Program Manager (Interim 9-12 months)

Job description

About Aquablu

Aquablu builds smart hydration systems that replace bottles, coolers, and the guesswork around office hydration. Refill, flavor, and track, all from one system.

We're now building our next chapter: a company-wide program that runs through commercial, marketing, product, and operations at once. The milestones are locked. The plan that connects them isn't built yet.

That's the job.

The Role

You run a workgroup of discipline leads and report to two executive sponsors. You own the plan, the meeting cadence, and dependency and risk tracking across every function. The product isn't yours. Everything that has to line up around it is.

• Build the high-level plan between a handful of locked milestones, and keep it honest.
• Work hands-on with each lead to turn their workstream into a clear roadmap with milestones in Asana. You make plans legible, not just tracked.
• Run the steering rhythm: set each meeting's focus, decide who needs to be in the room, force decisions that have stalled.
• Track cross-functional dependencies and risks. Escalate to sponsors early, without drama.
• Drive open commercial and strategic questions to closure with the leads who own each piece.

This role offers a contract for 9 months initially, with the possibility of extension. Freelancers are also welcome.

Who You Are

• You've taken a proposition to market end to end: commercial, marketing, ops, and product, together.
• Commercially literate. You hold your own in a pricing or channel discussion. You don't just take the minutes.
• Senior enough to push heads of department. Hands-on enough to sit down and build the roadmap with them.
• Fluent in Asana or a comparable work management tool. You set the structure others follow.
• You create structure in ambiguity. If you need a defined scope to start, this isn't your role.
• Scale-up pace. Decisions in days, not steering-committee cycles.

What We’re Looking For

• 8+ years in program or project management, including at least 3 leading cross-functional or company-wide initiatives.
• A track record of taking a product or proposition to market end to end, across commercial, marketing, product, and operations.
• Direct experience managing plan, cadence, and escalation with C-level or executive sponsors.
• Advanced working knowledge of Asana or a comparable work management tool (Monday, Jira, Wrike).
• Fluent in English. Dutch is a plus.
• Based in or able to work hybrid from Amsterdam.
• Available to start immediately for a 9-12 month interim engagement, with potential for extension.
• Prior experience in a scale-up or high-growth environment.

What We Offer

• 🌴 26 paid holiday days
• 📈 High percentage of Equity through our Aquablu for All plan — everyone shares in what we’re building
• ☀️ Beautiful and bright office in Amsterdam (Houthavens)
• 🌱 Healthy (heavily discounted) lunches
• 💪 Urban Sports Club membership
• 🚆 Travel compensation >10km
• ☀️ Quarterly team events at our HQ in Amsterdam (Houthavens)
• 👴 A pension plan by Zwitserleven.
• 💧 Endless amount of our very own flavoured water!