Product Owner

Job description

About the role: As the Product Owner for OTG (Optical Terminal Guidance) based in Melbourne, you will serve as the ultimate champion and custodian of Arkeus’ cutting-edge autonomous search, detection, and seeker platform. Reporting directly to the US-based Global VP Product and Marketing, your position balances internal technical leadership with critical external partner success. Internally, you will provide clear direction and oversight to the software and systems engineering teams to execute our technical vision. Externally, you will actively engage with partners and customers—managing expectations, conducting live product demonstrations, capturing mission-critical requirements, and collaborating deeply with external ecosystem partners to ensure deployment success. Your primary mandate is ensuring that the OTG platform delivers a flawless, high-performance customer experience. You will ensure our software architectures and systems integrations are reliable, exceed operational expectations, and survive the harshest, contested military environments. In parallel, you will bridge the gap between cutting-edge AI software and reliable hardware deployment—guaranteeing that the OTG system is seamlessly standardized for repeatable, scalable deployment into complex autonomous platforms and munitions. About you: You are a disciplined engineering leader with a strong software background and a deep understanding of complex systems and systems integration. You don't manage from a distance; you lead from the front, bringing clarity, pace, and execution rigour to a multi-disciplinary team of software, AI, and systems engineers. You balance internal technical oversight with a highly collaborative, customer-facing presence. You know exactly what it takes to manage partner expectations, deliver compelling technical demonstrations, and work through the intricacies of integrating edge-AI software into partner architectures. You thrive in ambiguity and are energized by turning complex, sovereign deep-tech prototypes into highly scalable, integrated global software and hardware solutions. Key responsibilities: Own the OTG Portfolio: Direct and provide technical oversight to the software and systems engineering team to refine and deploy Arkeus’ premier seeker payloads. Roadmap Build & Execution: Author and execute the comprehensive product roadmap for the OTG platform, synthesizing inputs from internal engineering and external partner needs. Partner & Customer Engagement: Act as the technical face of the product, managing partner expectations, executing live demonstrations, and working collaboratively to ensure integration success. Systems Integration Quality: Guarantee that software and system-level architectures cleanly interface with partner platforms and meet strict field readiness and environmental standards. Technology Transition Governance: Define, implement, and police strict entry and exit criteria for new software features and AI models moving from advanced development to the core OTG pipeline. Cross-Functional Sync: Balance daily internal engineering sprint direction with external market validation, working closely with growth functions and the global VP to align the platform with the global defense market. What Success Looks Like In your first 90 days: You have taken full ownership of the OTG product roadmap and integrated it seamlessly into the engineering sprint cycles. You have established a strong baseline understanding of our software stack, AI engine, and systems integration touchpoints. You have successfully led your first partner capability demonstration and established direct, trusted relationships with key external stakeholders. In your first year: The OTG platform is recognized by international partners for its seamless systems integration, software reliability, and precision targeting performance. You have institutionalized a validated product ecosystem that moves software capabilities cleanly from advanced development through to system deployment. The engineering team consistently hits shipping deadlines for standardized, modular software components optimized for global defense primes and aerospace OEMs. You have successfully embedded the voice of our partners and end-users directly into our core product development cycle. Your experience and skills : Software-Driven Product Leadership: 3+ years of experience as a Product Owner, Technical Product Manager, or Lead Engineer directing sophisticated software applications or systems integration programs, with a total of 10+ years working in complex software products. Systems Integration Fluency: Strong background in software engineering coupled with hands-on experience integrating edge software, data links, or AI frameworks with physical hardware/sensors. External Technical Engagement: Proven track record in a partner- or customer-facing technical capacity, including experience conducting product demonstrations and managing complex client expectations. Defense & Aerospace Domain Expertise: Deep familiarity with military open system architectures (MOSA), ruggedized systems, or integration protocols for autonomous systems and munitions. Agile Framework Mastery: Expert capability managing product backlogs, drafting software user stories, and enforcing strict engineering exit/entry gates within fast-paced delivery sprints. Clearance: Must hold, or be readily capable of obtaining, an Australian Baseline/NV1 security clearance (or equivalent international partner clearance). Comfort with Ambiguity: You can make good decisions with incomplete information and adjust quickly when partner requirements or the operational picture changes. Stakeholder Fluency: Exceptional interpersonal skills with a clear capacity to communicate cleanly across product engineers, growth teams, and corporate board members. Team Building: Demonstrated ability to build teams, systems and processes in a high-growth environment with limited resources. What we offer : You will work on the hardest problems in deep-tech — optics, autonomy, real-time AI and hardware-software integration in a single product. The gap between what you build and where it ends up is almost nonexistent. You will collaborate with exceptional leaders who have decades of combined experience in AI, optics and defense. You will be learning from — and contributing to — the best in the field. You will become part of a close-knit, ego-free team where ideas compete on merit, not seniority. Low politics, high trust. The kind of team you will still be talking about in ten years. You will work hard and be expected to bring your best — and in return you will grow faster than you ever would at a large organization. You will work on technology that is already deployed in real environments — protecting lives and strengthening security across defense and national security applications. You will receive a competitive, market-benchmarked salary, structured career pathways built to grow with you, and the opportunity to participate in our Employee Share Option Plan (ESOP). You will have the opportunity to mentor bright emerging talent through our highly sought-after intern program and strong connections with leading universities. If this sounds like you, please apply even if you don't check every box listed above and join our growing team in improving security and saving lives! About Arkeus Arkeus builds AI-powered sensing systems that help autonomous platforms detect, track and understand what is happening in the most complex and contested environments. Our technology is deployed across defense and national security applications — already protecting lives and strengthening security across the U.S. and allied markets. Backed by QIC, Main Sequence, R&VC, Salus Ventures, Folklore Ventures, DYNE Ventures and Beaten Zone Venture Partners, Arkeus is entering a major growth phase. We are a small, fast-moving company with the energy and ambition of a start-up and the technical credibility of a world-class defense technology provider. We work at the intersection of optics, autonomy, robotics and real-time AI — and we deploy what we build. If you want to ship technology that matters, not technology that ships decks, this is where you belong.