Senior Product Owner, Connectivity

Simplesense builds, deploys, and sustains the Installation Resilience Platform that enables mission operators to rapidly adapt and respond. The Platform protects critical infrastructure from cyber attack while unlocking previously siloed information to monitor, diagnose, and improve response times to incidents. Our adversaries rapidly adopt the latest technology: we help defense users respond in kind. Simplesense is a non-traditional defense contractor and prime on the Air Force's Installation Resilience Operations Command and Control (IROC) program, which is now expanding to five additional Air Force, Space Force, and Army installations from the one prototype installation, Tyndall Air Force Base. Our team combines over 100 years of direct mission experience solving hard problems with 50 years technical expertise deploying DevSecOps, cybersecurity, and cloud infrastructure, giving us a deep appreciation for our customers’ mission and end users’ priorities. We build for scale, architecting and prioritizing technical work for long term sustainability. Senior Product Owner, Connectivity Simplesense is looking for a Senior Product Owner, Connectivity to join our hybrid, US-based team. The Senior Product Owner, Connectivity will serve as the Tactical Delivery Lead for the Connectivity capability, focused on translating the strategic vision for Security, Protocol Translation, and Resilience into clear, ready-to-build engineering plans. This role is responsible for driving the execution strategy and managing the end-to-end delivery lifecycle for the team, establishing the "Secure Pipeline" that securely bridges air-gapped networks to non-disruptively extract data from sensitive Operational Technology (OT) and Industrial Control Systems (ICS). The Connectivity Team represents our ability to securely and resiliently establish access to facility hosted Operational Technology (OT) and Industrial Control Systems (ICS). This position requires a seasoned individual capable of handling significant complexity, mentoring junior team members, and proactively influencing cross-functional technical alignment. This role reports to the Head of Product. Key Responsibilities: Tactical Delivery & Execution Ownership As the Tactical Delivery Lead for the Connectivity capability, your responsibilities will focus on delivery excellence, technical clarity, and process maturity: Advanced Backlog Refinement: Proactively translate complex, network-heavy requirements (e.g., Secure Data Acquisition, Protocol Translation, Edge Computing) into meticulously detailed, actionable engineering plans (epics, user stories, tasks), ensuring zero ambiguity for the technical team. Day-to-Day Delivery Anchor: Act as the first point of escalation for the engineering team, providing rapid, informed decisions to unblock work, clarify technical acceptance criteria regarding OT stack configurations and secure channel establishment, and maintain sprint momentum. Delivery Sequencing & Risk Management: Work intimately with Program Management to strategically sequence the team's work to meet critical contract commitments and high-stakes delivery milestones, proactively identifying and mitigating execution risks associated with external network connections (e.g., COIN, CRN). Mentorship and Process Improvement: Elevate the team's output by establishing and enforcing best practices for story writing, acceptance testing, and definition of done. Provide guidance to junior colleagues and actively identify and fix process inefficiencies within the delivery pipeline. Cross-Functional Technical Alignment: Collaborate closely with the Data Insights and Platform teams to ensure dependencies are managed (e.g., ensuring data is ready for transformation downstream), interfaces are clear, and the overall technical solution design aligns with long-term strategic architectural goals. Acceptance & Quality Gate: Serve as the final arbiter for validating that all delivered features meet defined technical specifications and functional requirements, ensuring compliance with critical infrastructure security standards (e.g., unidirectional flow, zero-trust principles). Success Criteria Success in this role will be defined by the ability to manage complex delivery cycles and demonstrate strong leadership in execution: Predictable Feature Delivery: Consistently delivering features and increments on time, minimizing scope creep and schedule volatility. Technical Clarity & Quality: Maintaining a high-quality, prioritized backlog that leads to reduced rework, lower incidence of bugs, and high technical team satisfaction. Proactive Dependency Management: Successfully identifying and resolving cross-capability dependencies (e.g., ensuring raw data feeds are available for the Data Insights team) before they impact the Connectivity delivery schedule. Process Maturity: Establishing sustainable, scalable delivery processes (e.g., grooming standards, QA protocols) that improve team efficiency and readiness. Deployment Schedule Accountability: Ensure feature delivery meets contract deliverables, holding the team accountable to meeting all deadlines. Requirements Extensive professional experience (5-10 years) in a dedicated Product Owner, Technical Product Manager, or similar execution-focused delivery role, preferably within a specific OT, networking, or infrastructure environment. Proven expertise in leading technical teams through complex, multi-sprint delivery cycles using Agile methodologies. Demonstrated ability to translate highly technical concepts (e.g., OT protocols, network segmentation, edge computing) into clear business value and actionable stories. Experience operating with minimal supervision and autonomously managing the execution plan for a core product capability. Ability to work a hybrid schedule, primarily based in the Denver Metro Area, with an expectation of being in the office weekly, and a full week in the office quarterly for planning. Must be a U.S. Citizen and able to obtain a DoD NIPR network account and Common Access Card (CAC). Must have, or be able to obtain, a Secret Clearance. Preferred but Not Necessary Deep knowledge of Industrial Control Systems (ICS), SCADA, and protocols such as OPC UA, Modbus, and DNP3. Experience with secure network architectures, VPN/TLS configurations, and edge agent deployment. Professional certification in Agile methodologies (e.g., SAFe PO/PM, CSM/CSPO). Our Culture Safety & Innovation: You embed security and reliability practices into daily work to drive continuous improvement and mitigate risk. People & Communication: You invite vigorous debate and offer "kindly blunt" feedback, always maintaining empathy and assuming noble intent. Integrity & Ethics: You build trust by honoring commitments, acting ethically, and resolving conflict through direct, honest communication. Strategic Problem Solving: You focus on high-priority issues to create documented, and scalable solutions—avoiding shortcuts. Agility: You move quickly to fix small problems, learn from the past, and pivot transparently when the mission requires it. Compensation and Benefits Pay Range: $130,000 - $160,000 per year. Compensation is determined based on experience, skill level, and location. We review ranges regularly to ensure market competitiveness. Competitive Benefits Equity Medical, Life, Short-Term Disability, and AD&D insurance Medical travel coverage Dental coverage Vision coverage 401k matching Our Typical Hiring Process Find Your Fit: Your journey starts here. Explore and apply to our open positions to find the right role for your skills. Initial Chat: A brief call with our recruiting team to learn about your background and answer your initial questions about Simplesense. Values & Vision: A conversation with a hiring manager to discuss how your aspirations align with our mission and goals of the team. Show Your Skills: Complete a technical assessment that reflects the work you’d be doing. Team Interview: Interview with the team to discuss your experience and see if we’re a great match. Final Handshake: A final conversation to ensure we’ve answered all your questions before making a decision. Welcome to Simplesense! Simplesense is an equal opportunity employer committed to a policy of merit-based employment. All employment decisions—including recruitment, hiring, promotion, compensation, benefits, training, and termination—are made based on individual qualifications, performance, and business needs. We strictly prohibit discrimination or harassment of any kind on the basis of protected characteristics as recognized by federal, state, or local law. As a U.S. government contractor, Simplesense complies with all applicable equal employment opportunity laws, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA). If you need a reasonable accommodation to complete the application or take part in the interview process, please contact People Operations at View email address on click.appcast.io. #J-18808-Ljbffr Decisive Point