Senior Blade Engineer – Wind Turbine Operations Technology

Vattenfall GmbH; Kolding; On-site; DKK 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Vattenfall GmbH seeks a Senior Blade Engineer to shape the reliability, safety, and lifecycle performance of rotor systems across its wind portfolio. You will balance fleet-wide strategy with hands-on problem solving, defining maintenance strategies and inspection needs while collaborating with colleagues across Europe.

The role involves leading technical investigations, evaluating new technologies, and communicating complex topics to diverse stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field.
• Significant wind blade lifecycle experience including design, inspection, and maintenance.
• Fluent English communication, both written and spoken.

Responsibilities

• Define technical requirements for blade inspections, repairs, and monitoring.
• Assess risks and support data-driven decisions for the fleet.
• Optimize maintenance strategies and asset management plans.
• Lead investigations and RCAs for blade failures and performance issues.
• Collaborate with engineers, suppliers, and operations across Europe.
• Evaluate and implement new blade technologies and inspection methods.

Skills

Blade/rotor engineering

Cross-functional collaboration

Technical leadership

English proficiency

Education

Bachelor/Master in Mechanical Engineering or related

Tools

IEC standards

Root Cause Analysis

Structural health monitoring

Job description

Vattenfall is looking for a Senior Blade Engineer with broad rotor and blade knowledge for our Business Area Wind within the WTG Systems Engineering department. If you are interested in a job with potential, possibilities, and want to be a part of an organization with special focus on Renewables, you may be the person we are looking for. You will be collaborating with colleagues located across the various European locations.

The WTG Systems Engineering department is the technical WTG knowledge centre within Business Area Wind, setting the standards and guidelines as well as being embedded within our projects, both through the development and implementation phase and later taking over the support to the operations as backoffice. On the technical level the department covers all engineering aspects of the WTG.

The challenge

As a Senior Blade Engineer in WTG Engineering, Operations Technology, you will shape the reliability, safety, and lifecycle performance of the rotor systems across Vattenfall’s operational wind portfolio. You will combine deep technical expertise with fleet-wide strategic influence, turning operational experience, risk assessments, and technical investigations into practical engineering decisions.

You will be a trusted technical partner, strengthening collaboration, knowledge sharing, and an inclusive working environment. Working closely with engineering, asset management, operations, and external suppliers, you will translate specialist expertise into coordinated solutions across the organization.

The role combines fleet-level asset management with hands‑on technical problem‑solving. You will support rotor systems throughout their operational lifecycle by shaping maintenance strategies, defining inspection and repair requirements, improving performance, managing technical risk, and evaluating new technologies.

Continuous improvement is at the core of this position. You will identify opportunities to enhance maintenance strategies, improve asset performance, reduce operational risk, and deliver greater long‑term value from our renewable assets.

What you'll do

This role offers a unique opportunity to move beyond individual projects or site‑level support and take a fleet‑wide perspective on blades and rotor systems. As one of Vattenfall’s technical authorities in this field, you will influence maintenance strategies, risk management, and technology adoption across a diverse operational wind portfolio.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Define technical requirements for blade inspections, repairs, monitoring systems, and maintenance activities
• Assess technical risks and support data‑driven decision‑making across the fleet
• Optimize maintenance strategies and asset management plans
• Maintain blade‑related OPEX assumptions, budgets, and cost models
• Support supplier selection, contract development, and technical performance evaluations
• Lead technical investigations and Root Cause Analyses (RCA) for blade and rotor‑related failures and performance issues
• Evaluate, test, and implement innovative technologies incl. inspection and repair solutions
• Share lessons learned and contribute to continuous improvement initiatives across the organization

Success in this role means helping to reduce operational risk, improve technical availability, optimize maintenance costs, and ensure technical learnings are effectively transferred across Vattenfall's wind fleet.

The position includes occasional international travel to wind farms, supplier facilities, technical workshops, and investigations. Expected travel activity is typically less than 25 days per year.

Qualifications

What we're looking for

You are an experienced engineer with deep technical expertise in wind turbine blade and rotor systems, combined with a passion for improving asset performance throughout the operational lifecycle.

We believe you will bring:

• A degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Materials Engineering, Wind Energy, or a related discipline
• Significant experience within the wind energy industry, preferably covering multiple stages of the blade lifecycle, including design, manufacturing, inspection, repair, and operations
• Strong knowledge of blade degradation mechanisms, structural integrity, inspection methodologies, and repair techniques
• Experience in leading technical investigations and Root Cause Analyses
• The ability to communicate complex technical topics clearly to both technical and non‑technical stakeholders
• Experience in working effectively across multidisciplinary teams and influencing technical decisions
• Professional proficiency in written and spoken English

It will be an advantage if you also have:

• Offshore wind experience
• Experience developing or blade maintenance strategies
• Experience with structural health monitoring systems
• The ability to adapt effectively to changing operational environments, procedures, and digital tools
• Familiarity with IEC standards relevant to blades and rotor systems
• Experience working with OEMs, service providers, certification bodies, and other technical stakeholders

Additional Information

What We Offer

We offer a challenging and rewarding role in an international and collaborative environment where technical expertise is highly valued, where you will have the opportunity to:

• Influence blade reliability and innovation across a large and diverse renewable energy portfolio
• Take a key expert role within Offshore Engineering and contribute to strategic technical decisions
• Work with some of the industry's most challenging blade and rotor‑related topics
• Collaborate with highly skilled colleagues across Europe
• Develop your technical expertise and professional network in a growing renewable energy business
• Enjoy attractive employment conditions and excellent opportunities for personal and professional development

At Vattenfall, knowledge sharing is fundamental to how we work. Our "Ask & Share" culture encourages collaboration, learning, and continuous improvement.

Location

Kolding

At Vattenfall we are convinced that striving for diversity helps building a more profitable, efficient and attractive company. Therefore we seek a harmonious balance of employees in terms of age, religion, gender identity & expression, sexual identity, disability and ethnic background.

The security of Vattenfall and its employees is essential. For that reason, a pre‑employment screening will be part of your recruitment process. The screening is based on the role you will fulfill within Vattenfall and will be performed by a third party, DISA Global Solutions AB.

Energy is our contribution to quality of life – day after day. With around 20,000 colleagues Vattenfall provides comprehensive electricity and heating offerings to several million customers in northern Europe. For the work ahead we need people who are fully dedicated to our customers and to a sustainable society – people like you.

Company Description

Vattenfall is a European energy company with approximately 21 000 employees. For more than 100 years we have electrified industries, supplied energy to people’s homes and modernized our way of living through innovation and cooperation. We are looking for talented individuals who, in addition to their passion for their own role, also have strong team spirit and want to contribute to supporting a meaningful corporate mission.

Business Area Wind is responsible for Vattenfall’s Onshore and Offshore Wind as well as other non-hydro Renewable activities like solar PV and batteries. Today we develop, construct and operate wind generation in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. In addition, we have a clear strategy to develop our solar PV and battery operations further.