Bid & Project Manager (Defense)

Location: Paris, France; on-site.

Company

hirify.global is a French defense scale-up building AI-guided interceptors for drones and cruise missiles and the software platform that powers them.

What you will do

• Screen opportunities with the sales director and prepare bid/no-bid decisions covering risks, resources, and pricing.
• Break down NATO tenders, EU calls, and national defense requests into compliance matrices, bid plans, review gates, and assigned owners.
• Write and assemble management, technical, and compliance volumes with Engineering, Product, Finance, and Legal.
• Manage clarification rounds and support negotiations through contract signature.
• Convert awards into projects by managing kick-offs, milestones, risks, budgets, change control, customer reporting, deliverables, and FAT/SAT acceptance.
• Coordinate engineering, production, demonstrations, logistics, partners, bid and project dashboards, weekly status reviews, and lessons learned.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in bid, proposal, or project management in defense, aerospace, or security.
• A proven record of compliant, on-time submissions to NATO agencies, EU programs, or European ministries of defense, including several submissions managed in parallel.
• At least one defense contract delivered from award through acceptance.
• Rigorous and precise compliance management, with the ability to run several bids and projects simultaneously.
• Ownership of outcomes, resilience under fixed deadlines, late amendments, and competing requests.
• Ability to write structured, scoreable English and turn engineering input into compliant answers.
• Ability to lead Engineering, Finance, Legal, and partners without formal authority.
• Technical curiosity about sensors, effectors, C2, and AI, or the ability to learn these areas quickly.
• Discretion and trustworthiness when handling sensitive commercial and defense information, together with an interest in European security.
• Professional English, written and spoken, at C1 level is mandatory.
• Eligibility for the NATO personnel security clearance procedure: EU Member State nationality and NATO membership are required.

Nice to have

• Scale-up or lean-team experience; prime experience is welcome.
• APMP, Shipley, PMP, PRINCE2, or IPMA certification.
• Experience with a European Defence Fund or EDIP consortium, or with NSPA/NCIA procurement.
• Background in a NATO agency, the EDA, or a ministry of defense, or military service as an officer or NCO.
• Knowledge of C-UAS, air defense, ISR, or drones.
• Export-control experience, including French export licensing and EU dual-use rules.
• French, Polish, Romanian, Lithuanian, or Ukrainian language skills.

Culture & Benefits

• On-site work in Paris within a 2024-founded defense company of approximately 90 people.
• Work on AI-guided interceptors and defense software deployed in live exercises and operational demonstrations.
• Regular travel to NATO agencies in Brussels, Luxembourg, and The Hague, EU institutions, and demonstrations and acceptance tests across Europe.
• Submission peaks, fixed deadlines, and high ownership are part of the role.