- Australian Government security clearance sponsorship for eligible candidates
Click Apply Now to submit your application or contact Will Gordon at P&C Partners for a confidential discussion.