Director, R&D Mechanical Opening Modules, VELUX Innovation Centre

In the VELUX Group, we offer you a world of opportunities and the chance to create a bright future. From the forefront of the sustainable indoor living industry, we enable those who live, work and play under the roof transform their spaces and live a healthier everyday life with more daylight and fresh air.

The VELUX Group is an international, family-owned business with strong financial roots and each year we are able to create real impact by reinvesting in society, our employees and planet through our foundations.
Alongside the rest of our values, “courage” and “mutual respect” define our actions every day and how we wish to contribute to the world.

Director, R&D Mechanical Opening Modules, VELUX Innovation Centre
Østbirk, Denmark

Can you set the direction for our mechanical hardware modules? Do you have experience within systems engineering and leading complex module projects? Are you strong in establishing and managing internal stakeholders and external partnerships? Finally, do you want to be a significant contributor for reaching our ambitious sustainability targets? If so, then we have an exciting opportunity for you!
You and your team will focus on setting module requirements, designing new components, test, validate and ensure strong technical management. The team is responsible for mechanical opening systems, locking devices, and ventilation systems in our core products.
To reach our ambitions strategy and sustainability targets, we will need to think and work in new ways. This means pushing the boundaries for product development with an increased focus on systems engineering, advanced simulation, modularization, and utilization of external partnerships. Especially being able to engage with upstream partners will be key for reaching our sustainability targets.

Your Challenge

You will lead and be responsible for setting and executing the strategic direction within the field of opening modules. This involves guiding senior leadership, ensuring conceptual success, and driving organizational growth. You’ll be leading a team of highly skilled product developers, specialists, and technical project managers. You will act as a strategic advisor and have responsibility for module development for opening modules. We expect you to be a trusted advisor on large New Product Launch projects. You will take on a mentoring and advisory role while proactively developing the needed competencies within the team.

In the coming period, we will focus on developing strategies and systems to become even more innovative and agile in our product development and supporting processes. In the coming years, the department and the VELUX Innovation Center will primarily focus on deliverables closely related to larger new product launch projects. This entails significant development activities, and we have high ambitions. Consequently, VELUX will need to seek new ways of accomplishing its objectives, where especially decarbonization sets new demands on our abilities to develop and collaborate with external partners. This is a unique opportunity to make your mark on a crucial part of our R&D strategy.

The Main Tasks Will Be To:

• Define goals and set priorities within opening modules, while ensuring a clear link to business strategy and support of New Product Launch projects.
• Form strategic direction and support roadmaps based on future customer needs, industry trends, and business objectives.
• Align and communicate with key stakeholders. Ensure buy-in from internal and external stakeholders.
• Explore and evaluate new opportunities based on feasibility, viability, and desirability. Subsequently, conceptualize and materialize these as module projects.
• Ensure efficient execution and timely delivery of module projects.
• Be accountable for agreed deliverables and roadmaps.
• Proactively seek to improve ways of working based on best practices, especially focusing on decarbonization, modularization, simulation and partnerships.
• Identify, develop, and acquire critical competencies within the field.
• Ensure a high degree of motivation and promote and maintain a healthy workplace.

Your key stakeholders will be Senior Leadership in Products & Innovation and Supply & Operations. In addition, you will engage with a wide range of stakeholders across the organization, including suppliers and partners.

Your Qualifications

10+ years of experience in product development and mechanical systems engineering, with a focus on strategic planning and/or relevant business development. It’s important that you have change leadership experience, as strategic change management will be a significant part of your role. You have experience in driving projects in an international organization and setting.

We’re looking for a leader in the true sense of the word, therefore we need you to have:

• An inclusive leadership style, and excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Empathic, emotionally intelligent leadership and an ability to motivate and support colleagues and the team.
• A transformation mindset and leadership ability, and a desire to challenge the status quo and provide solutions for the full realization of the potential in your team.
• Personal impact, the ability to convince on solutions, and demonstrate ownership of the mandate even when facing adversity.
• Passion for best practices within systems engineering and seeking opportunities for enhancing your team’s capabilities.
• A profound ability to build strong relationships with key stakeholders, including executive leadership, business units, and partners, to ensure effective communication, alignment, and support for our initiatives.
• An ability to act as a key influencer and driver of R&D across the matrix organization, effectively collaborating with and guiding teams and stakeholders across functions to align on strategic objectives and ensure cohesive execution of initiatives.
• Ideally, you have experience working with high tensile steel elements, e.g. brackets and mounts. Moreover, experience with design for manufacturing, cost and sustainability are important.
• You communicate effortlessly in English, both verbally and in writing.

Your Opportunities

You will be part of a dedicated team characterized by an informal tone and a healthy sense of humor, working as one team to reach our ambitious goals. We believe in empowering people, and we support this through knowledge sharing, delegating responsibility, and investing in people who strive to make a difference. You will be joining a strong value-based company where commitment, thoroughness, and mutual respect are among the core values, and where teamwork and professionalism are essential to the way we work.

Application

We are looking forward to receiving your application and CV as soon as possible. We will review candidates and have ongoing interviews, so please send your application as soon as possible.

Learn more about the VELUX Group online at www.velux.com, where you can read more about working at our company and what to expect of our recruitment process.

Equal Opportunity Employer
VELUX Residential is fully committed to the concept and practice of equal opportunity in all aspects of employment. To further our goal of equal employment opportunity for all employees and prospective employees, it is the policy of VELUX Residential to recruit, hire, train, and promote persons in all job titles without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, protected veteran status, national origin, sexual orientation, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law. All employment decisions shall be consistent with the principle of equal employment opportunity and only job-related qualifications will be required.

Location: Industrivej 22 Østbirk