Technical Project Manager

🚀 TECHNICAL PROJECT MANAGER With pan-European defence R&D programs underway and strategic government partnerships expanding, we’re looking for a world-class Technical Project Manager to own execution at the highest level. This role is for you if you love orchestrating complex technical delivery, thrive in high-accountability environments, and can represent SE3 confidently in customer/partner project meetings: with precision, clarity, and calm. ABOUT SE3 SE3 Labs is building Spatial AI by combining 3D computer vision with large language models to give drones the ability to understand and act in the physical world. This capability unlocks the next generation of autonomous flight, transforming how drones operate across construction, infrastructure inspection, and defence. Now we are bringing Spatial AI into the sky through high-performance UAVs that can perceive, decide, and fly on their own. YOUR MISSION You are the owner for delivery across multiple stakeholders: internal engineering teams, external partners, and public-sector customers. You ensure projects land on time, within scope, within budget, and with the quality and documentation expected in European defence projects. You don’t “report status.” You drive outcomes. Own end-to-end delivery (single-threaded owner) - Drive European defence R&D projects from kickoff to final acceptance: scope, milestones, budget, quality. - Ensure deliverables land on time by actively managing dependencies, critical path, and ownership across teams/partners. Run execution with precision (the project “operating system”) - Establish cadence + artifacts that make delivery predictable: project plan, decision log, change control. - Turn meetings into outcomes: agendas/pre-reads, clear decisions, action items with owners and dates, rigorous follow-through. Lead customer & consortium communication (customer-facing authority) - Represent SE3 in customer/partner/consortium meetings with calm, credible technical communication. - Surface risks early and manage expectations with options + trade-offs - no surprises, no vague status. Orchestrate internal execution across engineering - Align engineering/product/ops/leadership to deliver integrated HW/SW/autonomy milestones. - Unblock teams by driving decisions fast, escalating early, and removing ambiguity before it becomes delay. Operational Scaling - Design repeatable governance frameworks so SE3 can run multiple concurrent European projects with consistency and speed. - Improve templates, playbooks, and tooling that raise the execution bar across the company. YOUR PROFILE - 3+ years full-time professional experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives in a fast-paced environment (consulting strongly preferred, especially technical/defence-related). - Proven track record running execution with high standards (planning, cadence, risk management, accountability). - Technical background (Industrial Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, or other MINT discipline) with the ability to engage credibly with engineers and customers. - Fluent German (native-level) and strong English (written + spoken). - Strong ownership mentality: you don’t wait for permission to solve problems that block delivery. - Experience with defence/public-sector programs, EU grants, consortium structures, or regulated/mission-critical domains. - Excellent written documentation skills (minutes, deliverable structure, decision records). WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE (FIRST MONTHS) - Stakeholders feel: “SE3 is always prepared, always clear, always reliable.” - Projects have an execution rhythm, clean artifacts, transparent risks, and fast decision cycles. - Engineering teams are protected from chaos and can focus on building while you ensure commitments are met. THIS ROLE IS NOT A FIT IF… - You prefer strategy without execution ownership. - You don’t enjoy recurring stakeholder management and customer-facing meetings. - You see project management primarily as “status...