Unit Director Cleantech - Materials and Chemistry

VITO; Mol; Hybride; EUR 160 000 - 200 000; Plein temps

Avantages offerts par ce poste

Company car with charging card

Bonus

Partial remote work

Attractive leave entitlement

Résumé du poste

VITO is seeking an experienced Unit Director Cleantech - Materials & Chemistry to lead strategic growth and societal impact. You will translate scientific excellence into industrial applications, build ecosystems with industry and stakeholders, and drive a multidisciplinary team toward sustainable value creation.

You will shape the unit’s external positioning, report to the CEO, and contribute to VITO’s role as a European reference centre for industrial innovation with strategic autonomy and

Qualifications

• Extensive leadership experience at director or senior management level in industrial/R&D environments.
• Strong international network, with private sector contacts at Flemish/European level.
• Master’s or PhD degree in engineering or science.
• Fluent in English; professional Dutch; other languages are assets.

Responsabilités

• Develop and implement a long-term strategy for the Materials & Chemistry unit, driving circular and climate-neutral initiatives.
• Lead a multidisciplinary team and align with VITO’s executive management; report to the CEO.
• Steer valorisation of research into industrial applications and scalable solutions; manage risk and budget.
• Foster external positioning and partnerships with industry, academia and policy bodies across Europe.
• Oversee operations for ~300 Visioneers and contribute to organization-wide transformation.

Connaissances

Leadership

International network

Strategic thinking

Change management

Formation

Master’s or PhD in engineering/science

Description du poste

For the Materials & Chemistry unit of VITO (approx. 300 employees), we are looking for a Unit Director who will further shape the unit’s strategic growth and impact.

The unit: operates at the intersection of circularity and sustainable industry, with research and innovation focused on cleantech. Specifically critical and strategic raw materials, low-carbon construction materials, plastics recycling and the bioeconomy, Power2Molecules, CCUS and process efficiency.

We are looking for: a visionary and results-driven leader to create a strategy translating scientific excellence into industrial applications, scalable solutions and systemic impact across the entire value chain. The Unit Director strengthens the strategic positioning of the unit, builds strong ecosystems with industry and stakeholders, and leads a multidisciplinary team towards sustainable growth and societal impact.

As a member of VITO’s Executive Management Team, you report to the CEO and play a key role in further positioning VITO as a European reference centre for industrial innovation with societal and economic impact, with strategic autonomy and sustainability at its core.

As Unit Director Cleantech - Materials & Chemistry, you hold final responsibility for the strategic development, performance and growth of the unit, fully aligned with VITO’s strategy to accelerate the valorisation of leading cleantech innovations towards industry and strategic autonomy.

Strategy, vision and external positioning

• You develop a long‑term vision and strategy for the Materials & Chemistry unit, as a lever for a competitive, circular and climate‑neutral industry, and ensure the development of solutions that accelerate European autonomy in energy and critical raw materials.
• You actively promote this vision, both internally and externally, and position VITO as a key player in strategic missions such as transregional circular ports, Power2Molecules, CCUS, defence and SSbD, within the relevant sectors (chemicals, manufacturing, etc.) and among various key accounts in Flanders and Europe.
• Together with the unit’s management team, you ensure the operational implementation of the vision and strategy.

Research excellence, innovation, valorisation and impact

As the person ultimately accountable, you create the context in which research can develop into concrete applications and societal impact. You enable your teams and managers to achieve:

• Scientific excellence: collaboration with academic partners and breakthroughs in technological development.
• Accelerated valorisation of research into industrial and defence applications and scalable solutions. You ensure that innovations not only work from a technical perspective, but also create value within industrial value chains.
• In addition, you help shape Flemish, Belgian and European policy frameworks through scientifically grounded policy advice.

The further development of VITO’s unique combination of:

• In‑depth scientific expertise
• State‑of‑the‑art laboratory and pilot infrastructure
• Derisking technologies into economically viable solutions
• State‑of‑the‑art life cycle and techno‑economic analyses
• In‑depth data & AI capabilities that accelerate research
• Further improving the R&D and valorisation cycle and strengthening VITO’s product and service portfolio, from the MATCH unit towards VITO‑wide programmes.

Leadership, organisation and transformation

• You provide direction to and inspire multidisciplinary teams of managers and experts.
• You organise the unit to ensure strong vertical and cross‑functional collaboration as well as high performance.
• You play an active role in VITO’s further organisation‑wide transformation towards greater impact through industry‑driven valorisation, and actively seek synergies with the other units (energy, water, spatial applications, health).
• You safeguard a culture of collaboration and excellence; integrity and diversity; wellbeing and safe working practices.

Operations and risk management

• You hold final responsibility for achieving the unit’s scientific results, impact objectives, budget and financial results.
• Together with your management team, you are responsible for the operational leadership of approximately 300 Visioneers within the unit.
• Together with the Executive Management Team, you contribute to the strategic direction of an organisation‑wide community of approximately 1,400 employees.
• Together with the Executive Management Team, you make well‑founded strategic and operational decisions across VITO.
• You identify and manage financial, safety and environmental risks and proactively take corrective action.

Profile

We are looking for an experienced, entrepreneurial and inspiring leader who thinks strategically, has a strong external profile, preferably internationally, and who is able to drive change internally while also providing stability throughout the transformation.

You bring:

• Extensive leadership experience at director or senior management level, preferably within an industrial, technological or R&D‑intensive environment.
• A strong and active international network, particularly within the private sector (chemical and non‑ferrous industries, technology, investments), complemented by relevant contacts at Flemish and European level.
• A Master’s or PhD degree in engineering, science or an equivalent field.
• Strategic insight into themes such as cleantech, circularity, materials, chemistry and industrial transition. Academic experience is considered an asset.
• The ability to connect complex ecosystems and align stakeholders around a shared ambition.
• Fluency in English, professional proficiency in Dutch; other languages are considered an asset.

Demonstrable experience with:

• Valorisation of research and technology, including the optimal valorisation of IP
• Scaling and derisking innovations towards industrial application
• Public‑private partnerships

You are:

• A visionary leader who provides direction and delivers results.
• A bridge‑builder who connects science, industry and policy.
• Impact‑driven, entrepreneurial and decisive.
• A strong communicator who is able to convince and engage others.
• Values‑driven and convinced of the role innovation plays in building a sustainable and autonomous European industry.

Offer

VITO offers you a director‑level role with exceptional breadth, societal relevance and strategic impact. You will have the opportunity to lead a prominent unit within an organisation that brings together science, technology and industry around some of the most relevant transitions of our time.

You will join an environment with unique laboratory and pilot infrastructure, strong scientific expertise, international ecosystems and a clear ambition to accelerate the transition of technology towards industrial application.

VITO offers you:

• An attractive remuneration package
• A company car with charging card
• Bonus
• Possibility to work partially from home/ partially remote
• A highly attractive leave entitlement

Information

For more information, please contact Jonathan Boeykens of Motmans & Partners at 0470191137.