Project Manager C5ISR

BSS Holland B.V.; Netherlands; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Leadership Team access

Direct collaboration with Partners

Mission-relevant projects

Job summary

BSS Holland is recruiting a Project Manager C5ISR in the Netherlands to lead complex, multidisciplinary technical projects. You will steer business and operational context, coordinating engineers, partners and customers to deliver field-ready solutions.

You bring proven project management experience in defense or security environments, NATO citizenship, and fluency in Dutch and English. Willingness to travel and work on-site is required.

Qualifications

• Proven project management experience in a technical, high-tech, defense, security, industrial or similarly complex environment.
• NATO citizenship is mandatory for the role.
• Professional command of Dutch and English in operations and communication.
• Willingness and ability to undergo screening with valid Certificate of Conduct (VOG) and security clearance (VGB).
• Ability to travel and work on-site with customers and suppliers in the Netherlands and abroad.

Responsibilities

• Create and maintain realistic project plans, milestones, dependencies, capacity needs and delivery priorities.
• Bring clarity and momentum to multidisciplinary teams while leaving room for technical expertise, initiative and pragmatic problem-solving.
• Steer technical and operational discussions, translate between specialists and stakeholders, and bring in the right people before issues become blockers.
• Coordinate suppliers, logistics, expediting, inspections and acceptance activities to keep materials, components and deliverables moving.
• Monitor progress, risks, decisions, quality and compliance, including military, customer and security requirements.
• Provide project calculations and forecasts, safeguard approved budgets, and give timely visibility of financial impact and delivery trade-offs.
• Detect scope changes early and ensure explicit ownership, decisions and commercial follow-up.
• Maintain clear, credible communication with customers, end users, partners, suppliers and internal stakeholders.
• Work on-site with customers and suppliers in the Netherlands and abroad when required.
• Help improve project governance, reporting, and lessons learned as BSS scales.

Skills

Project management

Security clearance

Dutch language

English language

Travel willingness

Job description

Turn complex technology into operational capability. At BSS Holland, you will lead multidisciplinary projects in a domain where technology, operations, security and human collaboration come together. You bring structure without slowing the team down, connect specialists and decisionmakers, and help turn evolving customer needs into solutions that work in the field.

About BSS Holland

BSS Holland helps defense, public safety and security organizations improve situational awareness, decision making and operational effectiveness. We work across the C5ISR domain, combining command and control, communications, computing, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance with sensor integration and manned, unmanned and remotely operated systems. We are evolving from a start-up into a scale-up. That means you will find short lines, direct communication, personal responsibility and plenty of room to improve how we work. At the same time, our customers operate in professional, security-sensitive environments where reliability, discretion and mission focus matter. You should feel comfortable in both worlds.

Your role

As Project Manager C5ISR, you take ownership of the day-to-day direction and control of complex technical projects. You do not need to be the deepest technical specialist in every discipline. You do need to understand the business and operational context, steer technical discussions, recognize what is at stake, and involve the right expertise at the right moment. You will be part of the Leadership Team that oversees day-to-day operations and will report directly to one of the Managing Partners. You will work closely with the Managing Partners, fellow Project Managers, Team Leads, engineers, suppliers, partners and customers.

What you will do

• Create and maintain realistic project plans, milestones, dependencies, capacity needs and delivery priorities.
• Bring clarity and momentum to multidisciplinary teams while leaving room for technical expertise, initiative and pragmatic problem-solving.
• Steer technical and operational discussions, translate between specialists and stakeholders, and bring in the right people before issues become blockers.
• Coordinate suppliers, logistics, expediting, inspections and acceptance activities to keep materials, components and deliverables moving.
• Monitor progress, risks, decisions, quality and compliance, including relevant military, customer and security requirements.
• Provide project calculations and forecasts, safeguard approved budgets, and give timely visibility of financial impact and delivery trade-offs.
• Detect scope changes early. Treat changing needs as a potential opportunity, while ensuring that impact, ownership, decisions and commercial follow-up are made explicit.
• Maintain clear, credible communication with customers, end users, partners, suppliers and internal stakeholders, including when the message is difficult.
• Work at customer and supplier locations in the Netherlands and abroad when the project requires it.
• Help improve our project governance, reporting, lessons learned and ways of working as BSS continues to scale.

What makes you successful here

• We are looking for an experienced Project Manager with a proven track record in a technical or operational environment. Formal certificates and a perfectly matching CV are less important than sound judgement, ownership and the ability to earn trust in a demanding ecosystem.
• You create structure in complexity and keep sight of the mission, the customer and the people doing the work.
• You are hands-on, entrepreneurial and comfortable making progress when not every answer is known yet.
• You communicate directly and respectfully, listen well, and adapt naturally to both an informal scale-up team and the culture of defense and security customers.
• You are curious and learn continuously. C5ISR evolves quickly, so you actively build your understanding of new technologies, concepts, suppliers and operational needs.
• You can challenge assumptions, facilitate decisions and address risks or scope drift early without becoming bureaucratic.
• You understand enough technology to ask the right questions and enough business to balance scope, time, quality, resources and budget.
• You remain dependable under pressure, handle sensitive information with care and follow through on commitments.
• You are willing to travel and to work on-site with customers and suppliers when needed.

Essential requirements

• Proven project management experience in a technical, high-tech, defense, security, industrial or similarly complex environment.
• NATO citizenship. This is mandatory for the role because of the projects and information involved.
• Professional command of Dutch and English. Dutch does not need to be your first language, but you must be able to operate confidently in Dutch-speaking teams and customer environments.
• Willingness and ability to undergo thorough screening. A valid Certificate of Conduct (VOG) and security clearance (VGB) are mandatory for this position.
• Ability to work from our location in ’t Harde and at customer or supplier sites, combined with travel abroad when required.

Useful, but not a checklist

Experience with C5ISR, defense acquisition, systems integration, unmanned systems, secure communications, multi-vendor delivery, quality assurance or military standards is valuable. However, we do not expect one person to have done everything. If you bring a strong track record, the right mindset and the ability to learn quickly, we would like to hear from you.Not ready for this level yet, but strongly interested in our domain? We are still open to making contact for future opportunities.

What we offer

• A visible role with real influence on projects, customers and the continued development of BSS Holland.
• A seat in the Leadership Team and direct collaboration with Managing Partners, Project Managers and Team Leads.
• Work on advanced, mission-relevant solutions in a fast-moving C5ISR environment.