Senior IT Program Manager

The Senior IT Programme Manager will serve as the single accountable executive for a flagship European Commission programme in the domains of Dataspace and Artificial Intelligence. Operating at the intersection of cutting-edge technology policy and large-scale public-sector delivery, this individual will bear ultimate responsibility for scope, schedule, budget, quality, risk, and stakeholder satisfaction across a multi-partner consortium delivering transformative digital infrastructure for Europe., 1. Programme Leadership & Governance

• Establish and chair the Programme Governance Board, ensuring alignment with European Commission priorities and contractual obligations.
• Define and own the integrated programme master plan (IMP), managing interdependencies across all workstreams and consortium partners.
• Drive end-to-end programme execution from inception through deployment and operational handover, maintaining a €100M+ budget baseline.
• Apply and adapt EU programme management frameworks (e.g., PM²) and Agile-at-scale methodologies as appropriate.
• Own programme-level risk register, issue log, and escalation procedures; proactively identify and mitigate threats to delivery.

1. Consortium Leadership & Partner Management * Lead the operational governance of a consortium comprising four partner organisations, including sub-contractor oversight and contractual compliance. * Chair and facilitate Consortium Management Committees, Technical Steering Committees, and Joint Programme Boards. * Manage partner performance, monitor KPIs, and enforce SLAs and contractual obligations under the prime contract. * Resolve cross-partner conflicts, resource contention, and scope boundary disputes with authority and diplomacy. * Foster a collaborative, high-performance consortium culture aligned with shared programme objectives.

2. EU Institutional Stakeholder Management * Serve as the primary relationship owner and executive point of contact for European Commission DG counterparts. * Build and sustain trusted advisory relationships with Commission programme sponsors, IT Steering Committees, and EC senior management. * Engage proactively with EU country stakeholders across 27 Member States, coordinating national rollout activities and managing country-level expectations. * Represent the programme in high-level review meetings, governance forums, and political-level briefings. * Navigate the EU institutional landscape with sensitivity to political dynamics, procurement regulations, and EU financial regulations.

3. Dataspace & AI Programme Delivery * Oversee technical delivery of Dataspace architecture components. * Drive AI programme workstreams in alignment with the EU AI Act, the AI Office, and Commission AI strategies. * Ensure technical solutions are interoperable, standards-compliant (EUCS, ETSI, W3C, ISO), and aligned with EU security requirements. * Collaborate with Enterprise Architects, Data Engineers, Developers, testers and AI specialists to validate technical direction and manage delivery risk.

4. Financial Management * Own and manage the full programme budget (€100M+), including baseline, forecast, earned value management (EVM), and variance reporting., * Work at the intersection of business strategy and technology transformation. * Contribute to large-scale, high-impact digital programmes. * Be part of a leading European consulting and digital services organisation.

• Minimum 15 years of IT programme/project management experience, with at least 8 years in senior/lead programme management/director roles.
• Demonstrated track record of successfully delivering EU Commission IT programmes at scale (€50M+ budget), ideally with DGs like DIGIT, TAXUD, CONNECT, or equivalent.
• Proven experience managing and leading multi-partner consortia as prime contractor in EU public procurement contexts.
• Deep operational knowledge of EU procurement frameworks, framework contracts, and EU Financial Regulations.
• Hands-on experience with EU programme management methodology PM² or equivalent, including governance, reporting, and documentation standards.
• Experience engaging with EU Member State government stakeholders and national administrations across multiple countries.
• Substantial technical exposure to Dataspace architectures and/or AI programme delivery in a public sector or regulated environment.

Highly Desirable

• Direct experience on EU Dataspace programmes (e.g., GAIA-X, IDSA-aligned, European Health Data Space, Mobility Data Space, or similar).
• Knowledge of EU AI initiatives including the EU AI Act implementation, the European AI Office, and AI regulatory compliance frameworks.
• Familiarity with EC digital infrastructure programmes such as CEF Digital, the Digital Europe Programme (DEP), or Horizon Europe ICT projects.
• Experience with EC interoperability frameworks (EIF) and the ISA²/Interoperable Europe Act.
• Understanding of cloud sovereign requirements under EUCS and European cloud initiatives.

Education & Certifications

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Public Administration, or a related field.
• Programme/Project Management: PgMP (PMI), MSP (AXELOS), or PM² Advanced certification required.
• Desirable: PMP, PRINCE2 Practitioner, ITIL 4 Foundation, Scrum@Scale, or SAFe certification.
• EU institutional training or EPSO-related qualifications are an advantage.

• Direct engagement at the highest levels of the European Commission and EU Member State governments.
• Leadership of one of the most complex and high-profile EU IT programmes currently in execution.
• Competitive executive compensation package benchmarked to the Brussels senior IT programme management market.in a leading European IT integrator.
• Access to a high-calibre consortium team with deep EU institutional and technical expertise.
• Continuous professional development and access to leading EU digital policy forums and conferences.