Project Manager – Laser-Driven Radiation Source (f/m/d)
- Compensation
- Not disclosed
- Location
- Darmstadt, DE
- Work setup
- Hybrid
- Seniority
- Not specified
- Employment
- Not specified
- Experience
- 3+ years
- Category
- Project management
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- Experience: 7+ years project/program management in complex R&D environments (hardware-heavy systems preferred: laser facilities, accelerators, aerospace, semiconductor tools, scientific infrastructure
- Technical Background: Understand how the system components interact and have the ability to understand the technical problems the team faces on a high level. Have at least worked 3+ years in the techn
- Planning discipline: strong ability to build and maintain integrated plans (milestones, work packages, dependencies, critical path) and keep teams aligned.
- Risk & change control: proven experience running risk registers, issue management, and practical change control in dynamic R&D settings.
- Communication: clear, concise communicator who can lead meetings, write crisp status updates, and drive action closure with senior stakeholders.
- Operational rigor: able to support readiness/commissioning planning and ensure documentation and evidence are produced at a level that enables repeatable operation.
Nice to have
- Experience managing first-of-a-kind builds, prototypes, or pilot facilities.
- Familiarity with review gates (PDR/CDR/TRR or equivalent) and verification planning.
- Exposure to safety-critical environments (high voltage, radiation-adjacent facilities, vacuum/laser labs, interlock systems).
- Experience working with cross-site teams and external suppliers.
Full description
Company Overview
Focused Energy is a laser-driven fusion company building technologies that can unlock clean, abundant energy. Alongside our long-term mission, we also develop near-term, high-impact applications based on compact laser-driven radiation sources that combine MeV X-rays and fast neutrons in a single system for non-destructive testing and advanced inspection.
Role Overview
We are looking for a Project Manager to lead the execution of the worlds first laser-driven radiation source prototype, bringing together multiple subsystem owners and engineering teams to deliver a research-operable prototype. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys turning complex technical development into a structured plan, enabling teams to deliver on time, and building an operational hardware system.
You will work together with the main system owners within the project make sure the right work happens at the right time, with clear interfaces, controlled changes, and strong transparency.
Key Responsibilities
- Own the integrated project plan: maintain the master schedule across subsystems, dependencies, and critical path; drive recovery plans when milestones slip.
- Lead project governance and cadence: run core meetings, maintain decisions and actions, and ensure consistent status reporting that highlights progress, blockers, and next steps.
- Align work to the technical roadmap: ensure subsystem plans and milestones stay consistent with the program direction; surface deviations early and drive resolution.
- Drive requirements and interface management: Ensure system-level requirements and interfaces are tracked, implemented and validated consistently and are under change control.
- Decision traceability: Establish a way with the team to efficiently document progress and make decisions traceable.
- Own risk and issue management: maintain a single risk register process with mitigation ownership, regular review cadence, and clear escalation paths. Steer and track the risk reduction over time to meet the project goals.
- Budget & procurement coordination: track budget, forecasts, and changes; coordinate long-lead procurement tracking with engineering and system owners.
- Verification & readiness: plan and guide readiness reviews with system owners (e.g., design reviews, integration readiness, commissioning readiness); ensure evidence, test plans, and acceptance criteria are captured.
- Safety & operational readiness: ensure a research-operable safety approach is implemented (hazard reviews, procedures, training, operational envelopes) so the system is safe for researchers to use.