Senior Software Development Project Manager

📅Start date: January 2026 at the latest

🕒Full-time

📍Location: Bruges (3 days on-site) – occasional trips to Brussels and Ghent

🌍Languages: Dutch & English

🔎 About the Role

We are looking for an experienced Senior Project Manager specialized in custom software development for a long-term strategic assignment based in Bruges.

⚠️Only candidates with hands-on experience managing custom software development projects will be considered. We are NOT seeking project managers with backgrounds limited to ERP/CRM package implementation or integration.

You will join the IT organization to support a large strategic program requiring strong coordination across multiple teams. Several project managers are being added to the portfolio — you will be one of them.

Mission Context

You will lead a multi-year, strategic software development program. The first project focuses on payroll and related services, later expanding to other domains across the organization. Your role will be to coordinate teams, create insight into performance and bottlenecks, and help drive optimizations.

🎯 Your Responsibilities

1️⃣ Project Management

• Lead end-to-end software development projects, from design to delivery.
• Coordinate multiple teams and manage interdependencies.
• Oversee phases, milestones, and rollouts.
• Collaborate closely with the business project manager.
• Guide developers, testers, PO’s, DevOps, and other stakeholders.
• Manage scope, resources, and budgets.
• Handle risk, issue, and change management.
• Create visibility into performance and pain points.

2️⃣ Service Ownership

• Safeguard product/service quality and continuity for major clients.
• Translate client needs into concrete solutions.
• Monitor performance, usage, and customer satisfaction.
• Manage the lifecycle of internally developed software.
• Identify optimizations, new features, and improvements.
• Act as the main point of contact for product- and service-related questions.

3️⃣ Product Management

• Contribute to product strategy and roadmap.
• Define product requirements based on customer needs and market input.
• Work closely with development, support, and sales teams.
• Optimize product positioning and market fit.

👤 Candidate Profile

Experience

• 6+ years as a Project Manager in custom software development (not software package implementation).
• Proven experience with complex bespoke software in enterprise environments.
• Experience in service management and high-level client interactions.
• Strong background in Agile/Scrum.

Technical Skills

• Understanding of backend development and Java environments.
• Knowledge of deployments, production flows, risk management, change logs, and team dependencies.
• Familiarity with Jira, MS Project, Confluence, or similar tools.

Soft Skills

• Strong stress resilience.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to manage resistance and complex stakeholder landscapes.
• Leadership, coordination, and organizational strength.
• Analytical mindset and problem-solving skills.
• Solid change management capabilities.