Salary Range: $145,000–$160,000  

Location: Remote, USA

About the Opportunity 

As a Senior Product Marketing Manager, you’ll build the product marketing foundation that enables Palladyne AI to compete and win in the defense and defense tech markets. You’ll own core product marketing disciplines, including competitive analysis, buyer’s journey mapping, product positioning, and product messaging, while collaborating with our Marketing Communications team on audience-specific content and campaigns. 

We are prioritizing candidates with strong product marketing fundamentals who have experience marketing complex technical products. Defense or defense-adjacent experience is a strong differentiator but not a hard requirement. We will consider strong product marketers from adjacent technical B2B or B2G backgrounds who can quickly build credibility in the defense environment. 

You'll thrive in this role if you enjoy translating complex technologies into compelling market stories, collaborating across technical and commercial teams, and balancing strategic thinking with hands-on execution. You're energized by building marketing from the ground up, comfortable wearing multiple hats, and motivated by seeing your work directly influence customer engagement and business outcomes. 

Palladyne AI (NASDAQ: PDYN) is a U.S.-based defense and industrial technology company that delivers embodied AI-powered collaborative autonomy solutions, advanced avionics, precision-manufactured components, UAVs, and advanced aerospace design services.

What You'll Do 

Defense Product Marketing 

• Develop positioning, messaging, and value propositions for defense products and programs. 
• Own competitive analysis and market landscape research: track competitors, map the defense technology landscape, and translate findings into actionable competitive positioning and battle cards. 
• Develop and maintain the defense buyer’s journey: map key acquisition personas, their priorities, and decision criteria, and ensure marketing programs address each stage. 
• Build and maintain product positioning and messaging frameworks for each product in the defense portfolio, serving as the strategic foundation for all downstream content and campaigns. 
• Translate customer, partner, and field insights into messaging frameworks, marketing briefs, and go-to-market assets. 
• Partner with Marketing Communications to provide messaging and positioning input for content, collateral, product launch materials, and campaign assets; Marketing Communications owns execution. 

Partner Marketing 

• Support partner marketing programs for defense and commercial technology partners. 
• Develop and execute joint marketing plans that align partner objectives with Palladyne AI's business goals. 
• Coordinate partner marketing initiatives across trade shows, digital marketing, collateral, customer engagements, and industry events. 
• Support marketing initiatives for defense partnerships, including adapting messaging for U.S. audiences and coordinating event participation. 

Sales Enablement 

• Create battle cards, one-pagers, presentations, customer briefs, and other sales enablement tools. 
• Collaborate closely with Business Development to understand customer needs and develop marketing resources that support field success. 
• Partner with Engineering, Business Development, Program Management, and Marketing Communications to execute successful go-to-market initiatives. 
• Manage multiple priorities while maintaining a high standard of quality and execution. 

What Makes Someone Successful Here 

• You have strong product marketing fundamentals and know how to build competitive intelligence, buyer’s journey maps, positioning frameworks, and messaging architectures from scratch. 
• You understand or can quickly learn the defense customer buying environment, including how defense customers evaluate new technology, the role of program offices, and mission-focused messaging.   
• You have strong marketing fundamentals and know how to turn market, customer, product, and competitive insights into clear positioning, messaging, and go-to-market materials. 
• You can quickly understand complex technical products and communicate their value to diverse audiences. 
• You build trusted relationships across internal teams and external partners. 
• You're comfortable working independently and executing in a lean, fast-moving organization under direction from senior marketing leadership. 
• You combine strategic thinking with a willingness to personally develop high-quality marketing deliverables. 
• You adapt quickly to changing priorities while maintaining attention to detail and execution excellence. 
• You demonstrate the ability to quickly build credibility in a new technical or regulated domain, even without prior defense-specific experience. 

• 5-8 years of product marketing experience for complex technical products, with a demonstrated track record of building competitive intelligence, positioning frameworks, buyer’s journey maps, and product messaging architectures.  
• Familiarity with the U.S. defense market is strongly preferred. Candidates from adjacent technical B2B or B2G markets who can demonstrate and ability to quickly build defense market credibility will be considered.  
• Demonstrated marketing experience supporting complex technical products or solutions, with experience in areas such as positioning and messaging, competitive intelligence, sales enablement, content, campaigns, partner marketing, or go-to-market programs. 
• Strong written, verbal, presentation, project management, and organizational skills. 
• Experience collaborating cross-functionally with Engineering, Business Development, and Marketing Communications teams. 
• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, Business, Communications, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Direct experience with competitive analysis, market landscape research, and buyer persona development in a defense or defense-adjacent technology environment.  
• Experience marketing autonomous systems, AI, robotics, UAS, aerospace technologies, or advanced defense technologies is a strong differentiator.  
• Experience supporting defense tradeshows, product launches, demonstrations, and industry events. 
• Experience developing or supporting co-marketing programs or joint go-to-market initiatives with technology partners. 

Location

Remote within the United States with regular travel for customer meetings, partner engagements, and industry events.

Benefits & Perks

• $145,000 - $160,000 annual salary
• 401(k) with company match
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Paid time off and company holidays

Work Authorization & Clearance

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States. The Company does may not provide visa sponsorship for this position, now or in the future. Depending on the nature of the work, the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance may be required. Candidates may be asked to provide additional information relevant to clearance eligibility in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

The Fine Print

No third-party candidates will be accepted. Palladyne AI is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace and do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.