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Research and Development Program Manager
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R&D Programme Manager
Leeds | £60,000 - £90,000 | Deep Tech / Aerospace
Our client is an ambitious British aviation technology company entering a major new phase of growth.
The company has embarked on a significant multi-year R&D programme focused on developing a new generation of unmanned aircraft capable of operating at high altitudes.
To deliver it, they are assembling an exceptional engineering team.
Experienced leaders have already joined from some of the UK’s most significant aerospace programmes, with further hires planned across flight software, controls, electronics, autonomy, and systems engineering.
They now need someone to make sure all of those moving parts come together.
The company is looking for a Programme Manager to take ownership of the delivery of this major R&D programme, working across engineering, operations, external stakeholders, and the leadership team.
The Programme Manager will sit at the centre of one of the company’s most important engineering programmes, helping translate ambitious technical objectives into something that can actually be delivered.
They will work closely with senior engineers and company leadership, maintaining visibility across the programme, identifying risks and dependencies, challenging where necessary, and ensuring everyone remains focused on the milestones that matter.
A major part of the role will also involve managing the relationship between the programme and its external stakeholders.
That means understanding not only whether something has been delivered, but why it matters, what has been learned, and how progress should be communicated.
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The core objective is simple: make sure a highly ambitious aerospace R&D programme delivers.
Responsibilities will include:
- Programme ownership: Building and maintaining the overall programme plan, translating major technical objectives into clear milestones, workstreams, and deliverables.
- Engineering coordination: Working closely with engineering leadership and technical teams to understand progress, priorities, dependencies, and potential blockers.
- Milestone delivery: Keeping the programme moving against demanding timelines and ensuring problems are identified early enough to do something about them.
- Risk management: Maintaining visibility across technical, operational, commercial, and delivery risks, ensuring appropriate mitigation plans are developed and followed.
- Budget and resource coordination: Helping ensure people, suppliers, and resources are aligned with programme priorities and that delivery remains within agreed budgets.
- Stakeholder management: Acting as a key point of coordination between the company, programme stakeholders, and other external organisations involved in delivery.
- Reporting: Taking ownership of detailed programme reporting, bringing together information from across the organisation and clearly communicating progress, challenges, outcomes, and impact.
- Cross-functional leadership: Working across engineering, flight operations, regulatory, commercial, and leadership teams to make sure individual workstreams contribute towards the wider programme objectives.
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The company is particularly interested in people who have delivered complex engineering, aerospace, or R&D projects and programmes.
Previous aviation, aerospace, UAS, or drone experience would be particularly valuable, but it is not essential.
Experience within another highly technical or regulated engineering environment could also translate well. More important is the ability to understand complex technical work, communicate effectively with engineers, and provide enough structure and challenge to keep an ambitious programme moving.
Experience delivering government-funded, research-funded, or externally sponsored R&D programmes would be a significant advantage, particularly where this has involved formal milestones and detailed stakeholder reporting.
This could suit an established Project Manager looking to step up into broader programme ownership, or a Programme Manager who wants considerably more influence and exposure than they would typically receive within a large organisation.
The successful person will join a small, highly technical company where they will work directly with experienced aerospace leaders and have genuine influence over how an ambitious new aircraft platform is developed.
As the company and programme grow, there is significant scope for the role to grow with them.
If you want to manage an engineering programme where the outcome is a real aircraft rather than another internal transformation project, we’d like to hear from you.
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