Assistant Product Owner, CCA Mission Autonomy (Platform Integration)

Support mission autonomy delivery for the U.S. Air Force CCA program by owning the day-to-day health of the Shoal 1 product backlog and translating customer needs into execution-ready work.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the Product Owner and Chief Engineer to understand customer product needs across the CCA program office, platform providers, and operational end users
• Help set priority and scope by separating must-have capabilities from deferrable work
• Elicit and validate customer needs and priorities using official guidance, scoping documents, and input from operational subject matter experts or surrogate end users (as available)
• Translate customer intent into user stories and epic descriptions that include value proposition, success criteria, acceptance criteria, expected effort and timeline, dependencies, risks, and preconditions for success
• Own day-to-day management of the Shoal 1 epic backlog across feature crews, including traceability to customer requirements
• Refine the Shoal 1 backlog and monitor updates to ensure priority and scope changes are surfaced with appropriate documented rationale
• Bring a product perspective to Shoal 1 sprint planning and review by maintaining an informal integrated product map of epics, interfaces, dependencies, and program milestones
• In collaboration with the Shoal Lead, manage dependencies across shoals and carry integration decisions through to relevant shoal or feature crew leads, or collaboration partners
• Support operator interface development through the backlog: HMI feature crew delivers; Shoal Lead owns requirements and acceptance; APO owns epic description, communication, and prioritization
• Maintain protected weekly hands-on time with the operator interface so HMI-specific epics and instructions come from first-hand use
• Support the platform integration crew in interactions with vendors
• Act as a cross-discipline translator by normalizing terminology and helping make specialist discussions accessible without reducing technical accuracy
• Support other shoals (e.g., Systems Engineering, T&E) through observation of operator-in-the-loop (OITL) activity and feedback in review sessions

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, aerospace engineering, cognitive systems engineering, human factors, or a related technical field, or equivalent military or operational experience
• 3+ years in product ownership or a related field (e.g., customer experience, human factors, cognitive systems engineering, human-machine teaming, systems engineering, technical program management for complex software or aerospace systems)
• Hands-on proficiency with Jira and Confluence as systems of record, including experience authoring and managing epics, user stories, and acceptance criteria in an agile environment
• Ability to maintain an integrated view of a complex product across distributed documentation and multiple engineering disciplines
• Willingness to become a hands-on user of the operator interface, including independently installing, configuring, and running mission scenarios
• Working technical fluency in mission autonomy, autonomous systems, flight software, ground control systems or HMIs, or avionics interfaces
• Exceptional written and oral communication, with proven ability to translate information across technical audiences without diluting technical accuracy
• Strong problem-solving skills, including sound decision making under ambiguity with minimal supervision
• Ability to work effectively independently and as part of a team
• Must be a U.S. person as defined under ITAR
• Active U.S. DoD Secret security clearance is required at time of hire; must be eligible for and capable of obtaining and maintaining Top Secret, SCI, and/or SAP level clearance/access
• Travel domestically approximately 15–25%

Technologies

• Jira
• Confluence

Benefits

• Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity
• Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting a U.S. Air Force, Navy, or joint aviation program of record involving uncrewed or autonomous collaborative platforms
• Familiarity with A-GRA, A-GRI, UCI messaging, or other modular open systems architectures
• Experience with airworthiness, functional safety, or assurance-driven software processes and certification artifacts
• Exposure to flight autonomy, vehicle management systems, or aircraft-level integration and flight test campaigns
• Experience with C2 or HMI products for uncrewed systems (e.g., STANAG 4586, MAVLink, CoT, TAK)
• Formal grounding in product, human factors, or cognitive systems engineering methods
• Experience supporting OITL evaluations, test and evaluation campaigns, or functional check flight activity as a product or human factors representative
• Proficiency with systems and process modeling tools (e.g., Cameo) and with reading interface control documents (ICDs)
• Experience establishing decision logs, change control, or product governance in a program that previously lacked them
• Experience coordinating directly with platform manufacturers, primes, or government program offices
• Military aviation, flight test, or uncrewed aircraft systems operational experience
• Advanced degree in engineering, business (e.g., MBA), or related field (e.g., computer science, aerospace, cognitive systems engineering, human factors)
• Current or prior Special Access Program (SAP) or Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) access

Compensation

• $160,000 - $250,000 per year

Location: Washington, DC (onsite)