Product Owner- Maritime (remote)
Hood River, OR - USA
Job Summary
About Overwatch:
Overwatch Imaging is an imagery intelligence technology company working to bring sensor autonomy to time-critical airborne search detectiontrackingand monitoring missions. Our Automated Sensor Operator (ASO) software native to our own line of purpose-built Smart Sensors and as an upgrade for airborne video gimbal platforms bringsSuperhuman VisionandWorkload Reductionto users of real-time imagery intelligence systems. We fundamentally believe that modern edge processing and AI-enabled autonomy can perform an important set of time-critical imagery intelligence missions betterfasterand moresafely than humans can alone.
Founded in 2016 in Hood River Oregon we support private sector companies as well as federalstateand local agencies around the world with missions ranging from wildfire mapping and disaster response to law enforcement border security maritime domainawarenessand tactical intelligence.
Department: Product Location: Remote Travel Required
About this Role:
The Maritime Product Owner shapes the maritime vertical of our ASO software and Smart Sensors product line by bringing deep first-hand industry expertise to bear on what we build and why. This role is the in-house authority on maritime ISR missions surface search vessel tracking and classification dark-vessel detection SAR counter-narcotics fisheries enforcement and maritime domain awareness and the trusted voice of the operator across Product Engineering Design and Business Development. You will partner closely with our central Product Manager who owns delivery cadence sprint mechanics and cross-product backlog discipline; you feed that machine with validated mission problems prioritized epics and crisp requirements grounded in real operations.
This is an ideal role for someone with a maritime ISR or sensor operations background who wants to translate hard-earned operational expertise into a product that genuinely changes how maritime missions are flown. You will be expected to embrace AI aggressively both because edge AI is the heart of our product and because we expect our team to use modern AI tooling to move faster in everything we do.
What Youll Do:
Be the In-House Maritime Subject Matter Expert
- Serve as the teams go-to resource on maritime ISR missions customers platforms and sensors helping translate operational jargon into product context the team can build against.
- Help Engineering Design BD and Marketing understand what maritime operators actually do and why it matters.
Own Maritime Customer & Mission Discovery
- Build relationships with maritime operators across DoD U.S. Coast Guard allied navies and commercial maritime customers.
- Run discovery conversations ride-alongs mission debriefs interviews to understand real operational pain points and keep personas and use-case notes up to date.
Shape Maritime Strategy & Roadmap
- Partner with the VP of Product on the maritime vertical strategy and roadmap.
- Keep an eye on the maritime market and competitive landscape and flag anything worth acting on.
- Keep a prioritized maritime backlog favoring features that reduce sensor operator workload.
Author High-Quality Requirements
- Write product briefs use-case docs and requirements in Confluence and Jira that capture how missions actually work.
- Hand off well-defined problems to the central PM for sprint planning and stay involved through delivery.
Embrace AI in the Product and in How We Work
- Champion maritime applications of edge AI and autonomy in our product to compound our autonomy advantage and use AI tools in your own day-to-day work.
Partner Across the Company
- Support Business Development on requests for information proposals and demos for maritime opportunities.
- Work with Product Marketing on positioning and with Design on maritime-specific UX.
What Success Looks Like:
- Maritime customers feel understood they see Overwatch as a vendor who gets their world.
- Engineering has clear stable requirements to build against.
- The maritime roadmap is grounded in real validated problems and customers notice the results.
- BD and Sales have credible mission-informed materials that help conversations move faster.
- The central PM has a steady well-organized stream of maritime work to plan around.
What Youll Bring:
- 5 years operating leading or supporting airborne maritime ISR missions as aircrew sensor operator mission commander or equivalent OR equivalent product experience deeply embedded with maritime ISR customers.
- Hands-on experience with EO/IR camera/gimbal systems on manned or unmanned maritime patrol platforms.
- Background with military government or defense contractors supporting maritime ISR.
- Strong written communication and comfort operating with ambiguity.
- Genuine enthusiasm for AI and a habit of using modern AI tools daily.
Preferred Qualifications (A Strong Plus)
- Prior military service in an aircrew sensor operator or ISR mission role ideally maritime.
- Experience with defense acquisition pathways or in a defense-tech GovTech or aerospace product role.
- Experience working in agile teams and familiarity with tools like Jira/Confluence.
- Familiarity with maritime C2 systems and data fusion.
What We Offer:
- Growth Opportunities: As a team member of a true startup you will learn by doing andshapeour future. The opportunities are limitless for those who want to grow their career.
- Impact Opportunity: We work on missions that matter to keep people safe and make the world better and we do it without bureaucracy at the speed of a startup.
- Team Collaboration: Work in a fast-paced collaborative environment with amazing teammates. The Overwatch Imaging leadership team believes in an open-door policy meaning everyone has a voice and access to guidance advice feedback and the ability to pitch crazy new products or ideas.
- Late Start Wednesday: A weekly blockto havefocus time away from meetings and calls. An opportunity to work from home flex yourscheduleor self-directed time to focus on training and development.
- Time Off: Generous PTOto empoweremployees to make decisions about work life balance based on work and home needs.
- Holidays: Overwatch Imaging recognizes 10 company holidays.
- Ownership: Equity/Stock Options in our rapidly growing company.
- Health Benefits: Medical/Dental premiums 100% covered by Overwatch Imaging for employees and their families plus available pre-tax health savings account.
- 401K: Employer matching contributions up to 4% of pay.
All applicants mustbe authorized towork on a permanent basis in the UnitedStates.
Overwatch Imaging is an equal opportunity workplace and makes employment decisions based on merit and business needs regardless of race color ancestry religion sex national origin sexual orientation age marital status disability gender identity Veteran status or any other protected personal characteristic.
We encourage all qualified candidates to apply even if theydontmeet every requirement listed
in this job description. We value diversity of experience and perspectives and are always looking
for talented individuals to join our team.
Export Control Compliance Notice
This position may involve access to data technology or software that is subject to U.S. export control laws and regulations including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and/or the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). As such employment is contingent upon the applicants ability to obtain any necessary export authorization asdeterminedby an export compliance assessment conducted by the company.
Required Experience:
Manager
About Company
Overwatch Imaging is a USA based, AI-driven wide-earea search and ISR solutions for variety of time-cricial missions, from fire, flood, and emergency response to maritime search, counter narcotics, border security, tactical intelligence, and tactical ISR. Solutions include purpose-bui ... View more