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Job Title: Vice President, Product & Technology (VP P&T)
Location: Remote
The Vice President of Product and Technology is a senior executive bridging product strategy and engineering execution. This leader owns the technology stack, product roadmap, and innovation pipeline, driving revenue and market differentiation. They manage teams of product managers and engineers to develop products and technology that meet customer needs.
The Vice President of Product and Technology is a key member of Team Wendy's Leadership Team and serves as the executive leader responsible for product strategy, technology strategy, engineering excellence, and innovation execution across the business.
The VP PT is responsible for overseeing our product development, engineering, and manufacturing technology strategies. Reporting directly to the President, this leader will ensure Team Wendy remains the innovation leader in protective headborne systems while balancing customer requirements, technical performance, manufacturability, product quality, regulatory compliance and profitability.
Categories of the development responsibilities will include helmet systems, accessory platforms, communication integration, power and data solutions, human performance technologies and related survivability products for military, law enforcement and first responder customers.
As a business executive, this individual is accountable for translating customer needs, emerging threats and technology developments into winning products that drive revenue growth, strengthen market position and enhance customer outcomes.
They will also maintain strict compliance with federal laws, export controls, and manufacturing regulations.
Direct Reports
Typical functions reporting into the VP P&T may include:

• New Product Development Management
• Product Design & Ballistics Technology
• Advanced Concepts / R&D
• Industrial Design
• Product Testing & Validation
• Intellectual Property Management

Core Responsibilities

• Strategic Vision & Roadmapping: Define and execute a long-term technology and product vision that aligns with corporate growth objectives.
  • Develop and maintain a multi-year product strategy aligned with Team Wendy's growth objectives.
  • Establish product roadmaps that support military, law enforcement and commercial market opportunities.
  • Identify future customer needs, technology trends and competitive threats.
  • Lead portfolio investment decisions and technology prioritisation.
  • Drive product lifecycle management across the entire portfolio.
  • Recommend product rationalisation, refresh or replacement opportunities.
• Advise the President and executive team on technological risks, investment returns, and strategic shifts in federal spending.
• Leadership Team Contribution
  • Serve as a key member of the Team Wendy Leadership Team.
  • Contribute to the development and execution of Team Wendy's business strategy and annual operating plans.
  • Partner with fellow leadership team members to drive business performance, operational excellence, organizational effectiveness, talent development, and succession planning.
  • Provide balanced commercial, technical, and strategic judgment on major business decisions.
  • Act as a visible leadership presence internally and externally, representing Team Wendy with customers, partners, government stakeholders, and Avon Technologies leadership.

• Accelerate the transition of cutting-edge tech from rapid prototyping and demonstrations into full-rate industrial manufacturing.
• Identify and/or develop and integrate emerging technologies to preserve our market edge.
  • Define and own Team Wendy's technology strategy.
  • Identify emerging technologies capable of creating competitive advantage.
  • Lead advanced development programs and technology maturation efforts.
  • Build technology partnerships with universities, laboratories, suppliers and government organisations.
  • Maintain awareness of emerging soldier system and survivability requirements.
  • Drive innovation culture throughout the organisation.
  • Convert innovation investments into profitable revenue opportunities.
  • Maximise return on development investment.
  • Develop and maintain Team Wendy's IP strategy.
  • Identify patent opportunities.
  • Protect critical technologies and know-how.
  • Monitor competitor technology developments.
  • Support freedom-to-operate assessments.
• Engineering & Product Alignment: Oversee product development life cycles, ensuring technology supports customer needs, scalability, and quality.
  • Lead cross-functional product development activities from concept through production.
  • Improve speed to market while maintaining product performance and quality.
  • Establish robust stage-gate development processes.
  • Ensure development programs meet cost, schedule and performance objectives.
  • Drive engineering excellence, design reviews and technical governance.
  • Ensure lessons learned are captured and implemented.
  • Improve portfolio profitability and growth.
  • Ensure products comply with:
    • NIJ standards
    • ACH/IHPS requirements
    • Military specifications
    • Safety regulations
    • Export control requirements
    • Relevant industry standards
  • Oversee verification and validation activities.
  • Ensure technical risk is appropriately managed.
• Collaborate on pricing structures and contract requirements that fit standard government acquisition guidelines (FAR/DFARS, OTAs, IDIQs).
• Team Leadership: Recruit, mentor, and lead cross-functional teams of Product Managers, Engineering Leads and their supporting staff.
  • Build and develop a high-performing technical organisation.
  • Recruit and retain world-class engineering and product talent.
  • Establish succession plans for critical technical roles.
  • Foster a culture of accountability, innovation and collaboration.
  • Develop future technical leaders.
• Partner with Marketing & Business Development to Analyze customer feedback, evaluate competitor landscapes, identify new opportunities for innovation and win major contract proposals.
  • Engage directly with military, law enforcement and government stakeholders.
  • Translate customer requirements into differentiated product solutions.
  • Support business development, capture and major customer engagements.
  • Participate in strategic customer demonstrations and field evaluations.
  • Maintain deep understanding of operational user needs.
  • Ensure product roadmaps are aligned with market demand.
  • Drive successful product launches.
• Budget & Resource Management: Oversee departmental budgets, prioritize initiatives, and allocate resources based on Return on Investment (ROI) and feasibility.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Marketing, Sales, Finance and Operations to ensure flawless product launches and market adoption. [3, 4]
• Enforce absolute compliance with ITAR, EAR, FOCI, and all relevant defense procurement laws.

Critical Success Measures
The VP P&T will be assessed against:
Growth

• New product revenue
• Revenue from products launched within last five years
• Market share growth
• Strategic program wins

Innovation

• New technology introductions
• Patent generation
• Technology readiness progression
• Product differentiation metrics

Execution

• On-time product launches
• Development cycle time
• Program budget adherence
• Engineering productivity

Product Performance

• Product quality metrics
• Customer satisfaction
• Warranty performance
• Field reliability

Organisational Capability

• Employee engagement
• Retention of key technical talent
• Succession readiness
• Leadership effectiveness

Qualifications & Requirements

• Leadership: Over 10 years of progressive leadership experience managing product and engineering teams within a defense or aerospace manufacturing environment.
• Track Record: Documented success bringing complex hardware or software products from concept through full-rate industrial production.
• Leadership Skills: Proven track record of building and scaling high-performing, customer-focused teams.
• Analytical Capability: Ability to define success metrics, KPIs, and analyze portfolio performance and profitability.
• Regulatory Compliance: Expert-level familiarity with ITAR regulations, federal cybersecurity standards, and military manufacturing specifications (e.g., MIL-STD).
• Communication: Exceptional executive-level presentation skills with the ability to translate complex technical concepts into business value for the executive team.

Security & Citizenship

• Citizenship: U.S. Citizenship is strictly required for this position due to federal defense contract stipulations.
• Clearance: Must hold an active U.S. Security Clearance or demonstrate the clear ability to qualify for top-level sponsorship.

Personal Characteristics
The successful candidate will be:

• Strategically minded
• Commercially astute
• Technically credible
• Customer focused
• Curious and innovative
• Decisive
• Resilient
• Collaborative
• Results oriented
• Comfortable operating in a fast-moving and highly demanding environment

This job description is not intended, and should not be construed, to be an all-inclusive list of all responsibilities, skills, efforts or working conditions associated with this job. While this job description is intended to be an accurate reflection of the job requirements, management reserved the right to modify, add or remove duties from particular jobs and to assign other duties as necessary.
Responsibilities of this position may include direct and/or indirect physical or logical access to information, systems, technologies subjected to the regulations/compliance with U.S. Export Control Laws.
U.S. Export Control laws and U.S. Government Department of Defense contracts and sub-contracts impose certain restrictions on companies and their ability to share export-controlled and other technology and services with certain "non-U.S. persons" (persons who are not U.S. citizens or nationals, lawful permanent residents of the U.S., refugees, "Temporary Residents" (granted Amnesty or Special Agricultural Worker provisions), or persons granted asylum (but excluding persons in nonimmigrant status such as H-1B, L-1, F-1, etc.) or non-U.S. citizens.
To comply with these laws, and in conjunction with the review of candidates for those positions within Avon that may present access to export controlled technical data, Avon must assess employees' U.S. person status, as well as citizenship(s).
The questions asked in this application are intended to assess this and will be used for evaluation purposes only. Failure to provide the necessary information in this regard will result in our inability to consider you further for this particular position. The decision whether or not to file or pursue an export license application is at Avon's sole election.
Must be legally authorized to work in country of employment without a sponsorship for employment visa status (e.e. H1B status).
The anticipated salary range for candidates who will work in Salem, NH is $190,000 to $240,000 annually. The final salary offered to a successful candidate will be dependent on several factors that may include but are not limited to the type and years of experience within the job, type and years of experience within the industry, education, etc.
EOE, including Vet/Disability