Executive Project Manager (all genders)

About Us:
STARK is at the forefront of defense technology, developing autonomous, software-defined, and mass-scalable systems for air, land, and sea. Our software platform serves as the central cognitive core, integrating autonomy, navigation, targeting, sensing, mission control, and ground-station UI.

Our software program comprises several teams around R&D on both Command&Control (C2) and Autonomy functions as well as Delivery and Operations capabilities. Every unmanned system in the STARK portfolio relies on this single, rapidly evolving, reliable, and intelligent software program. Our teams are distributed across several locations in Europe and Ukraine.

To maintain this critical velocity while ensuring clarity, and to support the VP Software in scaling the organization, we are seeking an Executive Project Manager.

Your mission:
This is a high-trust, high-visibility, and high-impact role. You will be the operational and strategic engine that ensures the software program remains aligned, high-performing, and capable of executing against multiple high-stakes projects simultaneously.

You will fluidly navigate between strategic planning and hands-on coordination daily. Your mandate is to:

• Bring clarity to complex, ambiguous environments.

• Establish lasting relations with our critical mission partners.

• Translate deep technical complexity into clear, actionable decisions.

• Keep a rapidly growing engineering organization relentlessly focused on its most critical objectives.

We are looking for a true partner, not a process administrator. This role is for someone who:

• Thrives in chaos and operates with a calm sense of purpose.

• Loves shaping solutions for our military partners.

• Communicates crisply and persuasively across all levels.

• Keeps teams aligned and executing flawlessly when stakes are at their highest.

• Turns ambiguity into a clear, actionable direction.

Responsibilities:
1. Drive Strategic Military Partnerships

• Cultivate High-Stakes Military Relationships: Exchange with key military partners and program offices, building the trust necessary to embed Minerva software into their long-term operational frameworks.

• Establish Direct End-User Feedback Loops: Orchestrate "boots-on-the-ground" exchanges with military end-users to bridge the gap between technical requirements and tactical realities. Ensure that software iterations are driven by the lived experience of those in the field.

• Enhance Product "Sellability" & Versatility: Architect the Minerva program as a scalable, modular product rather than a bespoke solution. Identify and integrate features that increase its market appeal across diverse customer bases, from specific defense branches to broader security sectors.

• Translate Field Intelligence into Engineering Action: Synthesize complex feedback from military stakeholders into clear, actionable priorities for the software team, ensuring that "impact" is measured by mission success and user adoption.

• Lead Strategic Demonstrations & Trials: Own the strategy for high-visibility field trials and customer demos, ensuring the software doesn’t just meet specs but proves its indispensable value in real-world scenarios.

2. Scale the Minerva Product Portfolio & Organizational Capacity

• Expand the Portfolio: Design the roadmap for scaling Minerva from a single software solution into a comprehensive product portfolio, ensuring architectural and strategic coherence across new offerings.

• Evolve the 'Operating System': Structure the software team's internal processes to champion speed and autonomy, ensuring the organization can double in size without doubling in bureaucracy.

• Lead Strategic Talent Acquisition: Own the coordination of high-impact hiring initiatives, identifying and landing the "force-multiplier" talent needed to scale the software organization.

• Data-Driven Growth: Implement lightweight but robust reporting frameworks and dashboards that provide clear visibility into team health and portfolio performance.

3. Be the VP Software’s Strategic Partner

• Strategic Decision Support: Prepare executive-ready decision briefs, risk assessments, and technical summaries that allow the VP to make high-velocity, high-stakes decisions with confidence.

• Operational Gatekeeping: Serve as the primary filter for the VP Software, managing incoming demands and ensuring their focus remains exclusively on high-leverage functions.

• Executive Proxy: Represent the VP and the Minerva program’s interests in high-level steering committees, cross-functional working groups, and crucial external partner meetings.

• Execute High-Impact Initiatives: Take full ownership of "special projects"—those complex, company-wide strategic initiatives that don’t fit neatly into a single bucket but are critical to the program’s success.

Qualifications:
Experience

• 4+ years of progressive experience in program/project management, product leadership, operations, consulting, or similar roles, ideally within complex, fast-paced engineering environments.

• Experience in both software-first settings and coordinating cross-functional engineering teams is a significant advantage.

• A background in military service and especially in the Cyber / IT domain is  a strong plus.

• Exposure to defense, robotics, or embedded systems is helpful, but proven organizational mastery and execution discipline are paramount.

Core Qualities

• Calm in Chaos: You are the source of clarity and stability when others feel confusion or pressure.

• Systemic Thinker: You understand organizational mechanics—how teams interconnect and how decisions create ripples across the business.

• Risk Sentinel: You have an uncanny ability to spot problems, dependencies, and organizational tensions well before others notice them.

• Ambiguity Navigator: You do not wait for complete instructions; you step in to define and shape them.

• Crisp Communicator: You effortlessly distill complex technical and strategic contexts into simple, compelling written and spoken communication.

• Trusted Operator: You build trust rapidly, operating with the highest levels of discretion, integrity, and a low-ego attitude.

• Owner’s Mindset: You move with urgency, take full ownership, and relentlessly follow through until the result is delivered.

• Execution Focused: Ultimately, you possess the drive and capability to simply get things done.

Tools & Mindset

• Proficient with modern tools like Jira, Confluence, and advanced planning/reporting platforms.

• Highly proactive, exceptionally structured, and fully capable of independently driving complex projects to the finish line.

• Able to partner closely with engineers, understanding their needs and matching it with needs of our military customers.

• A mature understanding of handling classified information and supporting B2G (Business-to-Government) customers.

Why STARK?

• Direct Impact: Work alongside senior engineering leaders who are shaping the future of cutting-edge autonomous defense systems.

• Trust and Responsibility: A high-trust environment offering significant responsibility and influence from Day One.

• Mission Critical: Your work directly contributes to urgent defense capabilities for NATO-aligned nations.

• Organizational Influence: A unique opportunity to define the organizational and operational backbone of a critical software platform.

• Accelerated Learning: Experience a steep learning curve and unparalleled professional growth.