Senior Staff Product Manager, Vektor & Fabric in East Palo Alto, California at Forterra

About Forterra

At Forterra, we are unleashing autonomy at scale to transform the battlefield. Our mission is to build the foundational platforms that enable an intelligent ecosystem to coordinate, adapt, and execute with speed and precision even in the uncertainty and disruption of modern conflict. In an era marked by rapid technological change and evolving threats, we design for flexibility, survivability, and operational dominance.

Forterra delivers weapons, sensors, and battlefield effects through integrated autonomous networks reaching operational areas faster, safer, and without placing human lives at risk. Our systems operate with distributed control, dynamic routing, and real-time responsiveness, enabling sustained advantage across complex mission environments.

About the role

Own Vektor and Fabric end-to-end. Set the vision, define the roadmap, and lead the team that ships them. You will be the single accountable owner for product strategy, customer outcomes, and engineering execution across Forterra’s communications and data platform, reporting to C3 leadership and partnering closely with Engineering, Growth, and Programs.

This is a senior leadership role for someone with deep technical credibility in networking, distributed systems, or tactical communications—capable of bridging low-level systems with higher-level platform and application concerns.

What you'll do

• Own the roadmap, priorities, and success metrics for Vektor and Fabric
• Drive product definition across the full stack—from embedded communications and networking to data abstraction and service interfaces
• Make principled tradeoffs on scope, sequencing, interoperability, and certification in mission-critical environments
• Maintain direct relationships with operators, signal officers, and program stakeholders across DoD and allied customers
• Partner deeply with Engineering across embedded systems, networking, autonomy, security, and cloud/platform teams
• Ensure tight integration with operator-facing systems (e.g., TerraLink) and autonomy workflows
• Brief senior DoD stakeholders, partners, and Forterra leadership on product direction and program alignment
• Shape go-to-market strategy, including positioning, packaging, and alignment with acquisition pathways

Minimum Qualifications

• 10+ years in product or technical roles, with 6+ years in product management
• Proven track record owning and scaling a deeply technical product or platform end-to-end
• Strong technical foundation in networking, distributed systems, embedded systems, or similar domains
• Demonstrated ability to lead and grow teams of senior ICs across multiple product areas
• Experience operating in high-ambiguity, mission-driven environments with complex stakeholder landscapes
• Clear, direct communicator comfortable engaging with senior technical and non-technical audiences

US Salary Range
$175,000 - $210,000

Location

Hybrid in Palo Alto, CA or Arlington, VA

Up to 20% travel required

The salary range for this role is an estimate and is based on a wide variety of compensation factors. The salary offered to candidates will vary based on a variety of factors including (but not limited to) relevant work experience, education, specialized training, critical expertise, training, and more. Equity in Forterra is included in most of our full-time, high-demand roles and is therefore considered part of Forterra’s overall compensation package. In addition to base salary and equity, Forterra offers competitive benefits for full-time employees including:

• Premium Healthcare Benefits: Three plan options, including an HSA-eligible plan, with Forterra covering 80% of the plan premium for you and your dependents.
• Basic Life/AD&D, short and long-term disability insurance plans 100% covered by Forterra, plus the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your dependents.
• Extremely generous company holiday calendar including a winter break in December.
• Competitive paid time off (PTO) offering 20 days accrued per year.
• A minimum of 7 weeks fully paid parental leave for birth/adoption.
• A $9k annual tuition reimbursement or professional development stipend.
• Fully stocked beverage refrigerators with all the Celsius your little heart desires.
• 401(k) retirement savings plan, including traditional, Roth 401(k), and after-tax deferral with company match up to 4%.

Your recruiter will be able to share more information about our salary and benefits offering during the hiring process.

CLEARANCE ELIGIBILITY - This position may require eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance. For more information about U.S. Security Clearances: click here. 

Forterra is an equal-opportunity employer, providing and promoting equal employment opportunity in all personnel practices. Forterrans are unique, talented individuals who are united through a shared passion to deliver autonomous systems that enable national resilience and a robust supply chain.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any factor, including veteran and disability status, and criminal history, in accordance with applicable local, state, and federal laws.

Forterra is also committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. Please let your recruiter know if you need an accommodation at any point during the interview process.

To see Forterra’s candidate data privacy policy, please visit Forterra Legal | Job Applicant Privacy Notice.