Program Manager - Product Strategist

Applied Research Solutions is seeking a highly capable Product Strategist to lead roadmap definition, requirement prioritization, and cross-team alignment across the cloud based product ecosystem. This role is responsible for translating customer and contract requirements into a unified, actionable roadmap, ensuring clear prioritization, and enabling predictable delivery across multiple development teams.

Why Work with us? 

Applied Research Solutions (ARS) is respected as a world-class provider of technically integrated solutions as we deliver premier talent and technology across our focused markets for unparalleled, continuous mission support. Awarded a Best Places to Work nominee since 2020, ARS recognizes that without our career- driven, loyal professionals, we would not be able to deliver state-of-the-art results for our mission partners. We firmly believe that prioritizing our employees is of the upmost importance. We provide a culture where our employees are challenged to meet their career goals and aspirations, while still obtaining a work/life balance. ARS employees are motivated through our industry competitive benefits package, our awards and recognition program, and personalized attention from ARS Senior Managers.  

Responsibilities include:

• Own and maintain the unified product roadmap.
• Identify and document Big “R” requirements (contractual obligations) and little “r” requirements (customer outcomes).
• Translate customer input and contract requirements into prioritized work packages for Product Owners.
• Provide clear sequencing and prioritization recommendations across all teams and programs.
• Ensure cross-team dependencies and capacity constraints are visible and managed.
• Partner closely with PMs to keep the roadmap aligned with real-time customer needs and delivery realities.
• Facilitate planning intervals and ensure sprint commitments map to roadmap milestones.
• Communicate roadmap changes clearly and proactively to stakeholders.
• Support Business Development as the accuracy check for what is feasible within the roadmap.
• Flag and escalate misalignments early when commitments exceed capacity or feasibility.
• Maintain situational awareness across all programs to ensure alignment on priorities and dependencies.
• Work with the Chief Architect to confirm technical feasibility of roadmap items and sequencing.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications / Experience Requirements:

• Must be a US Citizen
• Must have or be willing to attain a TS/SCI Clearance
• 5+ years of experience in product strategy, product management, or technical program leadership.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Information Systems, or related field
• Demonstrated experience building, maintaining, and communicating product roadmaps.
• Experience working in Agile software development environments.
• Strong ability to translate requirements into actionable work for engineering teams.
• Excellent communication and cross-team leadership skills.
• Experience balancing contract requirements with customer outcomes.
• Ability to manage multiple conflicting priorities and drive clarity across teams.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Business Administration, Information Systems, or related field
• Experience with cloud-based or enterprise-scale software products.
• Prior experience working with government customers or contract-driven delivery environments.
• Familiarity with DevOps, CI/CD, or technical architecture concepts.
• Product Management or Agile certifications (PSPO, APMG, SAFe, etc.).

 All positions at Applied Research Solutions are subject to background investigations. Employment is contingent upon successful completion of a background investigation including criminal history and identity check.

This contractor and subcontractor shall abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-741.5(a). This regulation prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals on the basis of disability, and requires affirmative action by covered prime contractors and subcontractors to employ and advance in employment qualified individuals with disabilities.

This contractor and subcontractor shall abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-300.5(a). This regulation prohibits discrimination against qualified protected veterans, and requires affirmative action by covered contractors and subcontractors to employ and advance in employment qualified protected veterans.