Lead with vision. Shape the future of Engineering

As the Director of Engineering at Royal SMIT Transformers B.V., you will lead the entire engineering function, providing strategic direction, ensuring executional excellence, and fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and collaboration.

You will act as a key bridge between the technological vision — set by the Technical Director and SGB-SMIT Group R&D — and the executional capabilities of our engineering organization. Your mission: translate vision into reliable, scalable, and future-ready engineering operations that deliver value across the business and ensure sustainable growth.

You’ll collaborate closely with cross-functional stakeholders including Operations, R&D, Sales, Project Management, Supply Chain, QA, and Field Services (including Service Unit support) to ensure high-quality, customer-focused engineering output.

Your Impact

As Director of Engineering, you are a key driver of innovation, execution, and technical excellence at Royal SMIT Transformers. You shape the engineering vision, lead a high-performing organization, and ensure that our transformer solutions are robust, future-ready, and aligned with business goals.

Your leadership will accelerate product development, improve operational efficiency, and strengthen our position as a global technology leader in the transformer industry.

Key responsibilities include:

Strategic Direction & Leadership
Define and execute a long-term engineering strategy; lead and develop engineering managers and specialists; foster a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Technical Oversight & Standardization
Ensure robust design practices, technical compliance, and design for manufacturing, quality, and safety. Drive standardization to improve consistency, cost-efficiency, and scalability.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Partner with Operations and Field Services to ensure smooth handovers and shop floor support. Work closely with R&D to scale innovations and support Sales and Project Management with technical solutions.
Performance & Process Excellence
Monitor and improve engineering KPIs (e.g. cycle time, design quality, cost). Drive adoption of tools like DFMEA, simulations, and design reviews. Lead digitalization and engineering transformation initiatives.
Customer & Compliance Focus
Ensure engineering deliverables meet customer expectations and industry regulations. Engage in technical discussions with key customers and stay ahead of trends and standards in transformer technology.

Your background:

You are a visionary leader who combines strategic thinking with a strong sense of accountability. You inspire teams, foster cross-functional collaboration, and consistently raise the bar for excellence. With your empathy and organizational awareness, you connect people and ideas to drive long-term impact.

Building on this mindset, your background reflects the depth and breadth of expertise required for this role:

Master’s or Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering (or equivalent technical field)

Minimum of 10 years in engineering leadership roles within industrial or manufacturing environments
Proven experience leading multidisciplinary teams and delivering large-scale engineering projects
Deep understanding of transformer design and standards (IEC, IEEE), and relevant engineering tools
Strong leadership, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills

What we offer:

At Royal SMIT Transformers, you will have a responsible job with plenty of opportunities for personal development. We offer a challenging and varied position within a leading company in the transformer industry. You will play a key role in the development of innovative solutions within the industry.

We also offer an attractive package of employment conditions

We’re happy to discuss the terms of employment, including salary, with you during the interview process
27 days of leave and collective ADV days
A PME pension scheme
A lease car
A variable bonus of 20%
Tax benefits through our FiscFree program

Why Royal SMIT?

At Royal SMIT, you step into the future of energy supply, where we focus on power transformers and secondary installations. Our modern production facility in Nijmegen is a model of innovation and quality. We contribute to the generation and distribution of electrical energy worldwide, and that has an impact! You will immediately feel at home in our professional and collegial working environment. We are proud of our craft and look forward to building a sustainable future together with you.

Are you enthusiastic?

Interested in the role? Then respond via the ‘apply’ button. Do you have any questions or would you like to discuss the details? Please contact our Recruiter Niek at niek.sterenborg@sgb-smit.group or call +316 12 35 72 40.

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