ILS Manager (Programmes)

What you'll do

• Own the Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) workstream - spanning LSA, maintenance planning, provisioning/spares optimization, technical publications, training needs analysis, and obsolescence management - end-to-end for a programme or major workstream cluster, building plans and milestones from scratch.
• Work directly with engineering to ensure supportability and maintainability considerations are fed into design decisions early, and manage logistics/support risk proactively rather than reactively.
• Build and manage working-level customer relationships (including customer logistics and support authorities), translating customer requirements into ILS deliverables and programme outcomes.
• Structure ILS-related bid and proposal content, and evaluate ILS subcontractors and suppliers (e.g. training providers, spares and technical publication suppliers) in depth, identifying new high-potential partners.
• Build deep subject-matter expertise in ILS, including the customer's operational perspective on supportability, and use it to shape programme strategy, risk decisions, and lessons learned shared beyond your own team.
• Establish and refine ILS processes, templates, and structures where none yet exist, acting as a guardian of efficiency and avoiding unnecessary process overhead.
• Own and federate ILS knowledge and skills across the team, acting as the go-to reference for supportability and logistics questions and stepping into unowned problems within your scope rather than waiting for assignment.
• Make sound decisions on supportability and logistics trade-offs under real ambiguity, judging which risks are acceptable to carry versus which must be escalated, and know when to pull in engineering, quality, or commercial expertise.

Who you are

• Typically, five or more years of relevant Integrated Logistics Support within a defence, aerospace, or comparably regulated engineering environment, having structured and delivered an ILS workstream or small programme end-to-end.
• Working knowledge of core ILS disciplines - LSA, maintenance/RCM planning, provisioning and spares optimization, technical publications, training needs analysis, and obsolescence management - and familiarity with relevant standards as applicable to defence programmes.
• A background in engineering, logistics, materiel management, or a similarly relevant discipline, giving genuine fluency with technical and supportability content.
• Comfortable building processes and structures where none exist yet, with a bias toward lean, fit-for-purpose practice over importing heavy process for its own sake.
• Confident operating independently with customers and subcontractors, and credible contributing to commercial content such as bids, statements of work, and subcontractor evaluation.
• Sound judgment under ambiguity: able to weigh supportability, cost, and schedule trade-offs, prioritize across competing demands, and recognize the limits of your own expertise.
• Fluent in English; German fluency desirable given our bilingual working environment, though not required for this specialist discipline.

What we offer

• A mission-driven environment with the opportunity to work on one of Europe’s most consequential defence challenges, with direct impact on sovereign capability and security.
• Daily collaboration with leading experts across engineering, operations, business development, and defence, with genuine opportunities to learn, contribute, and grow.
• Exposure to the full lifecycle of complex defence programmes, from customer requirements and commercial strategy through to engineering delivery and flight testing.
• High ownership and autonomy: no time tracking and no micromanagement, just clear objectives and accountability for outcomes.
• A fast-paced environment where good ideas are implemented quickly and feedback from testing and flight drives real decisions.
• A culture that values clarity, integrity, and excellence, and supports people who take initiative and push boundaries responsibly.
• Competitive compensation and real share options aligned with responsibility and impact, not tenure or hierarchy.