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Forterra

Autonomous driving system for retrofitted vehicles

Product Marketing Manager

Full-TimeUpdated on 10/21/2026
$130k - $170k
Mid, Senior
Arlington County, Arlington, VA, USA
In Person
Growth & MarketingProduct Marketing

About the job

Requirements
  • Four to six years of experience in product marketing, ideally within defense technology, robotics, autonomy, or another deeply technical business-to-business domain.
  • Ability to distill complex technical systems into clear, compelling messaging for non-engineering audiences.
  • Experience planning and executing product launches.
  • Strong writing skills across formats, from messaging frameworks to sales collateral.
  • Ability to work cross-functionally with product, engineering, and marketing teams.
Responsibilities
  • Own product positioning across the four pillars of the Autonomous Mission Systems portfolio, ensuring each offering is clearly differentiated and the full-stack story is coherent.
  • Lead product launch planning and execution, coordinating with brand, communications, and growth on timing, content, and channels.
  • Develop core product content, including one-pagers, capability briefs, messaging frameworks, and demo narratives.
  • Equip growth and business development teams with positioning, proof points, and competitive context to win programs.
  • Maintain customer and competitive intelligence on the defense autonomy landscape to inform positioning and product strategy.
  • Partner with engineering teams to turn technical milestones and roadmap developments into market-facing proof points.
  • Support events, demos, and campaigns with product messaging and subject-matter input.
Desired Qualifications
  • Familiarity with defense customer dynamics, including program offices, acquisition pathways, and mission priorities.
  • Experience building sales enablement programs from scratch.
  • Background marketing hardware/software integrated systems or platform portfolios.
  • Comfort operating in fast-moving environments where priorities evolve and speed matters.

About the company

Forterra provides autonomous vehicle technology for defense and industrial sectors. Its AutoDrive® installs as a retrofit kit that adds sensors, computing, and software to existing ground vehicles, enabling unmanned operation in challenging environments. It differentiates itself by upgrading current fleets rather than buying new vehicles and by serving both military and industrial markets. The goal is to deploy and scale AutoDrive® across applications to improve efficiency and safety, backed by its Series B funding.

Company Size

501-1,000

Company Stage

Debt Financing

Total Funding

$635M

Headquarters

Clarksburg, Maryland

Founded

2002

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Forterra disclosed 105 Lancers deployed to Ukraine on July 7, 2026, accelerating credibility.
  • Forterra won a prime role on Army engineer autonomous breaching in July 2026.
  • MESA launched April 28, 2026, broadening Forterra from logistics into CASEVAC and force protection.

What critics are saying

  • Ukraine use still relies on teleoperation, exposing autonomy gaps against enemy threats today.
  • Army UxS evaluations paused in April 2026, delaying a key validation milestone.
  • Oshkosh, Polaris, and others can outscale Forterra if procurement shifts away from bespoke autonomy.

What makes Forterra unique

  • Forterra integrated AutoDrive with Polaris on MESA, not aftermarket retrofits, in April 2026.
  • Forterra paired AutoDrive with Vektor and goTenna for contested, disconnected tactical networking.
  • Forterra proved combat deployment credibility with 105 Lancers across 1,100 Ukraine missions.

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Benefits

  • Health Insurance
  • Life Insurance
  • Disability Insurance
  • Unlimited Paid Time Off
  • Paid Vacation
  • Parental Leave
  • Professional Development Budget
  • 401(k) Retirement Plan
  • 401(k) Company Match
  • Paid Holidays
  • Hybrid Work Options

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

5%

1 year growth

2%

2 year growth

-1%
Yahoo Finance
Oct 12th, 2026
Forterra launches OneLink, an open platform to unify autonomous military systems

Forterra, a maker of autonomous mission systems, has launched OASIS-OneLink, an open platform that brings autonomous vehicles and mission tools into a single operator interface. The company announced the product on October 12, 2026. Each new autonomous system often arrives with its own dashboard and workflow, which adds another layer for users to manage. OneLink works alongside existing command and control tools instead of replacing them, and it does not lock mission data behind a pay-to-play application. Built on Forterra's integration framework, OASIS-Fabric, the platform lets users combine and swap platforms, payloads, and applications from different vendors, even mid-mission, without custom engineering. Its desktop applications also work offline, preserving mission information where connectivity is poor. OneLink is already integrating unmanned systems for the US Army's Joint Readiness Training Center.

Yahoo Finance
Oct 12th, 2026
Forterra named systems integration partner for US Army's JRTC unmanned systems programme

Forterra, a maker of autonomous mission systems, has been selected as Systems Integration Partner for unmanned systems under Project LAUNCH Box at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) in Fort Polk, Louisiana. It announced the news on October 12, 2026. Forterra will manage and integrate unmanned systems for Geronimo, the resident opposing force that fights every rotational brigade. It will source Army-prioritized systems from multiple vendors and link them through a common network architecture and unified data layer. Forterra will also train and sustain Geronimo to fight with these systems. Each rotation will produce data on how the systems perform, which Forterra will turn into recommendations on Army requirements and purchasing. JRTC is the first Combat Training Center to use this model.

TechCrunch
Jul 7th, 2026
US autonomous ground vehicles see combat in Ukraine after 9-month deployment

Forterra has deployed over 100 autonomous ATVs in Ukraine for the past nine months, marking what the company believes is the largest deployment of autonomous ground vehicles in combat by a US defence tech company. The gas-powered Lancer vehicles, based on Polaris ATVs, can carry 750 kilograms of cargo and have driven more than 2,500 miles across 1,100 missions, completing 52 casualty evacuations. Ukrainian forces primarily teleoperate the vehicles rather than using full autonomy, as the technology cannot yet identify and respond to enemy threats independently. Forterra, which has raised over $500 million from investors including XYZ Venture Capital and Moore Strategic Partners, is working to combine traditional autonomous vehicle algorithms with generative AI. Ukrainian soldiers have requested cheaper versions to account for battlefield attrition whilst maintaining deployment flexibility.

Yahoo Finance
Apr 28th, 2026
Forterra unveils MESA autonomous vehicle for last-mile battlefield operations

Forterra has unveiled MESA, a modular autonomous vehicle platform designed for last-tactical-mile operations. Built on a factory-modified Polaris Ranger XD 1500, the vehicle integrates Forterra's AutoDrive® and Vektor mission modules to deliver mobility, computing, communications and sensing capabilities. The MESA platform features a flat deck design with 2,000 pounds of payload capacity, enabling rapid reconfiguration for mission-specific requirements. The system provides autonomous navigation in GPS-denied environments whilst maintaining secure connectivity across distributed forces. Forterra's autonomy technology has been proven in real-world operations including the USMC ROGUE Fires programme and various SOCOM initiatives. The vehicle is manufactured directly with Polaris, with modifications executed alongside the original equipment manufacturer to ensure platform integration without aftermarket chassis changes.

GlobeNewswire
Nov 12th, 2025
Forterra Closes $238 Million Series C, Cementing Leadership in Autonomy and Interoperable Systems

Washington, D.C., Nov. 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Forterra, the company redefining autonomy and mission system interoperability for defense and...