Research Program Manager in London

PhysicsX is a deep-tech company with roots in numerical physics and Formula One, dedicated to accelerating hardware innovation at the speed of software. We are building an AI-driven simulation software stack for engineering and manufacturing across advanced industries. By enabling high-fidelity, multi-physics simulation through AI inference across the entire engineering lifecycle, PhysicsX unlocks new levels of optimization and automation in design, manufacturing, and operations — empowering engineers to push the boundaries of possibility. Our customers include leading innovators in Aerospace & Defense, Materials, Energy, Semiconductors, and Automotive.

The Research Program Manager works across PhysicsX's most important research initiatives — from foundation model development to methods research — partnering with research leaders to turn ambitious research goals into clear plans and sustainable progress. You will own the operational backbone of our research programmes — planning, milestones, dependencies, and reporting — so that scientists and engineers can stay focused on the science. Working shoulder-to-shoulder with the Head of Research and technical leads, you will sit at the intersection of Research, Delivery, Product, and external partners, keeping momentum across multiple parallel efforts and connecting the technical work to strategy and business outcomes. This is a London-based role with 2–3 days per week in our central office.

What You’ll Do

• Act as a trusted sounding board to research leads on the plans, priorities and decisions that matter most, synthesising, problem-solving and driving solutions forward.
• Create clarity and resolve ambiguity, help translate high-level objectives into smaller manageable objectives.
• Own the planning and delivery cadence for research streams — crystalise and maintain roadmaps with clear milestones, owners, and decision points, working closely with research leads and technical partners.
• Run effective operating rhythms and rituals (stand-ups, planning sessions, reviews, and retrospectives) with clear agendas, captured decisions, and tracked follow-ups.
• Track progress against plans, surface risks and dependencies early, and drive them to resolution before they become blockers.
• Foster collaboration across Delivery, Product, Engineering, and Operations, to align priorities, secure resources, and remove friction for the research team for key streams.
• Act as a translator and bridge between the technical and the strategic direction — maintain a single source of truth for research project status, scope, and reporting, and create clear and concise materials that communicate the work done to internal and external stakeholders.
• Drive strategic research collaborations and partnerships — coordinate timelines, deliverables, and communications with external research partners and customers.
• Support resourcing and capacity planning across concurrent research efforts, balancing near-term delivery with longer-term research objectives.
• Help coordinate research outputs — papers, conference attendance, internal demos — so deadlines and commitments are met.
• Review or contribute to high-level output where possible to improve messaging (e.g. in blogs).
• Coach individuals through complex challenges and ensure the conditions are in place to enable high-performing teams to produce pioneering work.

What You Bring

• 3+ years of experience in program management, strategic operations, or consulting, ideally in a research, R&D, deep-tech environment, or other complex content work.
• Experience partnering with leaders in fast-paced environments, acting as a sounding board and thought partner on important projects, initiatives and decisions.
• Comfort operating in ambiguous settings with shifting context — you bring structure without slowing people down and enjoy environments where you can implement creative and innovative ideas which drive organisational performance.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills; able to develop high-trust relationships and influence without authority, adapting your message for audiences from individual contributors to executives.
• Strong problem-solving skills — the ability to analyse issues, identify root causes, and drive practical solutions quickly.
• Attention to detail and commitment to high-quality output, while keeping in mind the bigger picture and adjusting accordingly.
• Enough technical literacy to engage credibly with researchers and engineers — you can follow technical discussions, understand dependencies, and ask the right questions.
• A background in a quantitative, scientific, or engineering field is a plus.
• Familiarity with modern project-management and collaboration tooling (e.g. Notion, Linear, GitHub).

Nice to Have

• Experience managing research programmes involving machine learning, simulation, or scientific computing.
• Experience coordinating external research partnerships, grants, or academic collaborations.
• Knowledge and experience in utilising coaching techniques to foster high-performance teams.
• Exposure to a high-growth, scaling technology company.

Why Join PhysicsX?

• Build what actually matters.
• Learn alongside exceptional people.
• Influence over hierarchy.
• Sustainable pace, long-term ambition.

We value diversity and are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of sex, race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, disability, age, sexual orientation or gender identity. We strongly encourage individuals from groups traditionally underrepresented in tech to apply.