Technical Product Manager

Job description

Bring clarity to what we build. Shape how we build it. TL;DR We’re looking for a senior, hands-on Technical Product Manager to bring rigor and clarity to how we turn ideas into shipped product. You’ll own backlog quality, requirements through approval, and the product-definition and planning flow from direction into delivery. You’ll report to our Co-Founder & CPO and work closely with our Director of Engineering, design lead, and senior engineers, in a scaling cybersecurity company where ownership is high, collaboration is close, and you’ll have meaningful influence over both the product and how we build. This role is ideally based in Portland, Maine, with regular in-person collaboration and flexibility for hybrid work. We’re open to exceptional remote candidates as well. The Role We’re building an industry-leading cybersecurity platform. Defendify has been named to the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies three years running, and we’re looking for a Technical Product Manager to bring rigor, consistency, and leverage to how ideas become shipped product. This is a hands-on role that owns requirements quality and how product direction moves into delivery, sitting at the center of how Product and Engineering work together. You’ll translate product direction and feedback into detailed requirements and specifications, identify ambiguity before it becomes rework, and maintain a healthy, prioritized backlog. Depending on the work, you may develop requirements directly, refine drafts created with AI or Engineering, or build them collaboratively. In every case, you’ll review, challenge, edit, align the right stakeholders, finalize the requirements, and approve them before work moves forward. We’re looking for someone with 5+ years of product or technical product management experience, ideally working full-time on a live B2B software product and preferably in a security or technically oriented environment. What You’ll Own Own product requirements, from initial concept through review, refinement, stakeholder alignment, and final approval, including acceptance criteria and related artifacts Ensure product intent, constraints, edge cases, dependencies, and success criteria are sufficiently clear before work advances Maintain a clean, structured, and prioritized backlog aligned to product direction Turn customer and internal feedback into actionable product work, identifying patterns that inform roadmap direction Partner with Engineering to evaluate implementation approaches and tradeoffs, keeping Product and Engineering moving in the same direction throughout definition and delivery Lead planning and product-development flow while continuously improving how work moves from idea to production How We Build The way software gets built is changing quickly, and we expect this role to embrace and drive that evolution within our team. We are incorporating AI throughout the development lifecycle to accelerate work such as research, requirements development, prototyping, technical analysis, implementation, testing, and review. That may mean starting from an AI-generated draft, collaborating with Engineering on a proposed specification, or using AI to challenge assumptions and uncover edge cases before development begins. What does not change is accountability. Faster artifact creation makes sound product judgment, thoughtful review, clear decisions, and strong approval practices more important, not less. What Success Looks Like You help protect the consistency and conceptual integrity of the platform as it continues to grow Product direction consistently becomes clear, technically grounded, and actionable work Requirements are right-sized for the problem, with the necessary depth, context, and precision Engineers can move confidently without chasing product clarification Planning and delivery operate with a reliable rhythm without becoming process-heavy You Might Be a Fit If You… Are an exceptional communicator, particularly in writing Think deeply about systems, workflows, dependencies, prioritization, and downstream impact rather than operating only at the feature level. Have strong experience developing, reviewing, and finalizing product requirements and specifications in a production software environment Are comfortable engaging with technical documentation, system designs, and implementation tradeoffs, and enjoy working closely with engineers to challenge, clarify, or bring in deeper expertise when needed Can take a rough idea and systematically turn it into something Engineering can build Are comfortable making decisions and standing behind the quality of the work that moves forward Use AI tools fluently in your own work and are actively developing your point of view on how AI is changing modern product development Bring a security-first mindset to product decisions Work well in an environment with high ownership, close collaboration, evolving priorities, and the opportunity to influence how the team operates How This Role Operates This is an active, hands-on product-building role, not backlog administration or ticket management. You’ll bring product thinking and technical curiosity into everything you do, ask the questions that expose ambiguity, and shape requirements with the right depth for the problem at hand. Product and Engineering work collaboratively here. Engineering should contribute ideas, challenge assumptions, and help shape solutions while owning the final call on technical feasibility and implementation approach. Your responsibility is to make sure the product intent is understood, the right tradeoffs get surfaced, key decisions are made, requirements are brought to the appropriate level of precision, and everyone is aligned before the work moves forward. We care about effective product development more than strict adherence to any particular methodology. Scrum and Agile practices may be useful tools, but the goal is a development process that creates clarity, supports good decisions, reduces unnecessary friction, and continues to evolve as better approaches emerge. Why This Role Matters The Defendify platform and how we build it are evolving fast as we continue to grow. Product definition and backlog responsibilities have historically been shared across the team, and as we scale, we’re looking for a key player to turn product direction into high-quality, executable work, while preserving the collaboration and flexibility that have helped us get here. This role won’t simply step into a finished process. As AI continues to change what Product and Engineering teams can accomplish, you’ll help define and drive the next version of how our organization works. Why Join Defendify A platform, not a feature: Work on 13 cybersecurity modules across three protection layers A real voice: You’ll report directly to our Co-Founder & CPO and work daily with our Director of Engineering and senior engineering team A timely opportunity: Help define how our evolving product organization builds in the AI era A proven growth company: Join an Inc. 5000 honoree recognized for three consecutive years A meaningful mission: Help make cybersecurity possible for small and midsized organizations facing growing security demands Location This role is ideally based out of our Portland, Maine headquarters, where we value in-person collaboration, with flexibility for hybrid work. While our preference is for someone who can work with the team in Portland regularly, we’re also open to exceptional remote candidates. Our headquarters are on the top floor of a building on Commercial Street, in the heart of Portland’s Old Port, overlooking Casco Bay. For someone who values in-person collaboration, it’s a great place to be and build. Simple Test Do you work well across key stakeholders and thrive in an emerging product environment? Can you shape product direction and feedback into the right prioritized work, turn that work into clear, approved requirements, and drive a streamlined process that keeps delivery moving? If yes, let’s talk!