Senior Program Manager, Defense

Sphere Defense; Brussel Hoofdstad; On-site; EUR 100,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock Options Plan

Mobility Budget

32 days of holidays

Meal vouchers

Private Health insurance

Job summary

Sphere Defense is a Brussels-based technology startup seeking an experienced Program Manager to lead multinational defense programs involving government, academia and industry partners. You will coordinate participation, manage stakeholders, and build long-term proposals and budgets while driving realistic schedules with engineering teams.

You will travel for on-site meetings across Europe, draft and own program documentation, and mentor the team to ensure timely delivery with high quality.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Engineering, Economics, or equivalent.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating multinational defense program with the involvement of prime defense contractors, governmental and academic institutions.
• Good understanding of missile systems.
• Solid understanding of RFx and tender processes of governmental procurement organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to produce high-quality, customer-facing proposals and documentation.
• Attention to detail while maintaining the bigger picture.
• Experience with planning, budgeting, resource allocation and scheduling, and with PM tools such as Microsoft Project, Wrike and Jira.
• Excellent interpersonal communication in English; French, Dutch, Italian or German is a plus.
• Self-starter, able to work in high-ambiguity environment and take on new challenges.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate Sphere Defense participation to multi-national defence programs.
• Manage stakeholders such as industry partners, NATO, national MODs, academic institutions, etc.
• Build realistic, long term proposals, including budgets.
• Build timelines and schedules and update them based on actual results.
• Ensure that internal and external activities are carried out on-time, with the right quality level.
• Be hands-on and participate in test campaigns, working closely with engineering teams when needed.
• Travel to onsite meetings and test campaigns, in Europe and abroad, depending on program needs.
• Draft, review and take ownership of program documentation.
• Be a team player and a mentor, supporting and growing the team when needed.

Skills

Stakeholder management

English fluency

Budgeting & scheduling

Team leadership

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Engineering, Economics, or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Project

Wrike

Jira

Job description

Who we are

Sphere Defense is a fully funded technology startup with the mission of providing allied countries with sovereign, effective and seamless autonomous countermeasures to neutralize todays’ and tomorrow’s aerial threats.

Sphere Defense was founded by industry veterans with previous successful exits, and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, in the heart of Europe.

About you

You are an experienced and highly-motivated Program Manager that has demonstrated experience managing multinational defence programs, with a mix of governmental, academic and industry stakeholders.

What you’ll do

• Coordinate Sphere Defense participation to multi-national defence programs.
• Manage stakeholders such as industry partners, NATO, national MODs, academic institutions, etc.
• Build realistic, long term proposals, including budgets
• Build timelines and schedules and update them based on actual results
• Ensure that internal and external activities are carried out on-time, with the right quality level
• Be hands-on and participate to test campaigns, working close to the engineering teams when needed
• Travel to onsite meetings and test campaigns, in Europe and abroad, depending on program needs
• Draft, review and take ownership of program documentation
• Be a team player and a mentor, being available to support and grow the team when needed

Location: Onsite in Brussels, Belgium

Reports to: Chief Technology Officer

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Engineering, Economics, or equivalent
• Demonstrated experience coordinating multinational defense program with the involvement of prime defense contractors, governmental and academic institutions.
• Good understanding of missile systems
• Solid understanding of RFx and tender processes of governmental procurement organizations
• Demonstrated ability to produce high-quality, customer-facing proposals and documentation
• Obsessive attention to detail when needed, without losing track of the bigger picture
• Experience with planning, budgeting, resource allocation and scheduling, and with project management tools such as Microsoft Project, Wrike and Jira
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills in written and spoken English; French, Dutch, Italian or German is a plus
• You are a self-starter, able to work in a high-ambiguity environment and willing to take up new challenges

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with drones (quadcopters, VTOL) or precision-guided munitions

What we offer

• Attractive compensation
• Year-end bonus eligibility
• Stock Options Plan
• Mobility Budget
• 32 days of holidays
• Meal vouchers
• Private Health insurance

We are building a core team of hard-working people. If you want to join a company with tremendous impact and you are autonomous, creative and driven, we want to hear from you!

Sphere Defense offers attractive compensation, stock options, and a unique opportunity to change the global defense landscape.

This role is only open to candidates with right to work in Belgium. We cannot provide visa sponsorship at this time.