Industrialisation & Manufacturing Project Manager

Hydromea; Renens; Remote; CHF 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Hydromea is seeking a production-focused engineer to own the industrialisation plan, coordinate suppliers and manage manufacturing-transfer execution on-site in Renens, Switzerland. You will translate engineering developments into practical production plans, lead supplier onboarding, and ensure documentation, tooling, and processes meet quality, cost, and delivery targets.

This role requires hands-on factory floor work, cross-functional collaboration, risk management, and willingness to travel

Qualifications

• MSc in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Electrical Engineering, or similar.
• 5+ years of industry experience in product development, including a full cycle from concept to production-ready design.
• Mechanical design, prototyping, manufacturing and testing experience.
• Experience in electric motor design—EM analysis, winding, thermal management.
• Experience with injection moulding, overmoulding, resin encapsulation, or polymer processing.
• 3D design proficiency (Fusion360 or equivalent).
• Basic programming skills (Python, embedded).
• Demonstrated ability to multitask and travel for tests and deployments.

Responsibilities

• Lead industrialisation and manufacturing-transfer projects with clear milestones and budgets.
• Coordinate activities across engineering, suppliers, manufacturing partners and internal operations.
• Manage dependencies, risks and outstanding actions; drive issues to resolution.
• Plan prototype builds, pilot production and transition to repeatable manufacturing.
• Report progress, costs, risks and decisions to management and partners.
• Own manufacturing documentation and production readiness, including BOMs and process specs.
• Lead licensed manufacturing projects and coordinate transfer packages with partners.

Skills

Product development

Industrialisation

Manufacturing transfer

Supplier coordination

Mechanical design

Prototyping

3D design

Python (embedded)

Education

MSc in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Electrical Engineering, or similar

Tools

Fusion360

Python

OpenFOAM

CNC/CAM

Job description

Hydromea is a Swiss deep-tech company enabling subsea data harvesting at scale through patented underwater robotics, communication, and thruster technologies. We serve the energy, defence, marine science, and industrial sectors. We're passionate about pushing the boundaries of underwater exploration, ocean discovery and providing our partners with tools for efficient, sustainable operations and critical submerged asset security.

Working closely with our engineering team, you will own the industrialisation plan, supplier coordination and manufacturing-transfer execution. Some of the tasks include setting up and managing suppliers, coordinating industrialisation activities, and leading the implementation of a licensed manufacturing project with an external partner. This is a role for someone with a genuine production background who enjoys organising complex technical work, building practical manufacturing processes and making things happen on the factory floor—not just maintaining project plans.

You will be a key person who ensures that our suppliers and manufacturing partners have the processes, documentation, equipment and training needed to manufacture our products consistently, at the required quality, cost and delivery performance.

What you will do:

Lead industrialisation and manufacturing-transfer projects:

Translate engineering developments into practical industrialisation plans, with clear milestones, budgets, responsibilities and acceptance criteria.

Coordinate activities across engineering, suppliers, manufacturing partners and internal operations.

Manage dependencies, risks and outstanding actions; identify issues early and drive them to resolution.

Plan and coordinate prototype builds, pilot production and the transition to repeatable manufacturing.

Report progress, costs, risks and decisions clearly to management and partners.

Set up and manage suppliers:

Identify, assess and onboard suppliers and manufacturing partners together with engineering and management.

Coordinate requests for quotation, supplier selection and agreement on specifications, lead times and deliverables.

Manage supplier activities covering components, tooling, fixtures, process development and production services.

Monitor supplier quality, delivery, capacity and cost; lead corrective actions where performance falls short.

Maintain clear working relationships and accountability across the supplier network.

Own manufacturing documentation and production readiness:

Coordinate the preparation and release of manufacturing documentation, including bills of materials, assembly instructions, process specifications, inspection plans and test procedures.

Ensure that manufacturing partners work from approved, current documentation.

Establish practical document control, revision management and traceability.

Work with engineering and suppliers to improve manufacturability, assembly efficiency, yield and cost.

Coordinate production-readiness reviews and close outstanding actions before manufacturing release.

Lead licensed manufacturing projects:

Act as Hydromea’s operational project lead for transferring agreed manufacturing processes and know-how to a licensee.

Coordinate the transfer package, partner training, equipment readiness, pilot builds and qualification activities.

Agree and track responsibilities, deliverables and acceptance milestones with the partner.

Ensure that technical information is transferred in a controlled manner, within the agreed contractual scope.

Capture manufacturing feedback and process improvements, and coordinate their review and incorporation with engineering.

Perform audits in a structured manner with subsequent registry and reporting.

Your Qualifications

Required:

MSc in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Electrical Engineering, or similar

5+ years of industry experience in product development, including at least one full cycle from concept through to production-ready design

Mechanical design, prototyping, manufacturing, and testing experience

Experience in electric motor design — electromagnetic analysis, winding specification, thermal management

Experience with injection moulding, overmoulding, resin encapsulation, or polymer processing

3D design proficiency (Fusion360 or equivalent)

Basic programming skills (Python, embedded)

Basic electronics design, assembly, and soldering skills

Demonstrated "can do" entrepreneurial attitude — perseverance in achieving goals

Ability to multitask and prioritise in a dynamic environment

Willingness to travel for tests and deployments

Experience with subsea testing — hyperbaric chambers, sealing design, material behaviour in saltwater at depth

Experience with a full cycle of stage-gate product development

Experience managing external engineering consultancies or research partners

Experience with vacuum potting or 2-component moulding processes

CFD experience (OpenFOAM or equivalent)

CNC / CAM experience

Experience with rapid prototyping and hand tools

Location: On-site in Renens, Switzerland. A highly collaborative, build-fast environment focused on real-world deployment.