Technical Program Manager, AI Delivery for Public Sector & Defense, France

We're seeking an experienced Program Manager to join Cohere's customer-facing Program Management team, with a focus on public sector and defence accounts in Europe, particularly in France. This is a highly specialised role requiring an individual who understands technical program delivery, the technical complexity of frontier AI models and the unique requirements of government and defence organisations. You will be the critical bridge between our cutting-edge AI capabilities and the specific needs of Ministries, Agencies, and defence organisations across Europe. You'll navigate complex procurement processes, stringent security requirements, data sovereignty concerns, and regulatory compliance while ensuring our customers successfully deploy and scale our AI solutions.

Responsibilities

Collaborate with Strategic Customer team, Applied ML Engineering, Forward Deployed Engineering, Platform, Product, and Go-to-Market teams as technical program lead; Own end-to-end technical program delivery for French and broader European public sector and defence customers, from initial deployment through production scaling; Serve as the primary technical program point of contact for customers, building trusted relationships with departmental CIOs, IT directors, and technical teams; Translate complex public sector and defence requirements (security, compliance, accessibility, bilingualism, data sovereignty) into actionable engineering plans; Navigate complex procurement processes, RFP responses, and contractual technical obligations; Provide clear, timely, and objective communication across Cohere's engineering organisation, customer stakeholders, public sector and defence leadership; Translate between AI/ML technical concepts and government-appropriate language for decision-makers; Present technical roadmaps and status updates to senior stakeholders including departmental executives; Represent Cohere's technical capabilities in sensitive government and defence contexts; Create and manage project schedules that account for public sector and defence timelines, security review processes, and approval cycles; Identify and manage dependencies across government departments, security authorities, cloud service providers, and internal Cohere teams; Navigate risks unique to government and defence deployments: privacy compliance, security, political and regulatory, technology and infrastructure; Drive alignment between product development priorities and specific customer requirements; Ensure on-time delivery of AI solutions that meet security, privacy, accessibility, and performance standards; Coordinate technical work across multiple teams: model customisation, security hardening, integration with government systems, bilingual support; Establish governance checkpoints appropriate for high-stakes government and defence deployments; Problem-solve complex technical challenges in air-gapped, on-premises, or highly regulated environments

Requirements

6+ years of experience as a customer-facing Technical or Engineering Program Manager in AI/ML consulting, technology transformation, or enterprise software delivery; Excellent executive communication and stakeholder management; Experience working with government, defence, or heavily regulated customers; Proven track record managing complex, multi-stakeholder technical programs with stringent compliance requirements; Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field; Strong understanding of enterprise software deployment architectures (cloud, on-premises, hybrid, air-gapped); Working knowledge of or experience with modern AI: LLMs, agentic systems, MCP, RAG, fine-tuning, evals, and responsible AI; Comfortable discussing API integrations, model inference, data pipelines, and ML operations with technical stakeholders; Deep understanding of how government and defence organisations procure, evaluate, and deploy technology; Familiarity with European government requirements: data sovereignty, privacy laws (Privacy Act), accessibility standards, official languages obligations, security classifications; Understanding of defence and national security considerations in AI deployment; Eligible to obtain French security clearance; French citizen living in France with fluency in French

Nice to have

Active French security clearance (Secret or Top Secret); Bilingual (English/French) proficiency; Background in or strong familiarity with European defence, intelligence, or critical infrastructure sectors; Experience with GC Cloud services (Azure, AWS GovCloud) or Protected B/C environments; Project management certification (PMP, PgMP) or government-specific methodologies; Advanced degree or technical certifications; Experience with Algorithmic Impact Assessments or AI ethics frameworks

Benefits

Weekly lunch stipend of $75/£75 or equivalent in local currency; Full health and dental benefits, including separate mental health budget; RRSP matching, 401K, Pension Scheme; 100% Parental Leave top-up for up to 6 months for either parent; Annual enrichment benefits (arts & culture, fitness/wellness, quality time, workspace improvement credit, education & learning stipend); 6 weeks of paid vacation (30 working days); Budget for traveling to other offices if remote, plus annual company offsite; Co-working benefit for those not near an office; $500 home office stipend; Daily lunch program, snacks, and regular community and social events for those in the office