Position Title: Solutions Product Manager
Location: McLean, VA, US
About Merlin Group
Merlin Group operates at the intersection of cyber innovation, national security, and technology-driven transformation. With a mission to accelerate the adoption of high-impact technologies across the U.S. public sector and regulated commercial markets, Merlin is uniquely structured around three core tenets – Invest, Enable, and Scale – each designed to address a specific stage of the technology lifecycle. Together, our affiliates – Merlin Ventures, CGC, and Merlin Cyber – form a flywheel that builds enduring capability for customers, partners, and the broader cyber ecosystem, operationalizing technological advancement into mission-ready, enterprise-grade solutions.
At Merlin, we believe our strength lies in our people. Team members are encouraged to be creative, collaborative, and nimble, pursuing paths to deliver the cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions that our customers rely on. From next-generation cyber defense to secure cloud and AI, we are united by one purpose – transforming innovation into mission impact.
The Opportunity
Merlin Labs turns partner products into validated solutions that Merlin Cyber sells to federal agencies. Merlin does not build products. We build Merlin Validated Solutions, and this role manages them the way a product manager manages a product.
You will carry a solution from first business case through release and into its lifecycle. You gather demand from sellers, partners, and customers, build the case for what Merlin should build next, write the requirements the Solution Architect designs against, coordinate the Merlin Labs engineers who build it, and manage the solution through adoption, enhancement, and eventual refresh or retirement. Solution selection is a joint decision between sales and technical leadership. You build the case they decide on, and you own the plan once they decide.
Success is measured on the number of validated solutions delivered through our sales channels. Reaching that number also means developing the channels themselves, including Labs as a Service and our delivery and support partners.
Primary Duties & Responsibilities
Solution Definition and Business Case
- Gather demand from Technical Practice Area (TPA) sellers, partner alliances, Merlin Labs, and customer conversations, and turn it into a clear view of what Merlin should build next.
- Build the business case for each candidate solution: the mission problem it solves, customer demand, competitive and market evidence, the partner products involved, build and sustainment effort, and projected influence or attached revenue.
- Bring recommendations to sales and technical leadership for the build decision, with the tradeoffs and a position you are prepared to defend.
- Define the solution before design begins: scope, target customer, mission use cases, success criteria, and exclusions.
- Write design requirements Solution Architects and Labs engineers can build from, covering integrations, data flows, use cases, and expected outcomes.
Delivery Coordination
- Coordinate Labs engineering resources for solution build out. Run each solution as a project: scope, schedule, dependencies, resources, and risk. Hold the sprint cadence and keep several solutions moving through the pipeline.
- Run the gates from kickoff through design review, validation, and release. Make decisions on schedule and prioritization, clear blockers, and work closely with partner product teams.
- Track and report status: milestones, dependencies, risks, and issues. Keep sales, partners, and leadership current on where each solution stands.
- Own the release. Manage the launch checklist, confirm the artifacts that ship with a solution are complete, and land the handoff to sales, delivery, and support.
Solution Lifecycle Management
- Manage each released solution through its full lifecycle. Track adoption, deal attachment, and where solutions are winning or stalling.
- Conduct regular solution reviews, using field feedback, win and loss input, and partner roadmap changes to decide what gets refreshed, extended, or retired.
- Maintain the solution roadmap and keep it visible to sales, partners, and engineering.
- Manage version and dependency risk as partner products change, and prioritize the enhancement requests that arrive from the field and from subscribers.
Channel Strategy
- Develop the channel strategy for Merlin Validated Solutions to increase reach to our customer base.
- Own Labs as a Service as an offering: what belongs in the service catalog, how it attaches to validated solutions, how to measure user adoption, and what to include in the roadmap.
- Build the delivery and support partner motion. Enable partners to deliver Merlin solutions with consistency and reliability.
- Set pricing and packaging inputs with TPA leads and finance, including bill of materials, services attach, and subscription attach.
Go-to-Market and Cross-Functional Work
- Work in a pod with a Solution Architect, who owns design direction, and Merlin Labs engineers, who own the build. You own definition, sequence, and lifecycle.
- Partner with TPA leads and sellers on each launch: target customers, sales campaigns and pursuits.
- Work with Product Marketing and Channel/Alliances on strategy and development of customer and partner-facing collateral.
- Work with partner alliances and ISV product teams on joint roadmaps, co-sell motions, and joint positioning.
- Report solution performance to Merlin leadership, including throughput, cycle time, adoption, and revenue.
Qualifications
Required
- 8+ years in product management, technical program management, or solution management, including ownership of something that had a roadmap, a business case, and a release cadence.
- Project management experience running concurrent technical projects: schedule, dependencies, resource coordination, risk and issue management, and status reporting to stakeholders.
- A builder background. Time spent as an engineer, sales engineer, or architect before product, and enough technical depth to write requirements and hold design reviews with engineers.
- Ability to build and defend a business case: sizing demand, estimating effort, and making a recommendation leadership can act on.
- Working knowledge of the federal market, including how agencies buy, what authority to operate requires, and familiarity with standards and frameworks such as NIST SP 800-53, NIST SP 800-207, FedRAMP, FISMA, and CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model.
- Clear writing. Requirements, business cases, and launch material that others can act on.
Preferred
- Product management at a cybersecurity ISV or OEM, particularly for products sold into federal agencies.
- Experience with productized services and subscription offers, including tiering, packaging, attach, and renewal health.
- Channel experience with delivery, support, or resale partners.
- Experience working with vendor or partner product and alliance teams, including joint roadmap and co-sell conversations.
- Working knowledge of project and portfolio tools such as Jira, Smartsheet, or Azure DevOps.
- Practical use of AI tools for research, requirements drafting, and competitive analysis, plus awareness of the NIST AI Risk Management Framework.
- Relevant product management, project management, or security certification, such as PMP, Pragmatic Institute, or CISSP.
Work Environment & Location
Hybrid or remote role. Candidates near the DMV (D.C., Maryland, Virginia) are preferred due to occasional collaborative and partner sessions at our headquarters in McLean/Tysons Corner, VA. Occasional travel for partner workshops, Lab Days, and customer sessions.
Success Attributes
- Commitment to personal and professional integrity and respect for others.
- Roll-up-your-sleeves attitude and low-ego approach.
- Commitment to teamwork and professional relationship development.
- Passion for lifelong learning, growth, and development.
- Flexible and nimble; comfortable with ambiguity and rapid change.
- Strong communication and functional project management skills.
- Desire to innovate, try new things, and creatively explore novel solutions to business challenges.
- Professional and respectful approach to the diversity of thought, action, identity, and attributes.
Benefits & Perks
We want to empower and inspire employees to be and do their best. Our workdays are dynamic, collegial, and fun. Our office features multiple places to work unconstrained by typical office barriers. Our wellness package provides access to an on-site gym and includes medical, dental, and vision insurance along with options for FSA and EAP. We offer 401(k) with employer match, unlimited PTO, and a culture respectful of the reality that not everything in one’s personal life is guaranteed to happen only after hours.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, local, or international law.