Associate Product Manager

Firestorm

$100K — $125K *
Manufacturing & Automotive
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Business, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience)
  • U.S. Citizenship required due to ITAR regulations
  • 1-3 years of experience in product management, technical program management, or engineering
  • Ability to translate ambiguous problems into concrete plans through communication and collaboration
  • Strong communication skills for explaining technical concepts across various audiences
  • Familiarity with technical concepts and ability to work with engineering teams
  • Analytical mindset with skill in defining metrics and data analysis.

Responsibilities

  • Own the strategy, roadmap, and backlog for a product portfolio area
  • Engage on the factory floor and at testing events to acquire user insights
  • Transform user feedback into actionable user stories or prototypes with engineering
  • Define success metrics for released products and evaluate outcomes
  • Evaluate third-party tools for build-vs-buy decisions
  • Communicate project status, risks, and strategic decisions to stakeholders.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans
  • 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan
  • Equity grants for new hires
  • Unlimited PTO
  • Generous company holiday calendar including a holiday hiatus
  • Generous parental leave
  • Lifestyle Spending Account.
  • Mental health resources available 24/7
  • Additional work-life services such as legal and financial support.
Full Job Description
Associate Product Manager

What You'll Do

  • Own the strategy, roadmap, and backlog for a defined area of our product portfolio
  • Spend time on the factory floor and at test events to better understand internal and external customer workflows, pain points, and constraints
  • Transform feedback into user stories or prototypes to quickly build with engineering
  • Define success metrics for what you ship, and use the data to decide what happens next
  • Continuously conduct build-vs-buy evaluations of third-party tools and vendors
  • Communicate status, risks, and decisions clearly to stakeholders across company leadership


Required Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Business, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience)
  • U.S. Citizenship required due to ITAR regulations
  • 1-3 years of experience in product management, technical program management, engineering, or a closely related role - internships and co-ops with substantive ownership count.
  • Demonstrated ability to take an ambiguous problem, talk to the people who have it, and turn it into a concrete, well-scoped plan.
  • Strong written and verbal communication; you can explain a technical tradeoff to a technician and a manufacturing constraint to an engineer.
  • Comfort working with technical teams and technical concepts - you don't need to write production code, but you should be able to read a system diagram, ask good questions about an API, and understand why a change is hard.
  • Analytical mindset: comfortable defining metrics, working with data, and letting evidence change your mind.
  • Bias toward action and ownership - you follow through, close loops, and don't wait to be told what to do next.
  • Demonstrated history of holding yourself and your teammates to a high standard, even when it creates discomfort.


Preferred Qualifications

  • Exposure to manufacturing, operations, logistics, supply chain, or another domain where software meets the physical world.
  • Experience with internal tools, B2B, or enterprise products where the users are your colleagues.
  • Familiarity with SQL, basic scripting, or analytics tooling for self-serve data work.
  • Prior experience in defense, aerospace, or a regulated industry.
  • Experience with agile delivery practices and tools (Jira, Linear, or similar).


Work Environment

This role is based in San Diego, CA.

We welcome candidates who are local or open to relocating; relocation assistance is available and may be included in the offerpackage where appropriate.

Willingness to travel up to 10% domestically within a calendar year in support of field operations, integration events, customer support and testing.

Compensation

US Salary Range: $100,000 - $125,000 USD

The posted salary range reflects an estimate based on a variety of compensation factors, including but not limited to relevant experience, education, certifications, specialized skills, geographic location, and business needs. Actual compensation may vary, and this range is subject to change as our compensation structure or market conditions evolve.

Benefits & Perks

Our culture fosters collaboration, respect, and trust, empowering passionate people to do their best work. We offer a competitive salary, comprehensive benefits, and opportunities for career growth. In addition to an opportunity to take part in an innovative, collaborative and fast-growing business with a highly motivated and skilled team, we also take pride in taking care of our employees. Here are just a few ways that we show our appreciation:

  • We offer comprehensive medical, dental, and visions plans
  • 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan to invest in your long-term retirement goals
  • Equity grants for new hires
  • Unlimited PTO
  • Extremely generous company holiday calendar, including a holiday hiatus in July & December.
  • Generous Parental Leave
  • Lifestyle Spending Account
  • FSA
  • DCFSA
  • HSA
  • Hospital Indemnity insurance
  • Critical Illness insurance
  • Accident insurance
  • Basic Life/AD&D, short-term and long-term disability insurance, 100% covered by Firestorm. Plus, the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your family.
  • Mental Health Resources: We provide free mental health resources 24/7 including therapy and more. Additional work-life services, such as free legal and financial support, are available to you as well.


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