--- title: 'Senior Program Manager, Defense at Sphere Defense' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-program-manager-defense-sphere-defense-brussels-vrxe72jjwa8b' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-06' --- # Senior Program Manager, Defense at Sphere Defense - **Company:** Sphere Defense - **Location:** Brussels, Belgium - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-08-19 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-06 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/sphere-defense/41713803-0e95-4a7f-afe2-6f5b48deae6c ## Job description ## Who we are Sphere Defense is a fully funded technology startup with the mission of providing allied countries with sovereign, effective and seamless autonomous countermeasures to neutralize todays’ and tomorrow’s aerial threats. Sphere Defense was founded by industry veterans with previous successful exits, and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, in the heart of Europe. ## About you You are an experienced and highly-motivated Program Manager that has demonstrated experience managing multinational defence programs, with a mix of governmental, academic and industry stakeholders. ## What you’ll do - Coordinate Sphere Defense participation to multi-national defence programs. - Manage stakeholders such as industry partners, NATO, national MODs, academic institutions, etc. - Build realistic, long term proposals, including budgets - Build timelines and schedules and update them based on actual results - Ensure that internal and external activities are carried out on-time, with the right quality level - Be hands-on and participate to test campaigns, working close to the engineering teams when needed - Travel to onsite meetings and test campaigns, in Europe and abroad, depending on program needs - Draft, review and take ownership of program documentation - Be a team player and a mentor, being available to support and grow the team when needed Location: Onsite in Brussels, Belgium. Our office is close to Central Station. Reports to: Chief Technology Officer ## Requirements - Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Engineering, Economics, or equivalent - At least 8 years in relevant role, with increasing levels of ownership - Demonstrated experience coordinating multinational defense program with the involvement of prime defense contractors, governmental and academic institutions. - Good understanding of missile systems - Solid understanding of RFx and tender processes of governmental procurement organizations - Demonstrated ability to produce high-quality, customer-facing proposals and documentation - Obsessive attention to detail when needed, without losing track of the bigger picture - Experience with planning, budgeting, resource allocation and scheduling, and with project management tools such as Microsoft Project, Wrike and Jira - Excellent interpersonal communication skills in written and spoken English; French, Dutch, Italian or German is a plus - You are a self-starter, able to work in a high-ambiguity environment and willing to take up new challenges ## Preferred Qualifications - Experience with drones (quadcopters, VTOL) or precision-guided munitions ## What we offer - Attractive compensation - Year-end bonus - Stock Options Plan - Mobility Budget - 32 days of holidays - Meal vouchers - Private Health insurance We are building a core team of hard-working people. If you want to join a company with tremendous impact and you are autonomous, creative and driven, we want to hear from you! Sphere Defense offers attractive compensation, stock options, and a unique opportunity to change the global defense landscape. This role is only open to candidates with right to work in Belgium. We cannot provide visa sponsorship at this time. ## About Sphere Defense ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Sphere Defense is a Brussels-based deeptech defense startup developing sovereign European counter-drone interceptors with AI-driven autonomous guidance, designed for kinetic interception of strike drones and point defense of critical infrastructure. - **Entity Type**: Private (fully funded startup; funding rounds not disclosed) - **Headquarters**: Brussels, Belgium - **Founded**: 2025 (incorporated 3 December 2025) - **Founders**: Not publicly named – described as drone industry veterans with international experience and previous successful exits. ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Defense / Aerospace & Defense / Counter-UAS (Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems) - **Target customers**: Allied governments, military forces, and operators of sensitive infrastructure (power plants, ports, airports, government/military sites) - **Mission**: *“To keep allied countries safe with sovereign, effective and seamless countermeasures and protect them from aerial threats.”* ## Products & Services - **Scalable Effector**: Kinetic intercept capability for strike drones. Point defense layer cued by third-party detection and C2, embedded into larger layered C-UAS architectures. Rapid setup, BVLOS interception. - **Jet-Powered Platform**: Multi-role interceptor with minimal footprint, maintenance-free operation, EW-hardened radio datalink, and AI-driven autonomous guidance. - **Embedded AI**: Multi-sensor fusion, autonomous last-mile target lock trained on millions of visual signatures, predictive targeting and guidance, human-AI teaming with flexible rules of engagement. - **Man-Portable Launch Base**: Autonomous deployment of interceptors with seamless logistics. SAPIENT-native, C2-agnostic, interoperable with existing defense infrastructure. ## Market Standing - **Valuation**: Not disclosed (very early-stage, pre-revenue) - **Key Metric**: Total funding not publicly disclosed – described as “fully funded” in recent job postings. - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not publicly named. Publicly debuted at BEDEX 2026 (Belgian defense industry exhibition). European procurement context includes Belgium engaging Origin Robotics, Anduril, COBBS, and Nokia for related programs. - **Growth Signals**: Very recent incorporation (Dec 2025); already exhibiting at BEDEX 2026; active recruitment for core engineering team (Senior Robotics Software Engineer). Poised to benefit from surging EU demand for sovereign C-UAS capabilities. ## Competitive Advantages - **EU-sovereign by design**: Engineered in Belgium, manufactured in Europe, EU-centric conflict-resilient supply chain. Money spent on defense stays in Europe. - **Cost efficiency**: Claimed to be 200× cheaper per interceptor than the drones they target, making layered C-UAS economically sustainable. - **AI-driven autonomy**: Embedded AI trained on millions of visual signatures, predictive guidance, and flexible human-AI teaming. - **Architecture agnostic**: Acts as an effector layer cued by third-party detection and C2, easily integrated into existing layered C-UAS systems. ## Strategic Focus - **Current priorities**: Build core engineering team; scale manufacturing in Europe; win initial contracts with allied defense ministries; establish supply chain sovereignty. - **Direction**: Become the standard European kinetic counter-drone interceptor, expanding to additional platforms and AI capabilities. ## Why Work Here - **Mission-driven impact**: Directly protect allies from the #1 cause of military casualties in Ukraine (drones cause >70% of casualties). Opportunity to shape the future of autonomous defense. - **Early-stage ownership**: Be one of the first members of a high-performing team; shape software, perception architecture, and product direction. - **Tech stack**: C++ for production, Python for prototypes, ROS2, simulation environments (Gazebo, Foxglove), PX4 flight controllers, Rust preferred. Work on autonomous flying vehicles, sensor fusion, VIO/SLAM, ML, reinforcement learning. - **Compensation**: Attractive base pay plus stock options (depending on geography/position). - **Location**: Onsite in Brussels, Belgium. Office at Rue d’Enghien 18, 1080 Brussels. - **Culture**: High-ambiguity, self-starter environment; team of hard-working, autonomous, creative people. French or Dutch is a plus but English is primary. - **Team size**: Very small (early-stage). Founder team includes industry veterans with previous successful exits. ## Sources 1. [Sphere Defense Official Website](https://www.sphere-df.com/) 2. [TechWiki Belgium Profile](https://techwiki.be/be/wiki/companies/sphere-defense) 3. [BEDEX 2026 Exhibitor Page](https://www.bedex.brussels/en/bedexexhibitors/details/sphere-defense~50f9e73a-2dea-f4ff-779e-3a1f1c9a0b08) 4. [Senior Robotics Software Engineer Job Posting (CareersInRobotics)](https://careersinrobotics.com/jobs/senior-robotics-software-engineer-defense-drones-iil) 5. [Sphere Defense Contact Page](https://www.sphere-df.com/contact) ## Other roles at Sphere Defense - [Drone Test Pilot & Tech, C-UAS](https://feeny.ai/job/drone-test-pilot-tech-c-uas-sphere-defense-brussels-enbdj9dgmsyq) — Brussels, Belgium - [Electronics Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/electronics-engineer-sphere-defense-brussels-3vxk41b2z146) — Brussels, Belgium - [Senior Firmware Engineer, Autonomous Systems](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-firmware-engineer-autonomous-systems-sphere-defense-brussels-z2hew9brs06a) — Brussels, Belgium - [Firmware Engineer, Autonomous Systems](https://feeny.ai/job/firmware-engineer-autonomous-systems-sphere-defense-brussels-6xxrwtf9wjyg) — Brussels, Belgium - [Embedded Software Engineer, Robotics](https://feeny.ai/job/embedded-software-engineer-robotics-sphere-defense-brussels-db0zr18xjh3c) — Brussels, Belgium - [Principal Perception Engineer, CV/ML](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-perception-engineer-cv-ml-sphere-defense-brussels-d07y2apkqv4s) — Brussels, Belgium - [Embedded Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/embedded-software-engineer-sphere-defense-brussels-7x1z622xmcn1) — Brussels, Belgium - [Senior Robotics Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-robotics-software-engineer-sphere-defense-brussels-93k7p9ba8hsp) — Brussels, Belgium - [Senior Electrical Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-electrical-engineer-sphere-defense-brussels-e97mapw38yk2) — Brussels, Belgium - [Senior Embedded Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-embedded-software-engineer-sphere-defense-brussels-4z7s0s5c53ym) — Brussels, Belgium