Technical Product Owner

Job Description

Job Description

Technical Product Owner

About Vitesse:  How we communicate, capture, and share information has not changed significantly in our lifetime—it has changed significantly in the last decade, even in the last year. From a vacationer checking email as they fly across the world to a U.S. military service member sharing critical observations across the battlefield, the ability to capture and transfer data over different platforms is an important part both of our everyday lives and the security of our country. Whether on a geostationary satellite, a naval vessel, or a military jet, the mission-critical solutions that we design and manufacture at Vitesse make our country and our world safer.

Through extensive technical expertise, Vitesse Systems is optimizing the functionality of antenna and thermal management systems for the advancement of next-generation Radar, Electronic Warfare, and C4I (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence) systems.

Vitesse Systems prides itself on the solutions we provide to our customers, as well as the incredible team of dedicated people we employ.

SUMMARY:  

As Technical Product Owner, you will serve as the technical authority for complex technical mechanisms used in demanding spaceflight applications. You will own technical execution from architecture and requirements through detailed design, analysis, build, test, qualification, delivery, and operations support. The role requires strong systems thinking, deep mechanism and electric motor expertise, hands-on engineering judgment, and clear leadership across mechanical, electrical, software, controls, manufacturing, testing, and customer teams. You will also mentor engineers and help strengthen Vitesse engineering practices as the company grows.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Own the technical direction and full life cycle development and support of spaceflight technical mechanisms.
• Lead concept development and trade studies for all technical related actuation, deployment, release and restraint, latching, pointing, positioning, and other precision mechanisms.
• Establish and review requirements, interfaces, margins, verification plans, qualification approaches, and technical risk retirement strategies.
• Perform and review hand calculations, FEA, tolerance analyses, kinematics, dynamic simulations, stiffness, loads, and mechanism performance predictions.
• Ensure designs are robust and meet requirements for space environments, including appropriate consideration of materials, off-gassing, tribology, lubrication, contamination, reliability, life cycle, and other considerations.
• Lead internal and customer-facing technical reviews, drive closure on critical design decisions, and communicate technical risk and rationale clearly and timely.
• Provide cross-disciplinary technical leadership and mentorship so mechanical, electrical, software, controls, manufacturing, and testing interfaces converge on a coherent solution.
• Own test strategy and technical disposition through assembly, functional and environmental testing, anomaly investigation, root-cause analysis, and corrective action.
• Travel as required to support reviews, suppliers, assembly, testing, integration, and customer milestones.

QUALIFICATIONS: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodation(s) may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Successful accomplishment of duties and responsibilities may require the following: 

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a closely related field.
• 12+ years of mechanical or mechanism design and analysis experience, including significant responsibility for spaceflight or similarly high-reliability hardware.
• Demonstrated experience as a technical lead or technical authority for complex hardware from concept through qualification, delivery, and operations support.
• Deep understanding of mechanism fundamentals including kinematics, dynamics, structural mechanics, tolerancing, interfaces, and GD&T.
• Strong proficiency with CAD and analysis tools, with sound judgment using hand calculations, first-principles reasoning, simulation, and test data.
• Experience developing electromechanical mechanisms using elements such as motors, gears, bearings, flexures, springs, latches, brakes, or similar components.
• Ability to design for manufacturability, assembly, inspection, reliability, and environmental qualification using appropriate materials and processes.
• Ability to generate and manage requirements, specifications, interfaces, verification plans, design reviews, and end-to-end test programs.
• Strong technical communication and leadership skills, including mentoring, customer interaction, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and data-driven decision making.
• Proof of US Citizenship or US Permanent Residency is required to comply with ITAR regulations.

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Master's degree or higher in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Flight heritage developing mechanisms for spacecraft, launch vehicles, payloads, or other space systems.
• Deep experience with space mechanism tribology, lubrication, thermal analysis in dissimilar metals, contamination control, etc.
• Experience with environmental testing, including vibration, shock, thermal vacuum, functional cycling, and mechanism life cycle testing, and anomaly resolution.
• Experience thriving in a lean engineering organization with tight schedules and budget constraints.

REASONING ABILITY:  Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out detailed but uninvolved written or oral instructions. Ability to deal with problems involving a few concrete variables in standardized situations. 

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS: Authorization to work in the United States. To conform to U.S. export control regulations, you should be eligible for any required authorizations from the U.S. Government. 

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a Team Member to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation(s) may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the Team Member is regularly required to stand, walk, and hear. The Team Member frequently is required to use hands and fingers; handle, feel, and reach with hands and arms. The Team Member is occasionally required to sit; climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; and smell. The Team Member must frequently lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus. 

WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work environments characteristics described here are representative of those a Team Member encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation(s) may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this position, the Team Member is regularly exposed to moving mechanical parts. The Team Member may be exposed to a hot and/or cold work environment, chemicals, fumes or airborne particles, loud noises, risk of electrical shock and vibration and/or other occupational hazards; personal protective equipment may be required. 

NOTE: This job description identifies the general nature and scope of work to be performed. Vitesse Systems, LLC. reserves the right to revise all or any part of this job description and to add or eliminate essential job functions at any time. Designation of any job duty as an essential function is not intended as an assurance or guarantee that a team member has any right to perform the particular job duty, except as required by Vitesse Systems, LLC. This job description is subject to change based on the needs of the position and/or the Company. 

Vitesse Systems, LLC performs work controlled by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR). These statutes require the protection of technical data and products. The regulations require that such data not be disclosed in written, oral, or visual form to any foreign national without prior export authorization from the Department of State. A foreign national is defined by the U.S. Government under EAR 734.2(b)(2)(ii) and 8 USC 110 (a)(20) as one who: 

• Is not a United States citizen 
• Is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the U.S. 
• Does not have politically protected status (embassy, refugee, or asylum) 
• Has dual U.S. / foreign citizenship