--- title: 'Technical Strategy Manager H/F at Alta Ares' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/technical-strategy-manager-h-f-alta-ares-paris-ddv034p2fpe7' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-15' --- # Technical Strategy Manager H/F at Alta Ares - **Company:** Alta Ares - **Location:** Paris, France - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-09-14 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-15 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/alta-ares/cf94415e-e9ac-4c3a-b4d3-cd51e265e2c1 ## Job description ## About Alta Ares Alta Ares is an air defense Neoprime. We build AI-guided interceptors to counter drones and cruise missiles, along with the software platform that powers them. Our customers are NATO-aligned militaries and defense institutions, and our systems are regularly deployed during live exercises and operational demonstrations across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Founded in 2024, we have grown to 90 people, raised over $60M, and increased revenue 40× this year. We are now entering a new phase of international expansion, industrial scaling, fundraising, and product development. Context We are looking for hybrid profile, sitting at the intersection of strategy and engineering, able to rigorously evaluate the technology choices made by the R&D and innovation teams, audit our internal capabilities, and challenge product/tech trade-offs with a business lens. This is not a technical team management role, but a role of constructive counter-power and strategic alignment between engineering and business priorities. You will ensure that our technological decisions (R&D, innovation, architecture choices, build vs buy, roadmap prioritization) are aligned with overall strategy, economically sound, and robust by actively challenging the relevant teams rather than rubber-stamping their proposals. Role & Missions: Strategic and technical challenge - Challenge the technical choices and roadmaps proposed by R&D and the Innovation team (architecture, stack, prioritization, build vs buy vs partner) - Question the underlying assumptions behind technical projects (feasibility, ROI, strategic alignment, technical debt incurred) - Produce well-argued, independent analyses not rubber-stamped validations Technology and market watch - Run continuous technical and technology watch (competitors, emerging technologies, market trends, new tools, and platforms) to keep the company's decisions informed by the state of the art - Identify technologies or approaches that could create a competitive advantage, or expose the company to being left behind - Turn watch findings into actionable inputs for the R&D/Innovation roadmap and for COMEX-level strategic discussions - Build and maintain a structured watch process (sources, cadence, internal distribution) rather than ad hoc monitoring Capability audit - Regularly map and assess the company's technical capabilities (skills, tools, infrastructure, external dependencies) - Identify areas of risk, over-investment, under-investment, or critical dependency - Benchmark our capabilities against the market and competitors Technology strategy - Contribute to defining the company's technology strategy alongside the Strategy & Operations Director - Assess build, buy, partner, or acquisition opportunities on technology topics - Inform R&D resource allocation decisions with a strategic and financial lens Reporting and governance - Produce syntheses and recommendations for COMEX on tech-strategy topics - Set up tracking indicators on technical execution vs. commitments made - Participate in R&D/Innovation committees as an independent strategic voice Candidate profile ## Experience - 5-6 years of overall experience, engineering background (degree in engineering or equivalent) - Ideal trajectory: 2-3 years of hands-on technical execution, followed by 2-3 years in a hybrid technical/business role e.g. Engineer → Technical Product Manager, Engineer → tech-focused strategy consulting, or Engineer → Chief of Staff to a CTO/VP Engineering - Profiles with only pure execution experience (no exposure to business trade-offs) or only early technical experience followed by years of generalist consulting (no longer technically credible) are not a fit for this role - Given the seniority level, the candidate should compensate for limited years of experience with either deep, recognized expertise in a specific technical domain (enough to be seen as a peer by R&D on that topic) or a strong, proven track record of challenging senior stakeholders from a strategy/consulting background. Technical skills - Hands-on experience in a technical environment (dev, data, tech product, architecture, not consulting-only exposure) - Demonstrated ability to understand architecture choices and technical trade-offs, and to assess their relevance - Comfortable engaging as a peer with CTOs, tech leads, and senior engineers - Able to speak in concrete, specific terms about a real technical decision they challenged or questioned Strategy / business skills - Ability to translate technical issues into business implications, and vice versa Critical soft skills - Strong critical thinking and independence of judgment - Able to distinguish a genuine technical risk from a mere communication gap - Natural credibility: earns legitimacy through the rigor of the analysis, not through hierarchy Success indicators (by month 12) - Technical capability map completed and kept up to date - A structured technology watch process in place, with regular outputs reaching R&D/Innovation and COMEX - Number of R&D/Innovation decisions meaningfully redirected following a well-argued challenge - Perceived quality of recommendations by COMEX and by the technical teams themselves - Measurable reduction in the gap between technical roadmap and strategic priorities ## About Alta Ares ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Alta Ares builds an autonomous AI stack for next-generation air defense, ISTAR, and mission management, delivering counter-drone systems and edge intelligence to allied militaries. - **Entity Type**: Private (raised pre-seed and seed rounds; most recent €50M funding announced June 2026) - **Headquarters**: Paris, France (strategic offices in Toulouse, Kyiv, Abu Dhabi, New York, Athens, Munich, and London) - **Founded**: 2024 - **Founders**: Hadrien C. (CEO), Alain H. (Co-Founder), Stanislas W. (Co-Founder & COO) – per LinkedIn executive data ## Core Business - **Industry**: Defense and Space Manufacturing; AI-powered autonomous systems - **Target Customers**: Allied governments and armed forces (B2B/B2G) - **Mission**: “The next decade of allied security will be decided by who controls the autonomous systems above the battlefield. Alta Ares was founded to help ensure that the technologies shaping the future of defense are developed by allies, for allies, and fielded where they can make the greatest difference.” [altaares.com](https://www.altaares.com/) ## Products & Services - **Black Bird**: Short- to mid-range multirotor autonomous interceptor for counter-drone swarms, with AI terminal guidance under jamming. - **X-LOCK**: Mid- to long-range turbojet-powered fixed-wing effector for high-speed interception of drones and glide bombs; optional strike configuration. - **Cyclops**: Sensor intelligence, mission planning, and flight monitoring system for UAVs – connects radars, classifies tracks, predicts trajectories. - **Gamma ISTAR**: Real-time video intelligence on the edge for Intelligence Surveillance Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) missions. Includes Gamma Core (software deployable on any infrastructure) and Gamma Box (tactical rugged hardware node). Integrated with Gamma Ulixes MLOps platform for continuous model retraining. - **Pixel Lock**: Software system for detecting, tracking, and guiding interceptors toward moving aerial targets. Acts as visual aid for pilots and as automatic guidance in GNSS-denied environments. - **Mission Management Layer**: Unified platform combining air defense effectors, ISTAR products, and mission management software for autonomous operations. [altaares.com](https://www.altaares.com/) ## Market Standing - **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed - **Key Metric**: Total known funding ≈ €50M+ (includes a reported June 2026 round led by top-tier AI and defense investors) [altaares.com](https://www.altaares.com/); earlier pre-seed ($2.2M) and seed ($2.0M) rounds confirmed on LinkedIn [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/alta-ares) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Airbus Defence and Space (signed MoU to co-develop European counter-drone solutions, June 2026); Expansion Ventures (led pre-seed). Other investors not yet named publicly. - **Growth Signals**: - Completed live Arctic trials of Black Bird interceptor with Estonian Defence Forces (Feb 2026) - Expanding to Munich and London in 2026 - Rapid hiring: 19+ active job postings (LinkedIn), 12 listed on Built In - LinkedIn followers: 11,265 (+15.8% monthly growth) - Team: ~43 employees (LinkedIn) to 62 (Built In), with strong technical talent from defense and aerospace (Armée de Terre, Safran AI, Loft Orbital) [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/alta-ares) | [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/alta-ares) ## Competitive Advantages - **Sovereign European stack**: Entire AI and hardware chain developed by European allies, ensuring security and compliance for NATO and allied customers. - **GNSS-denied operations**: All systems designed to function under jamming and contested environments. - **Rapid field deployment**: Systems can be deployed by small teams in the field, reducing logistics footprint. - **Full-stack integration**: One platform combining effectors, ISR, and mission management with edge AI and continuous MLOps. ## Strategic Focus - Scale manufacturing and deployment of Black Bird, X-LOCK, and Gamma products to meet growing demand from allied nations. - Deepen integration partnership with Airbus Defence and Space for European counter-drone solutions. - Expand international presence (Munich, London offices in 2026) and grow sales in Baltic, Indo-Pacific, and Middle Eastern markets. - Continue investment in AI terminal guidance, sensor fusion, and sovereign MLOps (Gamma Ulixes). ## Why Work Here - **Mission-driven**: Directly contribute to European and allied defense autonomy in a critical domain. - **Cutting-edge tech**: Work on AI, computer vision, autonomous flight, edge computing, and defense-grade hardware. - **Rapid growth**: Company raised €50M in 2026, tripling headcount timeline; many open engineering and operations roles. - **Culture**: Described as a “deeptech startup” with a hybrid workspace (combination of remote and on-site); main offices in Paris and Toulouse, plus international hubs. - **Perks**: Not detailed publicly, but typical for defense tech includes competitive compensation, equity, and mission-critical work. Engineering culture emphasized in job postings. - **Ideal for**: Engineers (embedded, robotics, GNC, data, ML), test pilots, production managers, defense sales, compliance, and talent acquisition specialists. ## Sources 1. [altaares.com](https://www.altaares.com/) 2. [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/alta-ares) 3. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/alta-ares) 4. [jobs.workable.com](https://jobs.workable.com/company/dTjqj5nvsJLNhfSDY12XbG/jobs-at-alta-ares) 5. [thecompanycheck.com](https://www.thecompanycheck.com/company/b/alta-ares/l5u43z56vx1ldmfss) ## Other roles at Alta Ares - [DevOps Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/devops-intern-alta-ares-paris-ys5qhbgdkt12) — Paris, France - [Structural Engineer UAV H/F](https://feeny.ai/job/structural-engineer-uav-h-f-alta-ares-toulouse-e0wecwdhef8d) — Toulouse, France - [Pyrotechnics Engineer H/F](https://feeny.ai/job/pyrotechnics-engineer-h-f-alta-ares-toulouse-fq3aa627wfxr) — Toulouse, France - [Logistics Manager H/F](https://feeny.ai/job/logistics-manager-h-f-alta-ares-paris-jq0ba72knsyk) — Paris, France - [Software Engineer — VIE USA](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-vie-usa-alta-ares-new-york-tzvjqnfbydhe) — New York, NY - [Business Development Representative — VIE Germany](https://feeny.ai/job/business-development-representative-vie-germany-alta-ares-munich-9y82690ehp52) — Munich, Germany - [Business Development Representative — VIE Japon](https://feeny.ai/job/business-development-representative-vie-japon-alta-ares-tokyo-xd296meqgnya) — Tokyo, Japan / Nagoya, Japan - [Legal Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/legal-intern-alta-ares-paris-ew8j518ja616) — Paris, France - [Legal & IP Counsel](https://feeny.ai/job/legal-ip-counsel-alta-ares-paris-7x18kmg7kddd) — Paris, France - [Project Manager – Programs](https://feeny.ai/job/project-manager-programs-alta-ares-paris-rwqcxsp4nnnb) — Paris, France