5G Tactical OTM Product Manager

Thales Defense & Security, Inc.; Clarksburg (MD); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 192,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive Salary

Yearly Incentive Compensation Plan

Medical insurance for self and family

Generous 401(k) up to 7% company match

Tuition Reimbursement

Paid wellness, vacation, and holiday

Paid maternity, paternity, and Parenta

9/80 Work Schedule

Hybrid Working Environment

Job summary

Thales Defense & Security, Inc. in Clarksburg, MD, seeks a 5G Tactical Communications Product Manager to lead private 5G/NPN and OTM solutions for forward bases and man-wearable tech. You will align with DOD requirements and guide integration of 5G/edge offerings for military use.

The role requires 8+ years in telecom architecture, deep 5G knowledge, and experience with NFV/SDN, OpenStack, and Kubernetes. Travel up to 30% is expected; hybrid work is offered.

Qualifications

• U.S. Citizenship required. Applicants may be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information.
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or related technical discipline- MS preferred.
• Minimum 8 years of experience in telecom solutions architecture, with proven expertise in 5G RAN/ Core and edge compute; including significant hands on experience designing and deploying tactical/ OTМ private 5G networks.
• Good understanding of the Radio propagation in low and high 4G/5G Bands, including effects of RF challenged environments.
• Background in adapting commercial or government telecom solutions for Defense or mission-critical applications.
• Strong understanding of 3GPP, ETSI standards, as well as virtualization (NFV/SDN) and cloud technologies (OpenStack, Kubernetes, etc.).
• Experience working with U.S. DOD or NATO frameworks is highly valued.
• Excellent analytical, synthesis, and technical writing skills.
• Strong interpersonal and leadership abilities; capable of interfacing with both technical teams and government customers.
• Ability to travel up to 30% (mostly domestic with some international travel).

Responsibilities

• Define and develop private 5G Non-Public Networks (NPN) and On-the-move (OTM) solutions for forward bases, mobile platforms, and man-wearable technologies- consisting of portable, mesh-capable nodes.
• Lead designs for survivability: dynamic spectrum management, interference mitigation, robust mobility/handover, RF propagation planning (low/high 4G/5G bands), and redundant backhaul (e.g., line‑of‑sight, SATCOM, microwave) with graceful degradation.
• Direct communication with the US DOD customers, which can include customer workshops, solicitation of customer feedback/ lessons learned, leveraging various strategies to capture customer requirements.
• Guide the adaptation/integration of Thales 5G/edge products to meet military standards, SWaP‑C constraints, environmental and EMI/EMC requirements, and Zero Trust/security policies for tactical deployments.
• Participate in the design, deployment, and optimization of innovative, secure, and resilient network solutions for defense applications.
• Analyze DOD requirements, conduct technical feasibility studies, and propose robust solutions aligned with mission-critical needs.
• Ensure compliance with U.S. Federal and Defense cybersecurity/pre-certification frameworks (e.g., FIPS, NIST, DOD STIGs).
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, including R&D, systems engineering, security experts, program management, and external (government/industrial) partners.
• Draft high-level and detailed technical documentation for both internal stakeholders and DOD representatives.
• Support proposal preparation and responses to government RFPs, including presenting technical solutions to Defense entities.
• Support the Product Line Management Director and Capture Team to conduct competitive analysis, determine discriminators and product gaps.
• Help develop a Price to Win strategy for various markets.
• Monitor technological advancements in 5G, network virtualization, and their military applications, recommending future evolutions as required.

Skills

5G RAN/Core

Edge compute

NFV/SDN

OpenStack

Kubernetes

UML

SysML

DODAF

Security concepts

Technical writing

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

MS preferred

Tools

OpenStack

Kubernetes

UML

SysML

DODAF

Job description

Thales Defense & Security, Inc. (TDSI) Headquartered in Clarksburg, MD, is a U.S. company that has been serving domestic and international defense Air, Land and Sea domains for 60+ years. With over 1,000 employees, TDSI and its four subsidiaries (Advanced Acoustic Concepts, Digital Receiver Technology, Tampa Microwave, and Trusted Cyber Technologies), supports U.S. Joint Services, special operations forces and multi-national partners with a variety of communication, visualization, signal intelligence/electronic warfare, and sensor/sonar capabilities. TDSI’s key technologies include tactical handheld radios, expeditionary satellite terminals, helmet-mounted displays, optics and target recognition capability, advanced radars, undersea sensing and missile systems. Lives depend on what we do!

Location: CLARKSBURG, MD, US, 20871

Top Benefits

• Competitive Salary
• Yearly Incentive Compensation Plan
• Medical insurance for self and eligible family members
• Generous 401(k) program- up to 7% company contribution and 100% immediate vesting
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Paid wellness, vacation, and holiday leave
• Paid maternity, paternity, and parental leave
• 9/80 Work Schedule (every other Friday off)
• Hybrid Working Environment

We are excited to announce that we have an opening in our Clarksburg, MD office for a 5G Tactical Communications Product Manager. This is a newly created position within our high-performing business development organization, and will report to the Director of Product Line Management- Tactical Communications in Clarksburg, MD. This position will be the technical, customer-facing expert within 5G and tactical communications/ radios and will work with the global product engineering team to ensure capabilities are developed to meet customer specifications.

Responsibilities

• Define and develop private 5G Non-Public Networks (NPN) and On-the-move (OTM) solutions for forward bases, mobile platforms, and man-wearable technologies- consisting of portable, mesh-capable nodes.
• Lead designs for survivability: dynamic spectrum management, interference mitigation, robust mobility/handover, RF propagation planning (low/high 4G/5G bands), and redundant backhaul (e.g., line‑of‑sight, SATCOM, microwave) with graceful degradation.
• Direct communication with the US DOD customers, which can include customer workshops, solicitation of customer feedback/ lessons learned, leveraging various strategies to capture customer requirements.
• Guide the adaptation/integration of Thales 5G/edge products to meet military standards, SWaP‑C constraints, environmental and EMI/EMC requirements, and Zero Trust/security policies for tactical deployments.
• Participate in the design, deployment, and optimization of innovative, secure, and resilient network solutions for defense applications.
• Analyze DOD requirements, conduct technical feasibility studies, and propose robust solutions aligned with mission-critical needs.
• Ensure compliance with U.S. Federal and Defense cybersecurity/pre-certification frameworks (e.g., FIPS, NIST, DOD STIGs).
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, including R&D, systems engineering, security experts, program management, and external (government/industrial) partners.
• Draft high-level and detailed technical documentation for both internal stakeholders and DOD representatives.
• Support proposal preparation and responses to government RFPs, including presenting technical solutions to Defense entities.
• Support the Product Line Management Director and Capture Team to conduct competitive analysis, determine discriminators and product gaps.
• Help develop a Price to Win strategy for various markets.
• Monitor technological advancements in 5G, network virtualization, and their military applications, recommending future evolutions as required.

Qualifications

• U.S. Citizenship required. - Applicants selected may be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information.
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or related technical discipline- MS preferred.
• Minimum 8 years of experience in telecom solutions architecture, with proven expertise in 5G RAN/ Core and edge compute; including significant hands on experience designing and deploying tactical/ OTM private 5G networks.
• Good understanding of the Radio propagation in low and high 4G/5G Bands, including effects of RF challenged environments.
• Background in adapting commercial or government telecom solutions for Defense or mission-critical applications.
• Strong understanding of 3GPP, ETSI standards, as well as virtualization (NFV/SDN) and cloud technologies (OpenStack, Kubernetes, etc.).
• Experience working with U.S. DOD or NATO frameworks is highly valued.
• Excellent analytical, synthesis, and technical writing skills.
• Strong interpersonal and leadership abilities; capable of interfacing with both technical teams and government customers.
• Ability to travel up to 30% (mostly domestic with some international travel).

Additional Preferred Skills

• Experience in cybersecurity, particularly in securing telecom systems for defense use.
• Knowledge of military communications standards, security requirements, and validation processes (e.g., DoDIN APL, DIACAP/RMF, FIPS 140-2).
• Knowledge of classified environments and ITAR/EAR compliance.
• Experience with network modeling tools (UML, SysML) and architecture frameworks such as DODAF.
• French language skills appreciated but not required.

The annualized pay range for this role is $150,300-$192,050 USD along with a target incentive compensation plan (ICP) of 10%. The pay range provided is a good faith estimate representative of the experience level for the role described above. TDSI considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the role, function and associated responsibilities, a candidate’s work experience, location, education/training, and key skills.

Thales Defense & Security, Inc. is committed to non-discrimination as applicable under federal, state and local laws. We are an E-Verify Employer.

If you need an accommodation or assistance in order to apply for a position with Thales Defense & Security, Inc., please call Human Resources at 202-961-1016.

Nearest Major Market:

Washington DC