Defence Programme Contract Lead

Destinus; Hengelo; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Destinus is seeking a Programme Contract Manager to align contractual commitments with live defence programmes across multiple sites. You will translate contractual scope, milestones and deliverables into executable plans, acting as the single source of truth between the Programme Manager, customers and internal functions.

This delivery-focused role requires strong English, stakeholder management, and the ability to read contracts and turn them into action, with travel as programmes require.

Qualifications

• Ability to read a contract and translate it into a delivery plan.
• Structured, organised and reliable under pressure.
• Strong written and spoken English.
• Willingness to work on-site and travel as programmes require.
• Experience in defence, aerospace or complex hardware environments preferred.

Responsibilities

• Own the contract baseline for one or more defence programmes and keep it current.
• Act as workstream lead and break obligations into executable work packages with clear owners and dates.
• Support customer interface on contract delivery and reporting.
• Lead commercial negotiations and secure terms on scope, price, schedule with cross-functional teams.
• Align internal functions around a shared view of commitments and milestones.
• Trigger change management and assess cost, schedule and delivery impact.
• Maintain milestone and payment tracking with Finance.
• Track obligations and flag risks, driving closure.
• Support programme and contract reporting for leadership and governance forums.
• Build templates and cadence to scale contract delivery.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Delivery planning

Reading contracts

English proficiency

On-site collaboration

Travel readiness

Education

Engineering degree

Tools

Earned value management

Contract management

Job description

Destinus is seeking a Programme Contract Manager to align contractual commitments with live defence programmes across multiple sites. You will translate contractual scope, milestones and deliverables into executable plans, acting as the single source of truth between the Programme Manager, customers and internal functions.

This delivery-focused role requires strong English, stakeholder management, and the ability to read contracts and turn them into action, with travel as programmes require.