Senior Manager, Product Management LEO

Who We Are:

At SES Space & Defense, we are a trusted partner ensuring mission success for customers operating in the most demanding environments. As part of SES S.A., a global leader in satellite-enabled connectivity, we deliver multi-orbit, end-to-end satellite and technology solutions that provide secure, reliable, and high-bandwidth communications across the globe.

Our differentiated multi-orbit architecture combines GEO and MEO satellite systems with integrated terrestrial and network infrastructure to deliver resilient, low-latency, high-throughput connectivity at a global scale. With more than 120 satellites covering nearly the entire world, a global ground network, and thousands of deployed terminals supporting over 5,000 government missions annually, SES Space and Defense is a trusted partner to the U.S. Federal Government and national security community, allied governments, NATO, and agencies including NASA for mission-critical communications.

What You’ll Do:

As Senior Manager, Product Management, you hold strategic ownership of the LEO products and services portfolio within SES Space & Defense's (SES SD) in support of end-to-end mission capabilities. You are responsible for the full product lifecycle including: defining the portfolio strategy, driving productization decisions, and are accountable for the business case and market positioning of your portfolio.  This role manages strategic partnerships with leading LEO constellation providers including Amazon LEO, Telesat Lightspeed, OneWeb, and SpaceX Starshield/Starlink services and owns all product management responsibilities for LEO products from partnership development through market launch and operational support.

As the product manager you are responsible for leading a cross-functional matrixed team to deliver products that deliver on the business case, meet customer expectations, deliver differentiated capabilities, and meet quality, cost, and schedule targets.    You ensure that portfolio investment decisions are grounded in validated market problems, rigorous competitive analysis, and defensible business cases.

You operate with significant autonomy, making portfolio-level investment recommendations, chairing productization reviews for your segment, and representing the product organization in executive forums including the Product Review Board (PRB). You are the senior product voice in competitive captures for your portfolio, with authority to confirm or decline product roadmap commitments in proposals.

This is a non-supervisory role. You are the senior individual contributor in the product organization

You may also direct project management activities across your portfolio, ensuring milestone coordination and dependency management are executed with discipline. You are expected to model the "three-legged stool" governance at the portfolio level — maintaining peer relationships with Engineering and Service Delivery leaders to drive synchronized product outcomes.

RESPONSIBILITIES / KEY RESULT AREAS

Market Strategy & Portfolio Intelligence

• Define the market strategy for the portfolio: which markets to serve, which problems to solve, and where the company has (or can build) a right to win
• Establish and govern the market discovery cadence for the portfolio: structured win/loss programs, competitive intelligence collection, buyer/user persona development, and market problem validation
• Represent the product portfolio in executive customer engagements and industry forums; bring market insights back to inform portfolio decisions

Product Portfolio Strategy & Investment Decisions

• Define and own the multi-year product portfolio strategy and roadmap aligned to corporate strategy and vertical market priorities. 
• Make portfolio-level investment recommendations to the Head of Product: which products to invest in, defer, or retire based on validated market problems, competitive positioning, and financial performance
• Chair productization gate reviews following the IPDP.

Product Development Governance & PRB Leadership

• Serve as the senior product representative in the Product Review Board (PRB) for products within your portfolio segment
• Ensure all cross-function product team members execute and comply with the Integrated Product Development Process (IPDP).  Maintain peer-level relationships with Product Engineering Lead(s) and Service Delivery leadership.
• Own program performance across scope, schedule, cost, risk, quality, technical execution, and customer commitments.  Establish metrics, reporting, and governance to keep programs on track and stakeholders informed.
• Manage hardware ordering, facilitating orders and logistics in coordination with supply chain teams.
• Work with internal teams such as service delivery and engineering to ensure LEO products are fully supported through the Integrated Product Team (IPT).
• Own the portfolio-level requirements prioritization matrix: allocate product development resources across competing product ideas.  Participate in BD pipeline reviews; ensure product-sourced pipeline opportunities are identified and tracked
• Approve business cases and revenue forecasts before PRB submission; ensure financial rigor and strategic alignment
• Govern the continuous improvement backlog for in-life products: prioritize change requests based on impact, urgency, customer feedback, and cost

LEO Partnerships & Vendor Management

• Own and manage the relationship between the organization and each LEO partner's representatives, including Amazon LEO, Telesat Lightspeed, OneWeb, and SpaceX Starshield/Starlink.
• Assist with agreements, contract discussions, and all day-to-day engagement with these vendors and their services.
• Serve as the primary point of coordination for partner communications, escalations, service updates, and joint planning activities.

Product Operations & Governance

• Establish and enforce product operations standards across the portfolio: catalog accuracy, documentation completeness, lifecycle governance, and launch coordination
• Ensure product documentation standards are met for all productized solutions before go-to-market
• Govern product performance monitoring: SLA attainment, customer satisfaction, and usage analytics

Project Management & Execution Oversight

• Direct project management activities across the portfolio to ensure coordinated execution of multi-product initiatives
• Establish milestone tracking, dependency management, and risk escalation protocols for product development efforts

Digital Platform Alignment

• Direct project management activities across the portfolio to ensure coordinated execution of multi-product initiatives

Channel & Reseller Management

• Manage relationships with third-party resellers, ensuring their needs are met and they are enabled to successfully sell and support LEO products.

Capture & Proposal Support

• Support proposals, RFPs, and RFIs associated with the LEO product portfolio, providing product expertise, pricing inputs, and solution content.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in business administration, engineering, telecommunications, aerospace, or a related field — or 10+ years of relevant experience in lieu of degree
• MBA or advanced degree strongly preferred
• 10+ years of product management experience, with at least 5 years in satellite communications, aerospace, defense, or adjacent technology-enabled services industries
• Demonstrated track record of managing a product portfolio or managing products through full lifecycle in a government/defense context

Technical & Domain Knowledge

• Knowledge of satellite communications architectures (GEO, MEO, LEO) including managed service platforms
• Extensive understanding of U.S. Government customer requirements, mission applications, procurement practices, and budgeting processes for commercial SATCOM
• Strong financial acumen: P&L ownership including  portfolio-level business case analysis.
• Knowledge of U.S. Government acquisition processes, FAR/DFARS, ITAR, and compliance requirements

Product Management & Strategic Skills

• Demonstrated ability to set product portfolio strategy, make investment trade-off decisions, and drive productization in a complex, matrixed organization
• Expert-level market discovery skills: structured approaches to identifying and validating market problems, developing buyer/user personas, and conducting competitive analysis
• Proven ability to rationalize a product portfolio: identify overlaps, drive consolidation, and make retirement decisions
• Demonstrated ability to establish and mature product management processes and frameworks within an organization

Leadership & Executive Skills

• Executive presence: ability to represent the product organization to C-suite, Board, and senior government/military stakeholders
• Outstanding presentation skills — presents compelling, market-focused product strategies to executive audiences
• Proven ability to influence without authority at the executive level across Engineering, Sales, and Operations
• Demonstrated mentorship and coaching skills; ability to elevate team performance without formal supervisory authority
• Critical thinking, excellent written and verbal communication, and strong negotiation skills
• Collaborative leader with strong interpersonal skills and ability to operate effectively in a matrixed organization

Preferred Qualifications

• Project management certification (PMP) or equivalent practical experience directing cross-functional initiatives — light project management oversight is expected
• Pragmatic Institute certification (PMC-III or higher, or equivalent product management training)
• Experience with stage-gate product development processes in regulated or government-contracting environments
• Familiarity with ITIL service management and ISO 9001 quality management frameworks
• Experience maturing product management organizations — implementing frameworks, processes, and professional development programs
• Active participation in industry associations (e.g., SSPI, SIA, AFCEA, NDIA)

Security Clearance

• Active Secret clearance preferred

SES Space & Defense is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.