Technical Program Manager at Smappee · Harelbeke

Smappee (Smart Appliance for Energy Efficiency) helps businesses and individuals take control of their energy consumption. Through innovative energy management and EV charging solutions, we make energy efficiency accessible, helping reduce costs and contributing to a more sustainable future.

What does it mean to work at Smappee?

At Smappee, we take ownership, collaborate openly, and communicate transparently. We stand behind our commitments and aren’t afraid to experiment, challenge ideas, and grow through change.

Position

To support our ambitious product roadmap, we are looking for a Technical Program Manager who will become the operational engine behind our R&D organisation.

Reporting directly to the R&D Director, you will ensure our multidisciplinary engineering teams consistently deliver complex hardware, embedded software and cloud-based products on time, within scope and with the highest quality standards.

This is not a classic project management role.

You will work at the intersection of engineering, product management, quality, operations and leadership, creating transparency, removing execution risks and helping our engineers focus on what they do best: building world-class products.

If you thrive in technically challenging environments, enjoy bringing structure to complexity and know how to move engineering organisations forward without unnecessary bureaucracy, we'd love to meet you.

Responsibilities

Drive execution across the R&D organisation

- Lead multiple concurrent product development projects from concept through industrialisation.
- Translate strategic product roadmaps into executable project plans.
- Build realistic timelines, resource plans and milestone planning together with engineering leaders.
- Ensure projects remain aligned on scope, priorities, dependencies and delivery commitments.

Become the operational heartbeat of R&D

- Coordinate work across Hardware, Embedded Software, Software, QA, Industrialisation and Product Management.
- Facilitate sprint planning, milestone reviews and project governance.
- Identify bottlenecks early and proactively drive mitigation plans.
- Escalate risks with clear recommendations and proposed solutions.

Create visibility

- Build and maintain project dashboards and KPI reporting.
- Monitor budget, planning, risks and engineering capacity.
- Deliver concise progress updates to the R&D Director and Executive Leadership Team.
- Ensure decision-making is always based on reliable project information.

Improve how engineering delivers

- Continuously improve project management methodologies, governance and development processes.
- Introduce scalable ways of working that increase predictability without slowing innovation.
- Standardise templates, planning practices and project reporting.
- Help build a high-performance project culture across the engineering organisation.

Connect the organisation

- Act as the central coordination point between R&D, Product Management, Operations, Supply Chain, Manufacturing and Customer Support.
- Ensure smooth communication between technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Help align priorities across departments while safeguarding engineering focus.

We're looking for someone who combines technical credibility with exceptional organisational skills.

You bring:

- Master's degree in Engineering, Industrial Engineering or equivalent experience.
- 5+ years of experience managing complex technical development projects.
- Experience within hardware, electronics, embedded software, EV charging, IoT or similar high-tech environments.
- Strong understanding of product development lifecycles (Stage-Gate, Agile, Hybrid).
- Excellent planning and stakeholder management capabilities.
- Proven ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
- Strong analytical mindset with excellent problem-solving skills.
- Ability to challenge constructively while maintaining strong relationships.
- Comfortable communicating with engineers, product managers and senior leadership alike.
- Fluent in English. Dutch is a strong asset.

At Smappee we believe in a modern and dynamic work environment where you can be yourself and truly inspire people to contribute to a better planet. What can you expect exactly?

• An inspiring office environment at cleantech hub Snowball: a place where companies with a heart for sustainable innovation can get inspired and grow
• A place where you can focus on a good work-life balance with flexible working hours and a home office day
• Personal growth with multiple career and personal development opportunities in an organization that is constantly evolving
• A chance to participate in team activities, companywide events and monthly drinks with your colleagues at the HQ
• Remuneration according to experience.
• An ideal location along the E17, spacious parking, electric car chargers and bicycle storage
• A job where you can truly contribute to a better planet