Senior Technical Programme Manager

Help Build Europe's Hypersonic Capability
 
At Hypersonica, we’re redefining what’s possible in European defence technology. We exist to deliver speed, resilience, and technological independence at a pace that sets a new standard. We are a small, elite team working on problems that matter, and solving them fast.
 
By joining Hypersonica, you’re not stepping into a predefined role. You’re joining a talent dense environment where every individual shapes the direction of the company. Our philosophy is to hire a small number of exceptional people with broad, deep technical capability, strong judgement, and the ability to operate autonomously.
 
We hire for talent, not rigid boxes. This role represents a business need, but the way it evolves will be shaped by the individual. If you’ve achieved what others said was impossible, or you bring a unique combination of skills that doesn’t fit a traditional mould, we want to hear from you. The work you do here directly contributes to Europe’s technological independence.

What you'll do

- Build and maintain sufficient understanding of the underlying technology to challenge constructively, identify delivery implications, and represent technical status accurately. The role is not expected to act as the technical authority.

- Translate customer requirements, contractual obligations, and engineering inputs into clear delivery plans, milestones, priorities, and actionable work packages.

- Own the day-to-day delivery of defence programmes or significant technical workstreams, ensuring agreed scope, schedule, quality, and delivery objectives are achieved.

- Work closely with engineering teams to understand the technical scope, maturity, progress, risks, and constraints of underlying engineering activity.

- Coordinate cross-functional delivery across engineering, operations, quality, commercial, and external suppliers.

- Prepare clear, concise programme materials, including status reports, decision papers, review packs, and customer updates, that support timely, high-quality decisions.

- Support and coordinate technical reviews, technical discussions, and reporting; ensure actions, decisions, and technical dependencies are captured and closed.

- Work directly with customers, partners, and internal stakeholders in delivery meetings, programme reviews, and technical discussions.

- Manage day-to-day relationships with technical partners and subcontractors, coordinating deliverables, resolving technical queries, and holding suppliers to agreed schedule and quality expectations.

- Ensure applicable safety, quality, assurance, and regulatory frameworks are understood and appropriately integrated into programme delivery. Work with relevant technical and assurance authorities to ensure compliance requirements, verification activities, and evidence needs are planned and tracked.

Who you are

- At least 5 years’ experience in programme or project delivery within aerospace, defence, engineering, deep-tech, or another high-consequence technical environment.

- A degree or comparable professional background in engineering, physics, materials science, systems engineering, or a closely related technical discipline.

- Demonstrable experience working between technical detail and programme execution, converting analysis into practical delivery action.

- Experience coordinating cross-functional teams and managing multiple priorities in a fast-moving environment

- Exposure to customer-facing delivery, programme reviews, supplier management, or subcontractor coordination.

- Experience with planning, risk management, dependency management, change control, and delivery reporting.

- Fluent English, with confidence operating in bilingual and cross-cultural settings. German is not a requirement, but is preferred.

What we offer

- A mission-driven environment with the opportunity to work on one of Europe’s most consequential defence challenges, with direct impact on sovereign capability and security.

- Daily collaboration with top experts across engineering, operations, defence, and business functions, with real opportunity to learn from the best, contribute, and grow.

- High ownership and autonomy; no micromanagement, just clear objectives and accountability for outcomes.

- A fast-paced environment where good ideas are implemented quickly and broken processes are fixed rather than tolerated.

- A culture that values clarity, integrity, excellence, and direct feedback.

- Competitive compensation and real share options aligned to responsibility and impact, not tenure or hierarchy.

At Hypersonica, every hire raises the bar. We are deliberately small, intensely capable, and deeply mission-driven. If this role feels like a strong fit, or if you believe you bring something exceptional that goes beyond the description, we encourage you to apply.
 
Hypersonica is an equal-opportunity employer and assesses candidates solely on merit, capability, and potential.
 
You can apply directly to this role or reach out to Nathan Sweeney, Head of Talent. We review every application and aim to respond to all candidates within two weeks, whether the answer is yes or no.