BraveTech EU | Project Officer Electronic Warfare

BraveTech EU is a European Defence Fund (EDF) Coordination & Support Action (CSA) designed to accelerate the uptake of battlefield-relevant innovation for defence. The initiative is planned to be launched in early 2026 after the Contribution Agreement with the European Commission will be signed. The initiative, is structured in two phases:

• Phase I - managed by the European Commission/DG DEFIS with support from EDA, to identify the initial teams providing promising solutions to battlefield challenges;
• Phase II –managed by EDA with support from the European Commission, for participation in Testing–Evaluation–Experimentation Campaigns (TE²C).

The implementation of Phase II by EDA will be supported by a contractor taking, at high level, the following tasks: planning, site booking, logistics, on-range operations, outcomes of the tests and experiments, and draft rankings to award prizes to the most promising solutions.

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Under the supervision of the line-manager responsible for Defence Innovation, the jobholder will contribute to the Agency’s innovation and experimentation activities under the Hub for EU Defence Innovation. The job holder will lead the technical content and evaluation logic for Command & Control (C2) and Electronic Warfare (EW) related innovation challenges and campaigns, ensuring that experimentation outputs are in support of Member States decision making.

In particular, the jobholder will:

• Challenge definition & technical steering
  • co-validate challenge statements with Member States and relevant stakeholders; ensure alignment with operational demand, constraints (e.g., safety, security, export controls) and realistic test environments;
  • develop and maintain evaluation criteria (and where applicable weightings) to ensure comparability and methodological consistency across tracks.
• Evaluation design and methodological integrity
  • translate C2/EW operational needs into test plans, relevant criteria, and instrumentation/data needs;
  • ensure traceability from challenge to experimentation to evidence to readiness recommendation.
• Quality assurance of testing and acceptance
  • review and pre-approve contractor test plans (test design, metrics, data collection, safety/cyber measures) and verify coherence with the challenge and decision gates;
  • lead technical debriefs with test sites, ranges and end-users; review evidence packs; formulate recommendations for pass/fail/hold decisions and readiness pathways;
• End-user engagement & adoption pull
  • engage military end-users, ranges and test centres to ensure operational realism, credible vignettes, and adoption-oriented outputs;
  • identify integration pathways early (interfaces, CONOPS fit, training/sustainment implications, cyber/safety constraints) and flag blockers to uptake.
• Knowledge capture
  • Contribute to lessons learned, standardised evaluation templates, and continuous improvement of the experimentation methodology relevant to C2/EW.
• take on additional tasks as required in the interest of the service.

 Duties may evolve according to the development of EDA’s structure and activities, and the decisions of EDA management

A. Essential

(1) Professional

The candidate will be required to demonstrate that he/she has:
 

• a University degree (or equivalent academic degree), in a field relevant to the duties, such as engineering, physics, science and technology, operational research, systems engineering;
• at least six (6) years of relevant professional experience, acquired after the award of the academic qualification required as a condition of eligibility, with tasks closely related to the duties described above;
• C2 / EW domain expertise: proven knowledge and experience in C2 systems and/or EW in an operational, capability development, test & evaluation, or system integration context;
• evaluation & test design competence: demonstrated ability to design and run (or technically steer) evaluation methodologies (Measure of Effectiveness (MoEs)/Measure of Performance (MoPs), test plans, evidence generation, decision gates), preferably in contested / degraded environments;
• end-user interface: proven experience working with military end-users and translating operational needs into testable requirements and adoption-oriented recommendations;
• stakeholder coordination: proven experience in coordinating technical inputs across multiple stakeholders (Member States, industry, test centres/ranges, internal services) in an international environment;
• a very good command of written and spoken English.
   

(2) Personal

All staff must be able to fit into the Agency's way of working (see par. 2). Other attributes important for this post include:

• ability to work in a team and independently in his/her area of responsibility;
• ability to work effectively in a multinational environment;
• reliability and capacity to work under pressure with little supervision;
• good communication and organisational skills;
• strong analytical and problem-solving skills;
• excellent interpersonal and negotiation skills;
• results-orientation and strong motivation;
• flexibility and innovativeness;
• genuine commitment to the Agency's objectives;

B. Desirable

The following will be considered an advantage:

• hands-on experience in planning and or executing operational experimentation including exposure to test ranges and instrumentation in C2/EW-relevant settings;
• experience with interoperability and integration of C2 systems (interfaces, data links, standards, cyber, mission networks) and/or EW effects on communications/sensors;
• knowledge of EU defence structures/instruments and experience in EU/international organisations or Member State administrations;
• familiarity with export control/safety/security constraints relevant to defence testing.
• Experience producing adoption-oriented outputs (readiness recommendations, transition packages, evidence-based briefings).