Senior Staff Product Manager, Special Projects (R3865)

Company: PixelFactory.ai
Company: PixelFactory.ai
Location: San Diego Metro Area
Commitment: Full Time Employee
Department: Hivemind Product Division – Product Management
Posted on: 2025-09-11 04:09
Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed deep-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include the V-BAT aircraft, Hivemind Enterprise, and the Hivemind Vision product lines. With offices in San Diego, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Boston, Abu Dhabi (UAE), Kyiv (Ukraine), and Melbourne (Australia), Shield AI’s technology actively supports U.S. and allied operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn,   X and Instagram.       Job Description: The Special Projects Product Manager will play a critical role in driving innovation within Shield AI’s advanced technologies group. This position bridges early-stage exploration with core product development, ensuring that novel capabilities from Special Projects are strategically transitioned into the Hivemind SDK and effectively leveraged by customer-facing teams. The PM will serve as both a technical expert and strategic partner—shaping the roadmap, championing usability, and collaborating across engineering, enterprise product, and solutions. This is a high-impact role for a product leader passionate about autonomy, innovation, and transforming prototypes into enduring product value.  What you'll do: Manage and prioritize Special Projects backlog  Maintain and evolve Special Projects roadmap  Track Product Engineering roadmaps for integration opportunities  Coordinate capability transition into Hivemind SDK releases  Align with Hivemind Solutions on tactical and strategic needs  Track and escalate SDK usability issues to core PMs  Serve as expert user and demo leader for SDK  Serve as expert user and demo leader for Special Projects  Identify and validate new innovation opportunities  Drive rapid prototyping and proof-of-concept evaluations  Partner with engineering leads on technical feasibility assessments  Facilitate stakeholder communication and decision alignment  Collect customer/field feedback to refine innovation pipeline  Monitor industry trends and competitor innovation initiatives  Track success metrics for pilot projects and transitions  Required qualifications: 5+ years product management or innovation experience  Proven backlog and roadmap management expertise  Strong technical background in robotics or autonomy  Demonstrated experience with SDKs or developer platforms  Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills  Ability to synthesize feedback into actionable product direction  Skilled in rapid prototyping and early-stage validation  Hands-on experience with product demos and customer engagement  Preferred qualifications: Experience in defense, aerospace, or autonomous systems  Familiarity with Hivemind SDK or comparable autonomy frameworks  Strong user empathy and usability problem-solving skills  Track record of innovation-to-productization success  MBA or advanced degree in engineering/CS/related field  Prior experience supporting both product and customer delivery teams  Skilled at competitive analysis and market trend monitoring  Comfortable with ambiguity and fast-changing priorities  $190,000 - $290,000 a year #LI-DM2 #LE Full-time regular employee offer package: Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity Temporary employee offer package: Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment) Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information. ### Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.  Apply for this job
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