The Role
Lead product strategy and roadmap for advanced defense software. Architect and prototype end-to-end solutions, define test and quality strategies, mitigate systemic risks, integrate secure development practices, and mentor teams to deliver scalable, deployable tactical software on-site for fleet operations.
Summary Generated by Built In
About The Role:
Innovative Defense Technologies (IDT), a leading defense technology company, is seeking a Software Product Owner to be part of our Advanced Capabilities team and based out of our Arlington, VA location.
We are seeking an experienced Product Owner to lead the strategy, execution, and productization of our Advanced Capabilities Product offerings. The product owner will be responsible for owning the roadmap, prioritizing features, productizing for deployment, and collaborating across engineering, business areas, business development, and external clients to ensure the successful delivery of scalable and maintainable software solutions to the fleet.
Clearance & Location Requirements:
- All applicants must currently possess an active Secret U.S. Security Clearance.
- This is an on-site position. Requiring at least 5 days in office, based out of our Arlington, VA location.
Key Responsibilities
What You Will Do:
- Engineer and Architect Solutions: Design and develop high-fidelity prototypes to guide architectural decisions and evaluate solutions against business and operational goals. Architect end-to-end systems that balance project constraints with enterprise objectives, selecting languages, frameworks, and data structures to optimize performance and scalability. Apply advanced algorithms and design patterns to solve complex problems while adapting frameworks to maximize value and efficiency.
- Test and Assure Quality: Design and implement comprehensive test strategies—including unit, integration, and performance testing—to ensure full system coverage. Lead complex incident investigations and coordinate cross-team issue resolution. Enhance monitoring, alerting, and diagnostic tools to improve detection and response, while proactively addressing systemic defects and guiding architectural improvements to ensure long-term software stability in deployed environments.
- Manage Risk and Drive Improvement: Identify and mitigate systemic issues through long-term engineering solutions embedded within the development lifecycle. Lead large-scale modernization initiatives to re-engineer legacy systems and improve maintainability. Establish risk management frameworks, forecast emerging technical and security risks, and champion mitigation strategies to ensure resilience. Integrate secure development practices and threat modeling into architectural decisions to proactively address vulnerabilities.
- Lead and Develop People: Coach and mentor team members to meet both individual career goals and IDT’s organizational objectives. Build inclusive, high-performing teams that embody IDT values and promote a positive, collaborative culture. Delegate work strategically, empower continuous learning, and model ethical leadership, trust, and resilience across all interactions.
Skills, Knowledge & Expertise
Who You Are (Required):
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, software engineering, computer engineering, cybersecurity, or related field (or equivalent full-time professional experience)
- Minimum of 7-10 years’ experience in software development
- Ability to travel approximately 10%
- Highly adept at understanding and presenting complex software solutions
- Extensive experience developing software in various languages, including C, C++, Java, JavaScript, and Python.
- Abundant experience with System and Software architectures
- Familiarity with and hands on experience with software design patterns
- Experience designing software with UML primitives: sequence diagrams, class diagrams, and activity diagrams
- Requirements elicitation, management, tracking, and auditing
- Documentation, training, and deployment experience with tactical software
- Ability to work on-site in Arlington, VA facility and travel to customer sites
- Familiarity deploying containers to Docker utilizing Kubernetes based orchestration platform(s)
- Strong verbal and written communication skills; Adept at presenting technical information to internal and external stakeholders
- Project management skills to include cost, schedule, as well as technical performance estimating and measurement
What Makes You Stand Out:
- Master's degree in Engineering or another technical field
- Familiarity with foundational networking concepts such as routing, switching, identity services, intrusion detection, and firewall
- Familiarity deploying virtual machines in VMWare vSphere environments including networking configuration
- General familiarity with Risk Management Framework (RMF), Authority to Operate (ATO) operations and experience developing solutions that adhere to cyber policy
- Familiarity designing within complex software development environments including submodules, remote dependencies, and mixed-code deployments
- Experience in technical writing, including proposal and white paper authoring
If you see yourself reflected in this role and are excited about the impact you could make, we encourage you to apply! If you know someone who may be a great fit, please feel free to share this opportunity with your network.
Pay Range*: $135,000 - $231,000 or $164,000 - $273,000
This amount may not be reflective of actual compensation that may be earned as pay is dependent on a candidate’s experience, skills, and education. The posted range does not include bonuses, commissions, tips, or other benefits. IDT is often looking to place multiple candidates at various levels. Therefore, more than one pay range has been included, commensurate with experience.
Job Benefits
Why Work at Innovative Defense Technologies (IDT):
IDT is a growing company with a vibrant, entrepreneurial culture. We are headquartered in Arlington, VA with additional offices in Fall River, MA; Mount Laurel, NJ; and San Diego, CA. At each location, our employees work together in a modern, snack-filled, and social office space, designing innovative solutions for our defense industry customers. We offer employees competitive pay and benefits including:
- Generous benefits package
- Competitive PTO
- Paid holidays
- 401(k) with immediate vesting and matching
- 9/80 optional schedule (2nd and 4th Friday off every month)
- Tuition Assistance Reimbursement Program
- Professional Development Resources
- Pre-Tax Commuter Benefits
- Organization-Wide Monthly Tech Connect Events
- Annual Employee Recognition Awards
- Regular Social Events and Catered Lunches
EEO Statement:
IDT is an Equal Opportunity employer.
About
Innovative Defense Technologies (IDT) is a leading defense technology company focused on rapidly delivering mission-critical software and systems solutions to the U.S. government. The company specializes in automation, digital engineering, and enabling the rapid integration of advanced capabilities into complex weapon and combat systems. These essential solutions empower the warfighter to field, operate, and sustain decisive capability at speed and scale. At IDT, our employees are developing advanced mission-critical outcomes by consistently delivering high-quality results, fostering innovation, applying rigorous problem-solving, and effectively collaborating across multifaceted teams and stakeholders. Grounded in these competencies, IDT translates complex customer priorities into robust software solutions.
Skills Required
- Active Secret U.S. Security Clearance
- Ability to work on-site in Arlington, VA (5 days/week) and travel to customer sites
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering, computer engineering, cybersecurity, or related field (or equivalent experience)
- Minimum of 7-10 years' experience in software development
- Extensive experience developing software in C, C++, Java, JavaScript, and Python
- Abundant experience with system and software architectures
- Hands-on experience with software design patterns
- Experience designing software using UML primitives (sequence, class, activity diagrams)
- Requirements elicitation, management, tracking, and auditing experience
- Documentation, training, and deployment experience with tactical software
- Familiarity deploying containers with Docker and orchestration using Kubernetes
- Strong verbal and written communication skills; able to present technical information to stakeholders
- Project management skills including cost, schedule, and technical performance estimating and measurement
- Ability to travel approximately 10%
- Highly adept at understanding and presenting complex software solutions
- Master's degree in Engineering or another technical field
- Familiarity with routing, switching, identity services, intrusion detection, and firewall concepts
- Familiarity deploying virtual machines in VMWare vSphere including networking configuration
- Familiarity with Risk Management Framework (RMF) and Authority to Operate (ATO) operations
- Familiarity designing within complex software development environments (submodules, remote dependencies, mixed-code deployments)
- Experience in technical writing, including proposal and white paper authoring
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The Company
What We Do
WHO WE ARE Innovative Defense Technologies -IDT- provides automated software testing, data analysis, and cybersecurity solutions for the DOD's mission-critical systems. Using patented Automated Test and ReTest (ATRT) technology, we support the entire software testing lifecycle from component testing, to system integration and testing, to the analysis of results. Our automated test and analysis solutions enable the rapid update and delivery of large, complex systems. Our technologies offer: -Rapid system configuration assessment and validation -Repeatable, consistent testing, analysis and reporting -On-demand regression tests in response to cyber threats -Statistical rigor in test and analysis -Reduced time and manpower At IDT, we work closely with our customers to tailor our products to support their systems and meet their goals. IDT has the expertise, strategies and processes in place to provide an automated solution for your next project. Let us help you dramatically accelerate test execution time, expand test coverage and improve software quality. OUR MISSION Our mission is to enable new software capabilities to be fielded faster and more affordably by reducing the amount of time and the cost spent on software testing. Through the use of our software testing technology, IDT is changing the way testing is being done for large, complex, software systems.
