went through an LM PM interview process earlier this year. took it mostly out of curiosity -- I've been at SaaS PMs for a decade and wanted to see what product management looks like in defense. sharing because the role is genuinely different and the interview reflects that.
first: 'product manager' at Lockheed Martin is not the same animal as PM at a tech startup or even a big tech company. you're not writing PRDs for consumer features or running A/B tests. you're more of a program-aligned PM. think: managing requirements from a government customer (usually a DoD program office), translating them into actionable work for engineering, tracking milestones against contractual obligations. it's closer to program management with technical flavor than product discovery.
the interview questions I got describe a time you had to translate ambiguous customer requirements into a concrete technical spec. what was your process? how have you managed competing priorities across multiple stakeholders with different levels of authority? tell me about a time a project slipped its schedule. what was your role in identifying and responding to the slip? how do you decide when a change request is in scope vs. when it warrants a contract modification? (I had to ask for clarification on this one since it's very defense-specific) describe a time you had to advocate for a technical trade-off to a non-technical executive.
that last one is probably the most 'standard PM interview' question in the batch. the others are all much more program management flavored.
comp note: the PM offer I eventually received was around $130-145k base depending on site, with annual bonus of around 6-8% target. not tech startup RSU territory, but solid benefits and job stability that SaaS doesn't offer in 2026.
clearance: same note as for engineers. PM roles often require or eventually need a clearance. factor that into your timeline.
didn't take the offer because the pace isn't what I'm used to, but the process was professional and the team was solid.