Product Owner- Maritime (remote) at Overwatch… · Location…

About Overwatch:

Overwatch Imaging is an imagery intelligence technology company working to bring sensor autonomy to time-critical airborne search, detection, tracking and monitoring missions. Our Automated Sensor Operator (ASO) software, native to our own line of purpose-built Smart Sensors and as an upgrade for airborne video gimbal platforms, brings Superhuman Vision and Workload Reduction to users of real-time imagery intelligence systems. We fundamentally believe that modern edge processing and AI-enabled autonomy can perform an important set of time-critical imagery intelligence missions better, faster and more safely than humans can alone.

Founded in 2016 in Hood River, Oregon, we support private sector companies as well as federal, state and local agencies around the world with missions ranging from wildfire mapping and disaster response to law enforcement, border security, maritime domain awareness and tactical intelligence.

Department: Product | Location: Remote | Travel Required

About this Role:

The Maritime Product Owner shapes the maritime vertical of our ASO software and Smart Sensors product line by bringing deep, first-hand industry expertise to bear on what we build and why. This role is the in-house authority on maritime ISR missions — surface search, vessel tracking and classification, dark-vessel detection, SAR, counter-narcotics, fisheries enforcement, and maritime domain awareness — and the trusted voice of the operator across Product, Engineering, Design, and Business Development. You will partner closely with our central Product Manager who owns delivery cadence, sprint mechanics, and cross-product backlog discipline; you feed that machine with validated mission problems, prioritized epics, and crisp requirements grounded in real operations.

This is an ideal role for someone with a maritime ISR or sensor operations background who wants to translate hard-earned operational expertise into a product that genuinely changes how maritime missions are flown. You will be expected to embrace AI aggressively — both because edge AI is the heart of our product, and because we expect our team to use modern AI tooling to move faster in everything we do.

This role is expected to be full-time (in office) in Hood River. We are NOT accepting candidates for Remote Work at this time.

What You’ll Do:

Be the In-House Maritime Subject Matter Expert

• Serve as the team's go-to resource on maritime ISR missions, customers, platforms, and sensors — helping translate operational jargon into product context the team can build against.
• Help Engineering, Design, BD, and Marketing understand what maritime operators actually do and why it matters.

Own Maritime Customer & Mission Discovery

• Build relationships with maritime operators across DoD, U.S. Coast Guard, allied navies, and commercial maritime customers.
• Run discovery conversations — ride-alongs, mission debriefs, interviews — to understand real operational pain points, and keep personas and use-case notes up to date.

Shape Maritime Strategy & Roadmap

• Partner with the VP of Product on the maritime vertical strategy and roadmap.
• Keep an eye on the maritime market and competitive landscape, and flag anything worth acting on.
• Keep a prioritized maritime backlog, favoring features that reduce sensor operator workload.

Author High-Quality Requirements

• Write product briefs, use-case docs, and requirements in Confluence and Jira that capture how missions actually work.
• Hand off well-defined problems to the central PM for sprint planning, and stay involved through delivery.

Embrace AI in the Product and in How We Work

• Champion maritime applications of edge AI and autonomy in our product to compound our autonomy advantage, and use AI tools in your own day-to-day work.

Partner Across the Company

• Support Business Development on requests for information, proposals, and demos for maritime opportunities.
• Work with Product Marketing on positioning and with Design on maritime-specific UX.

What Success Looks Like:

• Maritime customers feel understood — they see Overwatch as a vendor who gets their world.
• Engineering has clear, stable requirements to build against.
• The maritime roadmap is grounded in real, validated problems, and customers notice the results.
• BD and Sales have credible, mission-informed materials that help conversations move faster.
• The central PM has a steady, well-organized stream of maritime work to plan around.

What You’ll Bring:

• 5+ years operating, leading, or supporting airborne maritime ISR missions — as aircrew, sensor operator, mission commander, or equivalent — OR equivalent product experience deeply embedded with maritime ISR customers.
• Hands-on experience with EO/IR camera/gimbal systems on manned or unmanned maritime patrol platforms.
• Background with military, government, or defense contractors supporting maritime ISR.
• Strong written communication and comfort operating with ambiguity.
• Genuine enthusiasm for AI and a habit of using modern AI tools daily.

Preferred Qualifications (A Strong Plus)

• Prior military service in an aircrew, sensor operator, or ISR mission role, ideally maritime.
• Experience with defense acquisition pathways or in a defense-tech, GovTech, or aerospace product role.
• Experience working in agile teams, and familiarity with tools like Jira/Confluence.
• Familiarity with maritime C2 systems and data fusion.

What We Offer:

• Growth Opportunities: As a team member of a true startup, you will learn by doing and shape our future. The opportunities are limitless for those who want to grow their career.

• Impact Opportunity: We work on missions that matter to keep people safe and make the world better, and we do it without bureaucracy at the speed of a startup.

• Team Collaboration: Work in a fast-paced, collaborative environment with amazing teammates. The Overwatch Imaging leadership team believes in an open-door policy, meaning everyone has a voice and access to guidance, advice, feedback, and the ability to pitch crazy new products or ideas.

• Late Start Wednesday: A weekly block to have focus time away from meetings and calls. An opportunity to work from home, flex your schedule or self-directed time to focus on training and development.

• Time Off: Generous PTO to empower employees to make decisions about work life balance based on work and home needs.

• Holidays: Overwatch Imaging recognizes 10 company holidays.

• Ownership: Equity/Stock Options in our rapidly growing company.

• Health Benefits: Medical/Dental premiums 100% covered by Overwatch Imaging for employees and their families, plus available pre-tax health savings account.

• 401K: Employer matching contributions up to 4% of pay.

All applicants must be authorized to work on a permanent basis in the United States.

Overwatch Imaging is an equal opportunity workplace and makes employment decisions based on merit and business needs, regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity, Veteran status, or any other protected personal characteristic.

We encourage all qualified candidates to apply, even if they don't meet every requirement listed

in this job description. We value diversity of experience and perspectives and are always looking

for talented individuals to join our team.

Export Control Compliance Notice This position may involve access to data, technology, or software that is subject to U.S. export control laws and regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and/or the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). As such, employment is contingent upon the applicant’s ability to obtain any necessary export authorization, as determined by an export compliance assessment conducted by the company.