Lead Industrialization Engineer

Destinusgroup; Hengelo; On-site; EUR 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Destinus in Hengelo seeks a Lead Industrialization Engineer to drive automation, robotics, and digital tooling across production and test lines. You will lead a team of industrialization engineers, selecting and integrating automated equipment, PLCs, and sensor systems, and connect the floor to MES and data pipelines for smarter operations.

This hands-on leadership role blends hardware and software, requiring strong English and a bias for action on the production floor.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechatronics, Automation, Electrical, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.
• Strong experience in industrialization, automation engineering, or manufacturing engineering within aerospace, defense, automotive, or another complex hardware environment.
• Proven experience specifying, integrating, or programming automated equipment, robotics, or PLC-based systems in a production or test environment.
• Understanding of how shop-floor equipment connects to digital systems (MES, SCADA, data pipelines) and what it takes to make that connection reliable.
• Strong understanding of lean manufacturing principles, line balancing, and Theory of Constraints / bottleneck management.
• Experience with routing documentation, MBOM structures, and translating process design into production-ready documentation.
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, electrical/controls schematics, and technical specifications.
• Experience leading technical projects or teams and coordinating across engineering, controls, and production functions.
• Strong hands-on problem-solving skills and willingness to spend time directly on the production floor.
• Professional working proficiency in English. Dutch is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead industrialization engineering activities and provide technical direction to engineers, with a strong focus on automation and digitalization of production and test processes.
• Identify manual, repetitive, or error-prone steps and lead the design and rollout of automated solutions to replace them.
• Specify, select, and integrate automated equipment, robotics, PLCs, and sensor-based systems for production and test cells.
• Own the architecture connecting shop-floor equipment to MES, data pipelines, and station-level software so data flows automatically.
• Lead the industrialization of new products and engineering changes into production, collaborating with NPI, Design Engineering, and Data & Validation teams.
• Apply lean manufacturing and Theory of Constraints to identify bottlenecks and target automation where it adds value.
• Define and maintain routing documentation and station-level work content to reflect automated and manual steps.
• Partner with software, controls, and electrical engineering to bring automation projects from concept to running floor equipment.
• Use production data to identify improvements and drive throughput, quality, and labor efficiency.
• Mentor engineers and build automation capability across the team.
• Collaborate with Production, Production Engineering, Data & Validation Engineering, Quality, and Supply Chain to keep initiatives on track.

Skills

Industrialization engineering

Automation engineering

Team leadership

On-floor problem solving

Lean manufacturing

MES/SCADA knowledge

Electrical schematics

Reading engineering drawings

English proficiency

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Mechatronics/Automation/Electrical/Mechanical Engineering/Computer Science

Tools

Robotics

PLC programming

SCADA

Data pipelines

Job description

About the Role

Imagine this. As we scale production in Hengelo, manual, repetitive work on the floor needs to become automated, connected, and data-driven. As Lead Industrialization Engineer, you will lead the team responsible for bringing automation, robotics, and digital tooling into our production and test lines - designing the systems that let us build more, with fewer manual steps and better data at every station.

This is a hands-on leadership role at the intersection of hardware and software. You will lead a team of industrialization engineers, drive the selection and integration of automated equipment and PLC/robotic systems, and connect the floor to the digital systems (MES, data pipelines, station-level software) that make it run smarter.

At Destinus, we are revolutionizing the defense industry with cutting-edge Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Our innovative technologies are designed to meet the unique demands of modern defense operations, delivering unparalleled speed, precision, and cost effectiveness. Destinus partners with government agencies and defense organizations worldwide to provide advanced solutions for mission-critical operations, enabling a new era of efficiency and technological superiority. Join us in shaping the future of defense with groundbreaking aerospace innovations.

What You'll Do

• Lead industrialization engineering activities and provide technical direction to industrialization engineers, with a strong focus on automation and digitalization of production and test processes

• Identify manual, repetitive, or error-prone steps across subassembly and main production lines and lead the design and rollout of automated solutions to replace them

• Specify, select, and integrate automated equipment, robotics, PLCs, and sensor-based systems for production and test cells

• Own the architecture connecting shop-floor equipment to digital systems - MES, data pipelines, and station-level software - so line and station data flows automatically

• Lead the industrialization of new products and engineering changes into production, working closely with NPI, Design Engineering, and Data & Validation Engineering

• Apply lean manufacturing and Theory of Constraints principles to identify bottlenecks and target automation and digitalization where they create the most value

• Define and maintain routing documentation and station-level work content, ensuring automated and manual steps are correctly represented

• Partner with software, controls, and electrical engineering functions to bring automation projects from concept to validated, running equipment on the floor

• Use production and equipment data to identify improvement opportunities and drive measurable results in throughput, quality, and labor efficiency

• Mentor industrialization engineers and help build automation and digitalization capability across the team

• Collaborate closely with Production, Production Engineering, Data & Validation Engineering, Quality, and Supply Chain to keep automation initiatives on track

Requirements

What You'll Need

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechatronics, Automation Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field

• Strong experience in industrialization, automation engineering, or manufacturing engineering within aerospace, defense, automotive, or another complex hardware environment

• Proven experience specifying, integrating, or programming automated equipment, robotics, or PLC-based systems in a production or test environment

• Understanding of how shop-floor equipment connects to digital systems (MES, SCADA, data pipelines) and what it takes to make that connection reliable

• Strong understanding of lean manufacturing principles, line balancing, and Theory of Constraints / bottleneck management

• Experience with routing documentation, MBOM structures, and translating process design into production-ready documentation

• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, electrical/controls schematics, and technical specifications

• Experience leading technical projects or teams and coordinating across engineering, controls, and production functions

• Strong hands-on problem-solving skills and willingness to spend time directly on the production floor

• Professional working proficiency in English. Dutch is a plus.

Who You Are

You are a hands-on technical leader who sees automation and digitalization as the path to a better production line, not just a project. You are equally comfortable discussing a robot cell's motion program and the data pipeline that reports on it, and you take ownership of automation initiatives from concept through to a running, trusted system on the floor.