Technical Product Manager

Who we are:

Raft (https://TeamRaft.com) is a customer-obsessed non-traditional small business with a purposeful focus on Distributed Data Systems, Platforms at Scale, and Complex Application Development, with headquarters in McLean, VA. Our range of clients include innovative federal and public agencies leveraging design thinking, cutting edge tech stack, and cloud native ecosystem. We build digital solutions that impact the lives of millions of Americans.

We’re looking for an experienced Technical Product Manager to support our customer and join our passionate team of high-impact problem solvers. This is a unique opportunity to help build and shape a game-changing organization where we put our customers and people first.

About the role:

As a Technical Product Manager, your day begins by tagging up with your DoD partners and Technical Leads to design and execute bespoke Kubernetes or Docker solutions tailored for the DoD mission environments. This will include scoping and prioritizing activities based on your product roadmap. A significant portion of your day is dedicated to overseeing the application of GitOps principles for software delivery, ensuring your team stays on track while keeping pace with concurrent DoD software development efforts that will impact your delivery. Along the way, you may meet in-person with key stakeholders to act as a product evangelist, building awareness and maximizing mission impact. Your team will look to you to be the Raft representative to the client, capturing their hard work while capturing candid feedback from both sides. Ultimately, you will be a driving factor for repeat and increased business with our DoD clients.

This role will function in a PM capacity 50% of the time; the other 50% will be helping with solution architecting RFI and RFP responses.

What we are looking for:

• 4+ years of hands-on product development / product management experience
• Experience building and managing multiple software development teams to include budgeting and finance, recruiting, and stakeholder management
• In-depth knowledge of software development life cycle and development/agile methodologies
• Work directly with government customers to set clear expectations, understand the needs and priorities to define and deliver solutions to enable mission outcomes
• Monitor operations across several product teams and contracts to organize and mobilize independent programs toward a unified goal
• Lead the combined team(s) in effective decision-making across a range of complex issues, including scope, design, and architecture, to ensure projects are delivered on time and within budget 
• Proactively manage risks to projects and client relationships, ensuring a clear and measurable impact on client missions and increasing Raft’s reputation in the GovTech domain 
• Advise leadership on status or action required in connection with existing and potential business development opportunities 
• Partner with the growth team and subject matter experts to solution and write responses to RFI and RFPs 
• Monitor and ensure all deliverables across the program are being met—to include MSRs, burn rates, sub contracts, and applicable software deliverables

Highly preferred:

• Proven track record of organic growth
• A servant leader who puts the team and client’s needs first 
• Outstanding communicator with a high level of integrity and leadership courage 
• A self-starter that can recognize needs and act with little to no guidance 
• Must be technical with hands-on experience building technical teams in the past 
• A facilitator and coach adept at managing client relationships and organizing agile team activities for complex, mission-critical software projects 
• Experience solving complex problems for the Department of Defense

Clearance Requirements:

• Active Top Secret security clearance with ability to obtain and maintain a SAP clearance

Work Type:

• Hybrid - Wright-Patterson AFB, OH
• May require up to 25% travel

Salary Range:

• $110,000 - $180,000
• The determination of compensation is predicated upon a candidate's comprehensive experience, demonstrated skill, and proven abilities

What we will offer you:  

• Highly competitive salary 
• Fully covered healthcare, dental, and vision coverage 
• 401(k) and company match 
• Take as you need PTO + 11 paid holidays 
• Education & training benefits 
• Annual budget for your tech/gadgets needs 
• Monthly box of yummy snacks to eat while doing meaningful work 
• Team off-site in fun places! 
• Generous Referral Bonuses 
• And More!

Our Vision Statement:  

We bridge the gap between humans and data through radical transparency and our obsession with the mission.

Our Customer Obsession:

We will approach every deliverable like it's a product. We will adopt a customer-obsessed mentality. As we grow, and our footprint becomes larger, teams and employees will treat each other not only as teammates but customers. We must live the customer-obsessed mindset, always. This will help us scale and it will translate to the interactions that our Rafters have with their clients and other product teams that they integrate with. Our culture will enable our success and set us apart from other companies.

How do we get there?

Public-sector modernization is critical for us to live in a better world. We, at Raft, want to innovate and solve complex problems. And, if we are successful, our generation and the ones that follow us will live in a delightful, efficient, and accessible world where out-of-box thinking, and collaboration is a norm.

Raft’s core philosophy is Ubuntu: I Am, Because We are. We support our “nadi” by elevating the other Rafters. We work as a hyper collaborative team where each team member brings a unique perspective, adding value that did not exist before. People make Raft special. We celebrate each other and our cognitive and cultural diversity. We are devoted to our practice of innovation and collaboration.