Product Manager II (U.S. Air Force)
About Skylight
Skylight is a digital consultancy using design and technology to help government agencies deliver better public services.
We’re at the forefront of a civic movement to reinvent how all levels of government serve families, patients, and many others in today’s digital world.
If you want to play a part in driving this critical movement forward, we’d love for you to join our growing team of public interest technologists.
The work we do matters.
About the job
At Skylight, product managers are responsible for strategy, planning, execution, stakeholder management, and team health. Product managers partner with researchers, designers, engineers, client stakeholders, and others to inform their product decisions. At a high level, it’s the product manager’s job to figure out what to build next and why.
Skylight is partnering with a U.S. Air Force program office that runs a portfolio of civil engineering systems. These systems serve users across civil engineering, security forces, and services, including readiness managers, range personnel, and fire and emergency services. Releases are slow today. Regression testing is manual, security review happens after development finishes, and code freeze to production can take a month or more. We’ll move the program to an outcome-driven model with test automation and security built into the pipeline, starting with migrating the first application onto a DoD software factory. Leadership wants this office to become the model other Air Force offices adopt.
In this role, you’ll keep the team’s delivery organized and moving, working hand in hand with the engagement manager on deliverables and documentation and owning the backlog as the program changes how it works.
What to know going in
This is an execution-focused product role, well suited to someone with a strong project management or operations instinct. Your first 30 days are about getting to know the Skylight team and government personnel, learning how work gets tracked and delivered today, and helping move the team’s backlog and documentation from Jira and Confluence to GitLab and Mattermost. Expect to work alongside government staff and other contractors, with tools and processes changing as the work gets underway.
This role is contingent on Skylight being awarded the underlying contract. If we’re not awarded the contract, we’ll let you know promptly and discuss whether there are other opportunities that fit.
What you’ll do
Partner with the engagement manager to organize deliverables, documentation, and schedules so the work stays on track and visible to government partners
Maintain a prioritized backlog: write user stories, keep priorities current, and build release plans with the team
Lead the team’s move from Jira and Confluence to GitLab and Mattermost, keeping configuration, tracking, and documentation clean through the transition
Facilitate team ceremonies such as planning meetings, stakeholder syncs, and retrospectives
Translate needs from users and government partners into product objectives, measures of success, and roadmap items
Work in close partnership with government teams to transfer digital skills and product knowledge throughout the project
What we’re looking for
Basic qualifications
Understand lean product principles and how to apply them (e.g., minimum viable product) at various stages of the product life cycle in order to mitigate risk, validate assumptions, and amplify learning
Can develop a product strategy that is informed by an understanding of the problem to be solved, prioritizes outcomes over feature sets, and establishes the direction of the product over time (e.g., product roadmap), including success criteria
Ability to execute the product strategy by breaking down the product’s scope into usable chunks of value that can be realized sooner rather than later, creating and maintaining a prioritized backlog with validated user stories, and facilitating team ceremonies over the course of the product’s iterations
Understand how to engage in the process of human-centered design in order to better inform product direction
Ability to collaborate with folks outside of your discipline, such as researchers, designers, engineers, and others, in order to get things done
Ability to manage clients and stakeholders in a way that builds trust, alignment, and healthy environments for individuals and teams
Understand the merits of different software development methodologies (e.g., agile, lean) and how to put them into practice
Strong organizational skills, with experience keeping deliverables, documentation, and action items on track for an agile software delivery team
Experience working on cross-functional teams (product, design, engineering, ops) in iterative delivery
A mindset and work approach that aligns with our core values
Nice-to-haves
Project management experience, such as running schedules, risks, and dependencies for a delivery team
Configuration management experience, or experience migrating a team’s tools and workflows (for example, from Jira and Confluence to GitLab)
Experience with legacy modernization, or launching a new product from zero to one
Consulting experience, or military or Department of Defense experience
Experience delivering technology in government, regulated industries, or other public-benefit settings
A track record of staying aligned and accountable on remote teams
Don’t meet every qualification but think you can do the job? We’d still love to hear from you. If you’re excited about the role, apply. We consider candidates with a range of backgrounds and experiences.
Other requirements
Some of our available roles are on federal contracts that require a degree or additional years of experience as a substitute.
All work must be conducted within the U.S., excluding U.S. territories.
This contract requires U.S. citizenship to be eligible for employment.
You must be able to obtain a Common Access Card (CAC) and any special access required for this contract.
You must complete a company background check successfully.
Logistics
Position type
This is a full-time, exempt position.
Location
This is a fully remote position.
Travel
This role includes occasional travel to Montgomery, AL, and other U.S. Air Force bases.
Expected start date
We’re targeting a start date of November 30, 2026, pending contract award.
Care package
Salary
We want to give you the most competitive salary possible. After all, you deserve it! To that end, we use the results of our interview process to determine what salary is most appropriate given your current level of seniority. For a Product Manager at Skylight, the current salary ranges are as follows:
Associate Product Manager: $90,000–$125,000
Product Manager I: $120,000–$140,000
Product Manager II: $135,000–$160,000
Senior Product Manager: $150,000–$185,000
Staff Product Manager: $170,000–$203,000
Principal Product Manager: $180,000–$230,000
Benefits
Your well-being is important to us, so we focus on supporting you in a variety of ways:
Medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance
Short-term and long-term disability insurance
Life and AD&D insurance
Dependent care FSA, healthcare FSA, health savings account
Dollar-for-dollar 401(k) match up to 10% of your salary with no vesting period
Flexible paid-time-off policy (generally around 25 days per year), plus 11 paid federal holidays
Up to 12 weeks paid-time-off for all eligible new birth, adoption, or foster parents
Performance rewards, including annual salary increase, annual performance bonus, spot bonuses, and stock options
Business development / sales bonuses
Referral bonuses
Annual $2,000 allowance for professional development
Annual $750 allowance for tech-related purchases
Annual swag budget of $100 to display your Skylight pride with some merchandise (hoodies, hats, and more)
Flexible, remote-friendly work environment
An environment that empowers you to unleash your superpowers for public good
Interview tips
Our process includes a preliminary screen, a skills interview, a behavioral interview, and a reverse interview where you meet your potential team — usually four conversations across two to three weeks. Here are some tips to help you prepare for a successful interview:
Visit our join page to learn more about how our interview process works.
Check out our Career Pathways framework to learn more about the different roles within Skylight and the skills needed to do them.
Browse our case studies to learn more about our work.
If you’d like to request reasonable accommodations during the application or interviewing process, please contact our recruiting team at recruiting@skylight.digital.
We participate in E-Verify and upon hire, will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you’re authorized to work in the U.S.
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, veteran status, or any other category protected by applicable law.