Engineering Director - Building Automation

Priva; De Lier; On-site; EUR 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Priva is seeking an experienced Engineering Director to lead the Building Automation engineering organization and drive development and delivery of our products. You own end-to-end engineering performance, set strategy, ensure quality and delivery, and balance customer value with technical sustainability.

You’ll lead hardware, embedded and cloud teams, guide architects, and build a high-performing organization with strong leadership.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in software or product development, with at least 5 in an engineering management or director role or equivalent.
• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent.
• Technical experience in embedded systems, cloud platforms or complex IoT products.
• Proven track record delivering complex, multi-team products to quality standards.
• Experience building engineering organizations: hiring, development, accountability, and elevating engineering excellence.
• Leadership with radical ownership and accountability for results.
• Outcome-based mindset.
• Strong systems thinking connecting product, architecture, quality, delivery, and commercial constraints.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Proven track record or strong affinity in using AI to improve productivity in product development.

Responsibilities

• Define engineering strategy aligned with company and product strategy.
• Provide technical leadership, guide trade-off discussions, and resolve cross-team impediments.
• Own predictable delivery of product outcomes balancing speed, quality and sustainability.
• Build quality standards, test strategy, automation, security, and release readiness.
• Define OKRs and KPIs for the domain and drive continuous improvement.
• Drive modern engineering practices, automation and AI to improve delivery and efficiency.
• Ensure alignment of capacity and cost with priorities.
• Build a high-performing engineering organization with strong leadership and accountability.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Stakeholder management

AI in product development

Systems thinking

Communication

Radical ownership

Outcome-based mindset

Delivery leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Software or Electrical Engineering

Tools

Embedded systems

Cloud platforms

IoT products

Job description

We are looking for an experienced Engineering Director to lead the engineering organization for Priva Building Automation and drive the successful development and delivery of our products.

Who are we?

Priva is a dynamic and innovative multinational company with 16 branch offices on all continents and almost 600 dedicated colleagues. We are passionate about tackling global challenges like food security, energy transition, and water management. Our mission, "Creating a climate for growth," means we aim to empower our customers to thrive and make the world a better place through our solutions in horticulture and building automation.

Building Automation is one of Priva's four business verticals, delivering the advanced climate control technologies behind comfortable, energy-efficient buildings. As the Engineering Director, you own end-to-end development, delivery, engineering quality and engineering performance. You are ultimately accountable for the domain’s engineering performance: operational excellence, product quality, sustainable technical decisions, organizational capability, and budget.

The role sits within Priva's Product Development organization and reports directly to the CPTO. You lead the Building Automation engineering organization, spanning hardware, embedded and cloud engineering, quality, and project and delivery management. Together with the Product Director, you balance customer value, commercial priorities, technical sustainability, quality, and delivery risk.

As the Engineering Director, you own end-to-end development, delivery, engineering quality and engineering performance. You are ultimately accountable for the domain’s engineering performance: operational excellence, product quality, sustainable technical decisions, organizational capability, and budget.

What you own

• Engineering strategy for the domain: Define the engineering and technical strategy aligned with company and product strategy.
• Technical leadership: You help teams navigate hard technical problems, guide trade-off discussions, and resolve cross-team impediments. You support architects, team leads, and engineers in reaching effective and sustainable technical decisions, when required.
• Delivery: Own the predictable delivery of product outcomes, balancing speed, quality and long-term sustainability.
• Quality across the lifecycle: Build quality from the start through clear standards, test strategy, automation, security, serviceability and evidence-based release readiness.
• Outcomes and metrics: You define OKRs and KPIs for the domain that align with the company's strategic objectives and use them to drive decisions and improvement.
• Operational excellence: Drive modern engineering practices, automation and AI to improve delivery, quality and efficiency, ensuring consistent adoption of the operating model.
• Capacity and cost: Ensure engineering capacity and investment are aligned with priorities and used effectively.
• People, performance and growth: Build a high-performing engineering organization with strong leadership, clear accountability, and the capabilities needed for the future. Drive performance, succession, and talent development.

Requirements.

• 10+ years in software or product development, of which at least 5 in an engineering management or director role, or equivalent.
• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent experience.
• Technical experience in embedded systems, cloud platforms or complex IoT products.
• A track record of delivering complex, multi-team products predictably and to the expected quality standards
• Experience building engineering organizations: hiring, personal development, designing accountability, and raising the bar for engineering excellence.
• Leadership with radical ownership: you take responsibility for results, surface problems early, and drive decisions through to closure.
• Outcome-based mindset.
• Strong systems thinking, with the ability to connect product, architecture, quality, delivery, organizational design and commercial constraints.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Proven track record or strong affinity in using AI to improve productivity of the product development organization.

What do we offer?

• Opportunity to shape both the technical future and team culture at a tech company with a strong impact.
• Competitive compensation and benefits package, including a pension plan.
• A healthy work-life balance: flexible working hours, 30 holiday days per year, with the option to purchase more.
• Learning and development opportunities with personal budget for professional growth.
• Healthy cafeteria options and a free on-site fitness center with CrossFit, Pilates, Spinning classes, table tennis and football.