Senior Group Leader - Electronics

Job Mission

Guide a team of 20–35 electronics engineers in designing, integrating, and validating complex electronic systems that power the most advanced machine equipment in the world. You will work within a large and dynamic R&D environment in Eindhoven (+/– 350 colleagues), balancing ongoing project performance with strategic improvements to people, processes, and technical capability. Your leadership ensures a thriving workplace where engineers can excel, and the electronics competence evolves toward future needs.

Your Role

As Senior Group Leader, you will combine technical leadership, people development, and strategic competence ownership. You will grow engineering talent, elevate the quality of electronics engineering, and strengthen cross‑disciplinary collaboration across the organisation (strength through collaboration).

Key Responsibilities

• Leadership Lead a group of ~20–35 electronics engineers specialising in: Connectivity design (cabling, interfaces, harnessing, EMC compliance), Electro‑mechanical design (sensors, actuators, PCB‑mechanical interactions, environmental robustness), Electronic integration and validation (sub-system integration, functional performance, reliability testing)
• Project Execution You contribute to project execution through effective leadership of your team. You ensure the quality of all deliverables and serve as the first point of escalation for resolving discipline‑related bottlenecks.
• People Management & Development Recruit, onboard, coach, mentor, and evaluate engineers at academic level. Support career development and ensure a safe, motivating, and high‑performing team culture.
• Competence Management Own and grow the electronics competence and match allocation with the program needs. Continuously improve engineering processes, toolchains, and design methodologies—ensuring robust electronics solutions with high manufacturability, reliability, and serviceability.
• Cross‑Disciplinary Collaboration work closely with mechanical, software, mechatronics, and system engineering teams to ensure timely, competitive, and serviceable solutions. Enable smooth integration of electronics into complex high‑precision systems used into manufacturing.

Your Profile

We seek a technically strong, people‑oriented leader with a pragmatic mindset—someone who can drive strategy while guiding engineering excellence.

The ideal candidate offers:

• Leadership Track Record At least five years of experience leading technical teams or groups of engineers in an R&D environment.
• Proven Electronics Expertise Experience in electronics design and integration, including areas such as: Connectivity engineering, EMC/EMI, electro‑mechanical components, PCB/system integration, reliability testing, electronics qualification, and issue resolution.
• Semiconductor Environment Experience: Familiarity with semicon equipment, high‑tech machinery, or cleanroom production/test facilities.
• System & Conceptual Thinking: Ability to translate system concepts into realistic, incremental development steps.
• Change Leadership Comfortable driving technical and organisational improvements from concept to implementation.
• Adaptability Thrives in fast‑paced engineering environments and can navigate changes effectively.
• Organisational Efficiency Skilled at resource planning across multiple facilities and projects, and capable of introducing structured, scalable engineering processes.

Working at VDL ETG T&D means working at an innovative, entrepreneurial company where 'strength through cooperation' is key. We value a collegial, pleasant working atmosphere. Besides challenging work and nice colleagues we also offer you: