Senior Product Development Engineer Jobs in Washington

Who We Are:

At SES Space & Defense, we are a trusted partner ensuring mission success for customers operating in the most demanding environments. As part of SES S.A., a global leader in satellite-enabled connectivity, we deliver multi-orbit, end-to-end satellite and technology solutions that provide secure, reliable, and high-bandwidth communications across the globe.

Our differentiated multi-orbit architecture combines GEO and MEO satellite systems with integrated terrestrial and network infrastructure to deliver resilient, low-latency, high-throughput connectivity at a global scale. With more than 120 satellites covering nearly the entire world, a global ground network, and thousands of deployed terminals supporting over 5,000 government missions annually, SES Space and Defense is a trusted partner to the U.S. Federal Government and national security community, allied governments, NATO, and agencies including NASA for mission-critical communications.

What You'll Do:

As Senior Manager, Product Management, you are responsible for the commercial success of our GEO product line, including FlexMove, FlexGov Secure, and FlexAir.  You are responsible for the full product lifecycle including: defining the portfolio strategy, driving productization decisions, and are accountable for the business case and market positioning of your portfolio.

The ideal candidate is an experienced product management leader who has supported a large satellite product portfolio, knows how to grow a product line, and can operate fluidly across engineering, operations, supply chain, and executive stakeholders.

As the product manager you are responsible for leading a cross-functional matrixed team to deliver products that deliver on the business case, meet customer expectations, deliver differentiated capabilities, and meet quality, cost, and schedule targets.    You ensure that portfolio investment decisions are grounded in validated market problems, rigorous competitive analysis, and defensible business cases.

You operate with significant autonomy, making portfolio-level investment recommendations, chairing productization reviews for your segment, and representing the product organization in executive forums including the Product Review Board (PRB). You are the senior product voice in competitive captures for your portfolio, with authority to confirm or decline product roadmap commitments in proposals.

This is a non-supervisory role. You are the senior individual contributor in the product organization - earning the Director title through scope, complexity, decision authority, and strategic impact rather than headcount. You mentor and elevate fellow PdMs, set standards for product management rigor, and establish the operating rhythm for your portfolio segment.

You may direct project management activities across your portfolio, ensuring milestone coordination and dependency management are executed with discipline. You are expected to model the "three-legged stool" governance at the portfolio level - maintaining peer relationships with Engineering and Service Delivery leaders to drive synchronized product outcomes.

RESPONSIBILITIES / KEY RESULT AREAS

Market Discovery & Validation

• Identify, validate, and prioritize customer problems through direct engagement with buyers, users, and stakeholders - distinguishing between the person who authorizes the purchase (buyer persona) and the person who operates the solution (user persona)
• Represent the product portfolio in executive customer engagements and industry forums; bring market insights back to inform portfolio decisions

Product Strategy & Roadmap

• Own and maintain the product roadmap for assigned product family; define, prioritize, and sequence features and enhancements aligned to corporate and vertical market strategy
• Develop and defend the product business case including revenue forecasts (P Q), cost estimates, and profitability KPIs (ROI, payback period)
• Work with Business Development teams to define product positioning: articulate the target market, the problem being solved, the differentiated value, and the competitive alternatives - ensuring clarity for both internal stakeholders and external audiences
• Align roadmap decisions to validated customer problems

Product Development Process (Stage-Gate Execution)

• Own product management activities for the GEO product portfolio, including FlexMove, FlexGov Secure, and FlexAir.
• Work within the Integrated Product Development Process (IPDP) and partner with Integrated Product Teams (IPT) to drive products through defined development and governance stages.
• Drive product engineering activities in partnership with engineering teams, ensuring roadmap items are scoped, prioritized, and delivered.
• Have the technical knowledge of the GEO products to support product engineering activities in partnership with engineering teams, ensuring roadmap items are scoped, prioritized, and delivered.
• Present products to the Product Review Board (PRB) with decision-relevant artifacts; orchestrate cross-functional stakeholder input per RACI assignments
• Submit change requests for in-life product enhancements; evaluate impact (revenue potential, operational efficiency) and urgency

Product Definition & Commercial Ownership

• Define product packaging, pricing structures, SLA definition and  service levels.
• Develop business cases and revenue forecasts before PRB submission; ensure financial rigor and strategic alignment
• Develop and maintain product descriptions, value propositions, and differentiation positioning versus competitors and existing portfolio
• Lead the LEO products IPT to ensure product documentation is complete: specifications, pricing models, deployment guides, and support runbooks

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Ensure all cross-function product team members execute and comply with the Integrated Product Development Process (IPDP).  Maintain peer-level relationships with Product Engineering Lead(s) and Service Delivery teams.
• Own product performance metrics to include: scope, schedule, cost, risk, quality, technical execution, and customer commitments.  Establish metrics, reporting, and governance to keep product releases on track and stakeholders informed.
• Work with internal teams such as service delivery and engineering to ensure LEO products are fully supported through the Integrated Product Team (IPT).
• Own the portfolio-level requirements prioritization matrix and allocate product development resources across competing product ideas.
•  Participate in BD pipeline reviews; ensure product-sourced pipeline opportunities are identified and tracked

Launch & Readiness

• Develop and execute launch plans for new products and major enhancements, coordinating across Sales, Marketing, Service Delivery, and Customer Support
• Ensure sales enablement materials, training, and support documentation are complete prior to market availability

Project Management

• Coordinate cross-functional deliverables, track milestones, and manage dependencies across Engineering, Service Delivery, and Vertical Markets during product development sprints
• Facilitate working-level meetings, maintain action item registers, and escalate blockers to the Head of Product

Who You Are:

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in business administration, engineering, telecommunications, aerospace, or a related field - or 10+ years of relevant experience in lieu of degree
• MBA or advanced degree preferred
• 7+ years of progressive product management experience, with at least 3 years in satellite communications, aerospace, defense, or adjacent technology-enabled services industries
• Demonstrated experience managing products through a stage-gate or similar structured product development lifecycle

Technical & Domain Knowledge

• Working knowledge of satellite communications architectures (GEO, MEO, LEO), managed service platforms, and network services
• Understanding of U.S. Government customer requirements, procurement practices, and mission applications for commercial SATCOM
• Familiarity with product-service-resource (PSR) logic and the distinction between capabilities, products, services, and solutions
• Experience developing business cases including revenue forecasting, cost modeling, and ROI analysis
• Knowledge of product lifecycle management tools and agile collaboration platforms

Product Management Skills

• Demonstrated ability to identify and validate market problems, develop product roadmaps, and drive products from concept through launch and lifecycle management
• Experience with pricing strategy, packaging, and commercial terms development
• Strong analytical skills: market sizing (TAM/SAM/SOM), competitive analysis, win/loss analysis, and portfolio rationalization
• Ability to translate validated market problems into actionable product requirements - with discipline to reject requests lacking market evidence
• Experience developing buyer and user personas in complex B2G (business-to-government) environments
• Experience presenting to executive review boards and defending product investment decisions

Leadership & Collaboration

• Proven ability to influence without authority across Engineering, Sales, and Operations in a matrixed organization
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to create compelling product narratives for both technical and executive audiences
• Collaborative working style with demonstrated ability to operate as part of cross-functional product squads
• Critical thinking and problem-solving orientation

Preferred Qualifications

• Project management experience (PMP, CAPM, or equivalent practical experience) - light project management is expected in this role
• Pragmatic Institute certification (PMC, or equivalent product management training)
• Experience with U.S. Government acquisition processes, FAR/DFARS, and ITAR compliance

Security Clearance

• Active Secret clearance required; Top Secret / SCI (TS/SCI) preferred

SES Space & Defense is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.