Principal Product Marketing Manager, Counter-UAS & Layered Defense

Worker Type

Regular

Job Description

Summary

AV's Layered Defense/C-UAS portfolio is most consequential product lines in defense technology, with combat-proven systems fielded by the U.S. and allied forces. This role is its dedicated product marketing owner.

You will own positioning, messaging, launch execution, and sales enablement for the franchise end to end, reporting directly to the VP of Marketing & Communications. This is a senior individual contributor role with real decision rights and a single-owner accountability model: one portfolio, one owner, direct executive visibility.

The mandate is to bring software-industry product marketing discipline to a defense technology franchise whose buyers are program offices, primes, and allied governments: positioning rigor grounded in operational evidence, launch operations that run on a repeatable framework, and enablement that measurably moves capture outcomes.

This is not an arms-length marketing role. You will operate as an embedded member of the business unit, building your positioning and enablement from inside the business unit's operating rhythm rather than from briefings after the fact.

Position Responsibilities

Business Unit Partnership

• Build deep, trusted relationships with Business Unit leadership, program managers, capture leads, and engineering.
• Partner with product managers as their marketing counterpart on roadmap milestones, launch readiness, claims substantiation, and customer evidence / operational proof.
• Embed in the business unit's operational cadence: program reviews, capture gate reviews, and planning rhythms. Marketing priorities are set from inside the business, not downstream of it.

Positioning & Messaging

• Own the positioning architecture for the Layered Defense/C-UAS portfolio: differentiated claims backed by operational evidence, not capability adjectives.
• Own the brand positioning and messaging architecture for the Layered Defense/C-UAS: differentiated claims backed by operational evidence, not capability adjectives.
• Own the consolidation of voice of customer inputs to feed structured customer and operator insight back into MarCom, Product and BD strategy. Maintain all Buyer and User Persona profiles.
• Use AV’s messaging architecture to translate mission outcomes (effects delivered, cost-per-effect, sustainment, interoperability) into customer-facing narratives for external audiences.
• Ensure product-level positioning plugs cleanly into AV's corporate narrative architecture.
• Deliver export-aware localized positioning for priority allied regions, within ITAR and export-control boundaries.
• Translate mission outcomes into customer-facing narratives for external audiences.
• Ensure product-level positioning plugs cleanly into AV's corporate narrative architecture.

Product Launch & Integrated Campaign Execution

• Run AV’s tiered product launch framework with full launch plans and bill of materials, executed cross-functionally with creative, technical communications, and events teams.
• Serve as the single accountable owner for product launch content and claims accuracy.
• Support ongoing marketing campaigns build on AV’s integrated campaign model.

Sales & Capture Enablement

• Build and maintain the enablement stack: battlecards, Operational proof library, and demo and trade-show messaging.

International Growth

• Deliver export-aware localized positioning for priority allied regions, within ITAR and export-control boundaries.
• Support marketing's pipeline contribution to AV's international growth targets.

Voice of Customer & Competitive Intelligence

• Own the competitive picture for the counter-UAS category: capability, production capacity, pricing posture, and acquisition traction of rivals.
• Feed structured customer and battlefield-user insight back into MarCom, Product and BD strategy.

Basic Qualifications (Required Skills & Experience)

• 12-15 years total civilian work experience
• 8+ years in product marketing with meaningful time in both enterprise software or hardware-software product marketing and defense, aerospace, or dual-use technology.
• Demonstrated ownership of a product line or portfolio at $100M+ revenue scale.
• Fluency in DoD acquisition dynamics: program of record lifecycles, POM cycles, primes vs. non-traditional entrants, FMS/DCS mechanics.
• Demonstrable positioning craft: you can show a positioning document, launch plan, campaign plan, and enablement asset you built that moved a measurable number.
• Ability to operate within export control, classification, and public-release constraints without diluting message strength.
• Self-directed operator: you run a portfolio with executive-level accountability and minimal day-to-day direction.
• Proven ability to earn the trust of technical and program stakeholders and operate inside a business unit's rhythm, functioning as a partner to the business rather than a service function to it.
• In-office 4-5 days per week. Commutable distance from AV’s San Diego or Albuquerque campus

Other Qualifications & Desired Competencies

• Direct experience marketing passive RF detection, multi-sensor systems, directed energy, or kinetic interceptors.
• Prior military service or program office exposure.
• Active or recent Secret clearance, or ability to obtain one.
• Experience competing in the modern defense technology landscape against established primes and emerging entrants.

How Success is Measured

First 90 Days

• Standing seat in the BU's program and capture review cadence
• BU leadership and product managers acknowledging this role as their marketing counterpart.
• Positioning architecture approved and adopted across BD, capture, and communications
• Sales and capture collateral refreshed and introduced to users

FY27

• Two full-discipline product launches executed on the tiered launch framework.
• Competitive battlecards live and refreshed quarterly for top competitors.
• Support ongoing marketing campaigns utilizing AV’s integrated campaign model.
• Localized positioning delivered for at least two allied regions.

How You'll Operate

AV Marketing runs on a single-accountable-owner model with explicit decision rights. In this role you decide autonomously on messaging and claims within approved positioning, enablement priorities, launch sequencing within your portfolio, and competitive response content. Portfolio-level positioning changes, budget impacts, and anything touching corporate narrative or public-release risk escalate to the VP. You'll partner closely with the Head of Product Marketing on shared PMM standards and cross-portfolio consistency.

Physical Demands

• Ability to work in an office environment (Constant)
• Required to sit and stand for long periods; talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and telephone keyboard (Frequent)

ITAR Requirement:

This position requires access to information that is subject to compliance with the International Traffic Arms Regulations (“ITAR”) and/or the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”). In order to comply with the requirements of the ITAR and/or the EAR, applicants will be asked to provide specific documentation to verify U.S. person status under the ITAR and the EAR. A “U.S. person” according to their definition is a U.S. citizen, U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder), or protected individual such as a refugee, or asylee. See 22 CFR § 120.15. Some positions will require current U.S. Citizenship due to contract requirements.

Benefits: AV offers an excellent benefits package including medical, dental vision, 401K with company matching, a 9/80 work schedule and a paid holiday shutdown. For more information about our company benefit offerings please visit: http://www.avinc.com/myavbenefits.

We also encourage you to review our company website at http://www.avinc.com to learn more about us.

Principals only need apply. NO agencies please.

Who We Are

Based in California, AeroVironment (AVAV) is a global leader in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and tactical missile systems. Founded in 1971 by celebrated physicist and engineer, Dr. Paul MacCready, we’ve been at the leading edge of technical innovation for more than 45 years. Be a part of the team that developed the world’s most widely used military drones and created the first submarine-launched reconnaissance drone, and has seven innovative vehicles that are part of the Smithsonian Institution’s permanent collection in Washington, DC.

Join us today in developing the next generation of small UAS and tactical missile systems that will deliver more actionable intelligence to our customers so they can proceed with certainty – and succeed.

What We Do

Building on a history of technological innovation, AeroVironment designs, develops, produces, and supports an advanced portfolio of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and tactical missile systems. Agencies of the U.S. Department of Defense and allied military services use the company’s hand-launched UAS to provide situational awareness to tactical operating units through real-time, airborne reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition.

We are proud to be an EEO/AA Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability/veterans. AeroVironment, Inc. is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer and welcomes all qualified applicants. Qualified applicants will receive fair and impartial consideration without regard to race, sex, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, genetic data, sexual orientation, gender identity or other legally protected status.

ITAR