Innovation Lead - Electrical & Automation

885 Damen Naval B.V.; Vlissingen; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Holiday pay 8%

27 holidays plus 13 ADV days

Travel allowance

PME-pension 60% employer contribution

Profit sharing

Work from home up to 2 days/week

Bike plan

Company fitness

Job summary

Damen Naval invites an Innovation Lead Marine & Electro to drive technology development for naval vessels. You will shape roadmaps, lead cross-functional teams, and oversee R&D from concept to deployment.

Responsibilities include coordinating with technical specialists, ensuring regulatory compliance, and championing a culture of innovation across Damen Naval. A senior, hands-on leader with global travel willingness is essential.

Qualifications

• Master degree in a relevant technical discipline with 10–12+ years' experience, or Bach. with 12–15 years.
• Proven naval engineering R&D experience in research, development, and innovation.
• Strong knowledge of naval engineering regulations and compliance standards.
• Experience with marine/electrical engineering software tools.

Responsibilities

• Develop and drive innovation roadmaps for marine and electrical domains.
• Monitor emerging technologies and assess potential naval impact.
• Collaborate with internal experts to drive technology integration.
• Provide hands-on technical guidance in product development.
• Lead R&D activities including prototyping, testing, and validation.
• Support implementation of new technologies meeting regulations and safety standards.

Skills

Naval engineering

R&D leadership

Stakeholder management

Regulatory compliance

English proficiency

Education

Master's degree in a technical discipline

Bachelor's degree + 12–15 years experience

Tools

Naval engineering software tools

Job description

We offer you an Ocean of Possibilities. Join our family.

About us Hop aboard Damen Naval; the naval division of the family-owned Damen Shipyards Group, where 12,000 professionals work worldwide. Damen Naval delivers advanced naval vessels to clients all over the globe. By implementing the most innovative technological developments in practice, we continue to push the boundaries of the shipbuilding industry. You can be part of our team! Are you ready for duty?

The role

As Innovation Lead Marine & Electric at Damen Naval, you will play a key role in driving technological innovation and product development within the naval domain. You will be responsible for developing and executing innovation roadmaps focused on marine and electrical engineering technologies, ensuring Damen Naval remains at the forefront of innovation within the naval industry. In this role, you will combine strategic vision with hands-on technical expertise, collaborating closely with technical specialists across the organization to identify, develop, and integrate innovative solutions into naval products and operations. You will lead research and development initiatives, support the adoption of emerging technologies, and contribute to building a strong culture of innovation across Damen Naval.

Key accountabilities

• Develop and drive innovation roadmaps for the marine and electrical engineering domain, including defining objectives, priorities, and timelines.
• Monitor emerging technologies and industry trends within marine and electrical engineering and assess their potential impact on naval products and operations.
• Collaborate with internal technical specialists and cross-functional teams to stimulate innovation, knowledge sharing, and technology integration.
• Provide hands-on technical expertise and guidance within product development and innovation projects.
• Lead and oversee research and development activities, including prototype development, testing, and validation of innovative solutions.
• Support the implementation and integration of new technologies, ensuring compliance with applicable naval regulations, safety standards, and environmental requirements.
• Manage innovation initiatives from concept to execution, including risk management, resource coordination, timeline monitoring, and performance evaluation.

Skills & experience

• Master degree in a relevant technical discipline with at least 10–12 years of relevant experience, or a Bachelor degree with at least 12–15 years of relevant experience.
• Proven experience within the naval engineering domain, specifically related to research, development, and innovation.
• Extensive knowledge of naval and electrical engineering regulations, standards, and compliance requirements.
• Experience working with dedicated marine and electrical engineering research and development software tools.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills combined with a proactive and innovative mindset.
• Excellent planning, organizational, and stakeholder management capabilities.
• Good command of the English language, written and verbal.
• Dutch is considered an advantage.
• Willingness to travel internationally and work abroad when required.

What we offer

• A competitive salary and 8% holiday pay.
• 27 holidays and 13 ADV days.
• Travel allowance of 23 cents per kilometre.
• PME-pension arrangement with an employer contribution of 60%.
• Profit sharing based on company results.
• Flexibility to work from home up to two days a week.
• Additional benefits including a bicycle plan and company fitness.

Damen has 35 shipyards on five different continents and operates in more than 100 countries. We are still growing and that gives you options. You contribute to this growth while benefitting from the diverse development and career opportunities that our company offers. We will continue to challenge you. With our extensive portfolio of products and solutions you will never get bored and never stop learning. We offer you a world of possibilities. Working at Damen means contributing to the highest quality in shipbuilding, with an eye to the future and future generations. We want to make the world a better place by becoming the most sustainable maritime solution provider. For that, we need you. Become part of our family.

We are Damen. We’re a family company that has been building ships for almost 100 years. However, our focus is not on the past, however – we’re looking forward. Our ambition is to become the most sustainable and connected maritime solutions provider there is. To achieve this, we combine digital technology with our philosophy of standardised shipbuilding to offer a portfolio of services that takes care of vessels throughout the entire lifecycle. Working at Damen offers the best of several worlds. Active in more than 100 countries, with over 30 shipyards, we are internationally renowned for quality. And we are still growing, still innovating. Which means we will continue to challenge you. You will never stop learning, and you will never get bored – we promise you that. We offer you an ocean of possibilities. Join our family.