Senior Project Manager

Senior Project Manager, R&D

Dream Photonics Inc. | Vancouver, BC | Full-time | On-site

Compensation: $120,000 to $160,000 CAD per year, depending on experience

About Dream Photonics

Dream Photonics is a deep-tech startup based in Vancouver, BC, developing advanced manufacturing technology for next-generation photonic systems. We are developing PICTORTM, a manufacturing platform that uses precision 3D printing to create high-efficiency, low-loss optical connections for photonic integrated circuits. Our technology addresses one of the central bottlenecks in advanced photonics: how to reliably connect light into and out of chips at scale.

Our work is directly connected to the future of AI data centres, optical modules, high-performance computing, quantum technologies, sensing, and defence. As AI infrastructure pushes beyond the limits of conventional electronics, photonics is becoming essential for moving data faster, more efficiently, and with lower power. Dream Photonics is helping make that transition possible by rethinking how optical interconnects are designed, manufactured, and packaged.

Backed by angel, venture capital, and strategic investors, and supported by active customer engagement, and government funding programs, we are scaling from an R&D team into a product company. We move fast, build technology with real-world impact, and team members meaningful ownership of the problems they solve. If you are excited by the intersection of optics, semiconductors, 3D printing, and advanced manufacturing, Dream Photonics is a place where you can help define the future of photonic hardware.

The Role

We are looking for a Senior Project Manager, R&D to help our R&D organization execute with greater clarity, cadence, and focus across a growing set of technical projects.

You will work directly with the Director, R&D and the technical team to plan and drive R&D projects, make project status visible, identify risks and dependencies, and support timely decisions on priorities, resources, and tradeoffs.

This role is suited to someone who can lead project execution without relying on formal reporting authority. You will not have direct reports; instead, you will create the structure, cadence, visibility, follow-up, and escalation paths that help technical contributors and leaders move work forward.

This is a strong fit for someone who has managed complex technical or R&D projects in hardware-oriented environments and understands how to blend agile cadence with conventional hardware project management in practice.

What You Will Do

• Define, implement, and operate a lightweight project planning and execution process for R&D projects;
• Work with the Director, R&D and technical team members to convert complex, ambiguous objectives into practical plans, milestones, owners, deliverables, risks, dependencies, and decision points;
• Drive daily and weekly project cadence across multiple R&D projects, including action tracking, follow-up, escalation, and closure;
• Coordinate project resource planning across people, priorities, timelines, equipment, vendors, technical dependencies, and cross-project tradeoffs;
• Identify priority conflicts, execution constraints, resource gaps, dependencies, and decision points early enough for effective action;
• Support clear R&D decision-making through lightweight dashboards, status summaries, project plans, and decision-support materials;
• Facilitate meetings and decision forums that produce clear decisions, tradeoffs, actions, owners, dates, and follow-up;
• Define and operate a practical blend of agile / iterative cadence and hardware project management to R&D work, including design reviews, build cycles, chip tape-outs, test plans, procurement lead times, external dependencies, stage-gate decisions, while avoiding common execution failure modes;
• Establish, track, and manage project budgets ranging from $50K to $1M+, ensuring all deliverables are executed within allocated financial constraints while proactively mitigating cost variances;
• Support a culture of execution consistent with a commercial, venture-backed, early-stage startup;
• Help the team overcome obstacles without creating unnecessary process overhead.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering Physics, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Systems Engineering, Applied Physics, Physics, Materials Science, or a related engineering or applied science discipline;
• 5+ years of project or program management experience in a technical, R&D, engineering, or product development environment;
• Proven ability to deliver complex technical or R&D projects through ambiguity, changing priorities, unresolved dependencies and evolving deliverables, with successful outcomes;
• Hardware project management experience, including demonstrated experience with design, build, test, procurement, external dependencies, or technical review cycles;
• Demonstrated experience applying agile / iterative development methods and conventional hardware project management practices, in technical or R&D environments, including a practical understanding of where these methods succeed, fail, or require adaptation;
• Ability to create practical project-management operating models, project structures, dashboards, status summaries, and follow-up systems;
• Strong written and verbal communication with technical teams, senior leaders, executives, and cross-functional stakeholders;
• Strong meeting facilitation skills, including the ability to drive clarity on decisions, tradeoffs, actions, owners, dates, and unresolved issues;
• Competence with common project management and collaboration tools.

Preferred Qualifications

• 7+ years of relevant project or program management experience;
• Experience managing a range of hardware, photonics, semiconductor, deep-tech, software, advanced manufacturing, robotics, medical devices, aerospace, or other complex engineering environments;
• Software project management experience, particularly in technical or R&D environments; a strong asset, but not required;
• Experience leading R&D teams through transition from research mode to commercial execution;
• Experience in a startup, early scale-up, or fast-moving R&D organization;
• Experience creating, improving and operating practical project-management processes where none exist, without adding unnecessary bureaucracy;
• Familiarity with stage-gate, agile, lean, scrum, kanban, or hybrid product development methods;
• Experience coordinating work across R&D, product, operations, vendors, partners, external customers, and senior stakeholders;
• Experience with technical documentation, design reviews, test plans, build reviews, engineering change control, or release readiness;
• PMP, Scrum, Agile, or similar certification, provided it is accompanied by practical execution experience.

Personal Attributes

We are looking for someone who brings:

• Strong organization and planning;
• Sound judgment;
• Clear verbal communication;
• Ability to resolve conflicts and align people without formal authority;
• A collaborative, team-oriented working style;
• Adaptability in a changing technical environment;
• Practical leadership in ambiguous technical environments.

Location and Work Model

This is an on-site role based in Vancouver, BC.

How to Apply

Send your resume and a brief note describing your interest in the role to: ***email_hidden***

Use the subject line: REQ-2026-02 - Senior Project Manager, R&D

Team Building

Equity, diversity and inclusion are essential to our company’s growth. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the BC Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Métis, Inuit, or Indigenous person.

Dream Photonics is considering candidates at both the Project Manager and Senior Project Manager levels. Please apply to the requisition that best matches your experience, and apply only once.

Final level will be based on experience, scope of prior work, and fit with the role.