Priority will be given to the following designated employment equity groups: women, Indigenous Peoples* (First Nations, Inuit and Métis), persons with disabilities and racialized persons*.

The Employment Equity Act , which is under review, uses the terminology Aboriginal peoples and visible minorities.

Candidates are asked to self-declare when applying to this hiring process.

City: Ottawa

Organizational Unit: Aerospace

Classification: RCO

Tenure: Term

Duration: Until 31 March 2028

Language Requirements: English

Work arrangements: Due to the nature of the work and operational requirements, this position may be eligible for a limited hybrid work arrangement (combination of working onsite and telework). At the NRC, we recognize that Indigenous candidates may have important connections to their communities and you may be eligible for an exception to this work arrangement. Alternative work arrangements may also be considered to accommodate candidates as required. To learn more about these options, please contact the NRC Hiring team using the contact information below.

Note: This position is being re-posted. If you had previously applied, there is no need to re-apply.

Defence Industrial Strategy

The NRC has an important role within the Government of Canada's Defence Industrial Strategy, accelerating research and innovation, and helping Canadian businesses develop leading-edge technologies for civilian and military use. With expertise across fields such as transportation, quantum science, medical countermeasures and advanced manufacturing, the NRC is hiring to drive the development of national sovereign defence capabilities. The following role will support the NRC’s contributions to defence priorities.

The role





The NRC is building new capabilities to help Canada accelerate the development, integration and adoption of emerging drone, counter-drone and autonomous systems technologies. At the centre of this effort is the Drone Innovation Hub (DIH) and its Aurora Shield program—bringing together NRC researchers, engineers and facilities with the Canadian Armed Forces, Department of National Defence, industry, academia and other partners to tackle some of Canada's most significant defence and security technology challenges.

We are looking for a Senior Project Manager to help turn that ambition into action.

Working alongside the Aurora Shield Program Director, the successful candidate will help shape and deliver a rapidly growing portfolio of research, technology development and innovation activities. This is not a traditional project management role. Individual projects are led by researcher and engineer Project Managers from across the NRC; the Senior Project Manager will work across those projects—helping PMs succeed, maintaining coherence across the portfolio, solving problems and ensuring that the program delivers as a whole.

The role also extends beyond the individual projects. Aurora Shield is developing new ways for NRC, DND, the Canadian Armed Forces and industry to work together, including major ecosystem wide initiatives.



The successful candidate will help take these initiatives from ambitious concepts to executable activities—working through the plans, partnerships, budgets, documentation and details required to make them real.

The result is a role with an unusually broad range: from strategy to execution, and from individual projects to the broader Canadian defence innovation ecosystem. On any given day, the Senior Project Manager might help a Project Manager resolve a delivery challenge, work through program budgets and priorities, develop the implementation plan for a new Aurora Shield initiative, prepare material for senior decision-makers, or engage with DND, other government departments and Canadian industry and academia.

We are looking for someone who thrives in that environment—someone who can bring structure to complexity, move comfortably between technical and programmatic discussions, build relationships across organizations, and turn good ideas into delivered outcomes. The Senior Project Manager would be someone who shares our core values of Integrity, Excellence, Respect and Creativity.

Screening criteria

Applicants must demonstrate within the content of their application that they meet the following screening criteria in order to be given further consideration as candidates:

Education

Bachelor or Master’s Degree in engineering management, systems engineering, engineering, business/project management or related discipline.

Experience

- Significant* experience managing complex, multi-disciplinary projects or programs involving science, engineering, technology development or innovation.
- Significant* experience working

📌 Senior Project Manager (Ottawa)
🏢 National Research Council Canada / Conseil national de recherches Canada
📍 Ottawa