Head of Production

Qlayers; Delft; On-site; EUR 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Gross monthly salary €4000- €5400

8% holiday allowance

25 vacation days

Flexible working hours

Pension plan

Tight-knit team

Growth opportunities

Self-development opportunities

Flat hierarchy

Job summary

Qlayers is transforming coating of large industrial assets with robotic technology. The Head of Production will scale a multi-product assembly, set direction, build the team and systems, and unblock risks to enable series production.

You will own production strategy and delivery, build an international supply chain, manage budgets, and partner across Development, Sales and Management to hit growth targets while maintaining quality and cost discipline.

Qualifications

• Proven track record scaling manufacturing or assembly operations.
• Strong financial ownership of costs, budgets, and cost reduction.
• Ability to design scalable production systems (e.g., Assembly Flow).
• Experience negotiating with suppliers and partners.
• Experience building/scaling international supply chains.
• Capability to operate at strategic and execution levels.

Responsibilities

• Define direction and goals to hit production targets with growing volume and product variety.
• Identify and mitigate risks to prevent line stoppages in series production.
• Build the international supply chain to support 2x+ monthly volume across products.
• Establish strategic partnerships (suppliers, contract manufacturers, logistics).
• Own the robot delivery schedule and ensure cross-department alignment.
• Set up and maintain the Assembly Flow framework and single source of truth for production.
• Lead the production team, manage the division budget, and develop leads.
• Drive cash flow communication and cost data to Finance; monitor COGS per batch.
• Interface with Development and Supply Chain on design changes and NAIs.

Skills

Scale manufacturing

Financial acumen

Process design

Supplier negotiation

International supply chain

Strategic leadership

Robotics experience

Job description

Please note that preference will be given to candidates already residing in the Netherlands to ensure a smoother onboarding process. At this time, we are not able to provide relocation support.

About the job

At Qlayers,we’re transforming the way large industrial assets, such as ships and storage tanks, are coated. Our patented robotic technology delivers higher-quality coatings, improves efficiency, and helps reduce the environmental impact of industrial maintenance.

Qlayers' painting robots are assembled internally from 8 core submodules. We’re scaling fast - more than doubling monthly robot output while expanding from one robot type today to two (and potentially three) next year. The Head of Production will own this scale-up end to end: turning a single-product assembly operation into a multi-product, high-throughput production organization, without breaking quality, cost, or delivery.

This is a hands-on leadership role. You'll set the direction for production, build the team and systems to get there, and personally unblock the risks that threaten series production.

What you'll own

Production Strategy & Scaling

• Define the direction and goals that let Qlayers hit its production targets as robot volume and product variety grow;
• Proactively identify and mitigate risks to series production before they become line stoppages;
• Build the international supply chain needed to support 2x+ monthly volume across multiple robot types;
• Establish strategic partnerships (suppliers, contract manufacturers, logistics) that support Qlayers' growth trajectory.

Production Structure & Delivery

• Own the robot delivery schedule and keep all stakeholders aligned on it;
• Design and maintain the "Assembly Flow" framework - the operating system for how robots get built, and how it flexes across submodules and product types;
• Set up and maintain the Division and its working documents as the single source of truth for what's in production;
• Ensure delivery schedules are communicated clearly and kept current across the business and communicate them with other divisions (Development, Sales, Management).

Team & Division Management

• Build, lead, and supervise the production team as it scales with volume and product complexity;
• Set and manage the division's budget;
• Hire and develop the leads needed under each production workstream (COGS monitoring, robot production, production feedback, design freezes & NPI).

Cost & Financial Accountability

• Own communication of cash flow and cost data from robot production to Finance;
• Provide COGS data to Development to drive cost-reduction opportunities;
• Monitor COGS per production batch and hold the organization accountable to targets.

Cross-Functional & Supplier Interface

• Route DFM (design-for-manufacturing) feedback back to Development and into the Assembly Flow;
• Serve as the technical point of contact for suppliers during production together with Supply Chain Manager;
• Set up the design freeze process with Development to protect long-term part availability;
• Determine how new design/engineering changes get integrated into production without disrupting throughput;
• Own new article introduction (NAI) for both parts and assemblies.

What you bring

• Track record scaling a manufacturing or assembly operation - ideally through a volume and/or product-line expansion, not just steady-state operations;
• Strong financial acumen: comfortable owning COGS, budgets, and cost-reduction conversations with Finance;
• Sharp organizational skills - able to build process (like an Assembly Flow framework) from scratch and keep it working as complexity increases;
• Strong negotiation skills for supplier and partnership agreements;
• Experience building or scaling an international supply chain;
• Comfortable operating at both the strategic level (direction, partnerships, risk) and the operational level (delivery schedules, batch COGS, supplier questions);
• Robotics, hardware, or complex electromechanical product experience is a strong plus.

You are someone who

• Leads by example and enjoys working alongside the team;
• Likes building and improving rather than maintaining the status quo;
• Takes ownership and isn't afraid to make decisions;
• Solves problems in a structured and pragmatic way;
• Has a keen eye for quality and continuous improvement;
• Thrives in a fast-moving scale-up where no two days are the same.

We offer

• Gross monthly salary €4000- €5400. The exact amount depends on the seniority of the candidate.
• 8% holiday allowance
• 25 vacation days
• Flexible working hours
• Pension plan
• Tight-knit team
• Growth opportunities
• Self-development opportunities
• Flat hierarchy while still maintaining professional management.