Product Line Director

** Worker Type
** Regular
* * Job Description
**** Summary
* * The
** Product Line Director
** designs, develops and leads activities for a specific group of products for Aero Vironment, including planning through production release and end of product life. This position communicates and facilitates relationships with customers, socializes roadmaps with internal teams, partners with executive and strategy teams, and works daily with Program Management and Engineering. Will define creative, high quality, simple roadmaps for missions, products, and capabilities to achieve the company’s strategic goals.
** Position Responsibilities
*** Holds complete responsibility, accountability, and authority for multiple SUAS product lines.
* Leads specific product lines through entire lifecycle, sunrise to sunset.
* Provides leadership on new product introduction activities with engineering and operations and ensures alignment with the Go-to-Market plans
* Effectively balances customer and business needs when planning and retiring products
* Trains, coaches, mentor’s other product line managers
* Establishes, communicates, and achieves buy-in for product line strategies
* Works with customer programs to manage new pursuits and contract negotiations
* Able to provide guidance and direction for new business pursuits and proposal efforts
* Collaborates with Marketing and Business Development to define product pricing, promotion, placement, and preferred features
* Collaborates with stakeholders to develop Product Requirements
* Consults with CTO office and/or engineering on latest technologies and their inclusion within SUAS product roadmap(s)
* Manages prioritization and trade-offs among projects to effectively lead the SUAS portfolio, achieve a balance of products, and address resource needs
* Interfaces and collaborates with customers to understand concept of operations and problem
* Creates buy-in for the product vision both internally and with key customers
* Leads fiscal year budgeting for product line R&D and sustainment activities and holds budget accountability for their respective product lines
* Evaluates addressable markets, risks, opportunities, and competitors to support current and future business pursuits
* Provides leadership guidance to the execution teams working within the product line
* Establishes, tracks, and analyzes product line performance metrics and takes action to address issues and/or opportunities
* Ensures project and customer data is protected in accordance with ITAR, security classification guides and company proprietary information procedures
* Manages organizational and/or customer conflicts, finds a win-win for the business and the customer
* Acts independently to determine methods and procedures on new or special assignments. May supervise the activities of others.
* Evaluates and establishes efficient policy and procedures for the Product Line team, consistent with Aero Vironment’s Quality Management Systems
* Change leader and drives efforts to improve product development, manufacturing, cost and quality.
* Active listener who can effectively communicate with internal and external stakeholders
* Anticipates world events and can develop solutions, or mitigations, to address possible scenarios
* ** Other duties as assigned
**** Basic Qualifications (Required Skills & Experience)
*** Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related is required or equivalent combination of education, training, and experience
* Minimum of 15+ years’ relevant experience
* Experience taking 3 major systems to market in a low rate or full rate production environment
* Proven track record of taking ownership and driving results – is a self-starter and self-directed
* Demonstrated experience managing profit and loss in a technology company
* 5+ years experience managing development budgets
* Experienced in, and is comfortable with, presenting to executive leadership
* Experienced in product road mapping, R&D, and product sustainment activities
* Knowledge of UAS systems and products, with a track record of managing multiple projects simultaneously
* Experience managing a departmental budget
* Experience with delivering mature systems to…