Programme Manager- Crawley or Reading

About The Role

FDM is a global business and technology consultancy seeking a Programme Manager to work for our client within the Defence and Aerospace sector. This is initially a 6 month contract with very good prospects to extend and will be a hybrid role based in Crawley or Reading.

Our client is seeking an experienced Programme Manager to support a defence aviation programme focused on uncrewed air vehicles, autonomy and ISR capability. The role will suit someone who can operate with autonomy, lead complex delivery in an Agile or spiral development environment, and work confidently with engineering, customer and partner teams.

Candidates with military aviation, UAV, autonomy or airborne ISR experience will be particularly well aligned.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day programme management for the project, supporting the delivery of key milestones and demonstration activity.
• Manage programme plans, RAID logs, dependencies, reporting, governance and stakeholder communications across a complex defence environment.
• Coordinate multidisciplinary teams across engineering, autonomy, air vehicle, ISR, customer and partner workstreams.
• Apply Agile, iterative or spiral development ways of working to manage evolving requirements, delivery risks and regular feedback loops.
• Work closely with senior stakeholders to provide clear progress updates, escalate issues and keep delivery aligned to customer and business priorities.
• Support the transition from initial phase delivery into a potential longer second phase, ensuring continuity of knowledge, planning and delivery approach.

About You

• Strong programme management experience within defence, aerospace, aviation, autonomy, UAV, ISR or similarly complex technical environments.
• Experience managing delivery using Agile, iterative, spiral development or hybrid project delivery approaches.
• Able to work autonomously, make sense of ambiguity and keep delivery moving in a fast-paced, evolving programme environment.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work across engineering, commercial, customer, supplier and senior leadership groups.
• Experience in military aviation, airborne ISR, uncrewed air systems, crewed and uncrewed teaming, or Apache-adjacent environments would be highly beneficial.
• Comfortable managing programme governance, schedules, risks, issues, dependencies, budgets and reporting at senior stakeholder level.
• Familiarity with project delivery and collaboration tools such as MS Project, Jira, Confluence, Microsoft Office and reporting dashboards would be useful.
• Active SC clearance is highly desirable due to the defence nature of the programme. Candidates must be comfortable working in a security-conscious environment.
• Relevant project or programme management qualifications such as MSP, PRINCE2, APM, Agile, Scrum or SAFe would be beneficial, but equivalent experience will also be considered.

About Us

FDM is an award-winning global leader in tech and business talent solutions, backed by more than 35 years of industry experience. We have centres across Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific, and a global workforce of over 2500 employees.

FDM has shown exponential growth throughout the years, firmly establishing itself as an award-winning employer, currently listed on the FTSE4Good Index and as a 2026 Financial Times UK ‘Best Employer’.

Diversity and Inclusion

FDM Group is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or any other status protected by federal, provincial or local laws.

Why join us

• Career coaching, mentoring and access to upskilling throughout your entire FDM career
• Assignments with global companies and opportunities to work abroad
• Opportunity to re-skill and up-skill into new areas, develop non-linear career paths and build a skillset within your field
• Annual leave and work-place pension