Engineering Operations Area Manager – Fab5 Malaga

Engineering Operations Department 

Our Engineering Operations team is responsible for various pilot production tools and devices, often first versions, sometimes even prototypes. Our equipment and process engineers intensively collaborate with process engineers and equipment manufacturers to identify, execute and evaluate improvement opportunities on our unique pilot production tools. These highly motivated engineers identify preventative actions and assure the correct maintenance and repair of the equipment is guaranteed in the most efficient and cost-effective manner. Our process engineers maintain the processes and develop e.g. backup processes or perform process optimizations. 

What you will do 

Strategic leadership:  

• Develop strategies and business processes, in concert with your counterparts in Leuven, to optimize Fab performance and tool operations to ensure cycle time reduction, higher yield, faster learning speed, etc.  
• Foster a safety culture by enforcing rigorous environmental, health and safety protocols to ensure the wellbeing and continuity of site operations.  
• Manage and build relationships with suppliers and strategic partners to support and drive continuous improvement initiatives. 
• Work closely with other departments to align on customer needs, cost reduction opportunities, process improvements, and production stability. 
• Define and monitor resource allocations according to available budget.

People leadership:  

• Inspire, lead and coach an organisation of team members & team leaders to achieve our objectives.  
• Develop your team by focusing on career development and capability building through ongoing feedback and development planning. 
• Ensure 24/7 operational continuity in the most effective way.  Follow up of the day-to-day activities. 

Technical and operational leadership:  

• Monitor and improve Quality & Process Control standards and drive root cause analysis for process reliability and maturity.  
• Develop short- and long-term plans to grow the capability and capacity of the fab in alignment and support of the R&D business units.  Convert objectives into specific, actionable goals for the group and individual team members. Ensure performance is actively monitored, evaluated, and guided.  
• Drive improvements in Reliability, Uptime, Utilization, Preventative Maintenance, and Automation toward operational excellence in the day-to-day business of the Fab. 
• Monitor operating budgets and implement cost-saving initiatives to optimize overhead and reduce the cost per wafer processed. 
• Lead and direct engineering activities across both R&D and Low Volume Manufacturing (LVM) environments. Ensure high-quality execution of projects, processes, and improvements. 

What we do for you

We offer you the opportunity to join one of the world’s premier research centers in nanotechnology at its headquarters in Malaga, Spain. With your talent, passion and expertise, you’ll become part of a team that makes the impossible possible. Together, we shape the technology that will determine the society of tomorrow.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and proud of our open, multicultural, and informal working environment with ample possibilities to take initiative and show responsibility. We commit to supporting and guiding you in this process; not only with words but also with tangible actions. Through imec.academy, 'our corporate university', we actively invest in your development to further your technical and personal growth. 

We are aware that your valuable contribution makes imec a top player in its field. Your energy and commitment are therefore appreciated by means of a market appropriate salary with many fringe benefits. 

Who you are 

Education, Experience and Technical Competencies 

• Master degree or equivalent in the semiconductor advanced packaging or a closely related discipline. 
• Min. 5 years of experience in people management. 
• Sound experience in machine / operations maintenance, problem solving and project management. 
• Affinity with infrastructure and facilities in an industrial, preferably semiconductor, environment. 
• Strong safety and health awareness. You are familiar with e.g. last-minute-risk assessment methodology. 

Leadership and Personal Competencies 

• Inspirational people manager: You inspire trust and confidence; you empower team members and are enthusiast to take up challenges and reach ambitious objectives. 
• Communication superstar with an agile mindset: You enjoy sharing knowledge and technical information with comfort and clarity. You can build bridges between different departments (Engineering, Operations, EHS, R&D Integration, Facilities) and are able to lead and coach people from a non-hierarchical position. You easily switch from a hands-on and tactical level to a strategic level. 
• Process & quality driven problem solver: You manages multiple priorities with a proactive “can do” attitude. Thanks to being result-oriented and having a good sense of urgency, you can drive projects to closure and to manage many simultaneous small projects/improvement tracks in a fast-paced environment. 
• Analytical thinker: You quickly detect and define problems. You can set-up coherent action plans and coach problem solving. 
• You have excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to collaborate across departments in a productive manner. 
• You possess a can-do attitude and an extreme dedication to efficiency. 
• You have demonstrated strong leadership in a fast paced ever changing operations environment. 

IMEC and its affiliates will not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from a candidate. IMEC will consider unsolicited referrals and/or resumes submitted by vendors such as search firms, staffing agencies, professional recruiters, fee-based referral services and recruiting agencies (hereafter “Agency”) to have been referred by the Agency free of charge. IMEC will not pay a fee to any Agency that does not have a prior written agreement with IMEC, validated by its HR department, in place regarding a specific job opening and allowing to submit resumes.