Product Portfolio Manager

790 Damen Shipbuilding & Cooperation B.V.; Gorinchem; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Damen Academy

27 vacation days + 13 ADV days

Pension scheme

Travel expense reimbursement

Job summary

Damen Offshore & Specialized Vessels is seeking a Product Specialist to lead and develop the Design & Proposal Engineers for an assigned product segment. You will own the product standards, roadmap, and governance while ensuring proposals meet customer needs across markets.

Role requires strong leadership, ship design expertise and ability to coordinate across Sales, Tender Management and Engineering. Travel to customers and shipyards may be required.

Qualifications

• Academic background in shipbuilding or naval architecture or marine engineering.
• Experience in product development or proposal development in a complex technical environment.
• Strong understanding of ship design and standardization principles.
• Experience with international tenders or export environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the Design & Proposal Engineers for the assigned product segment.
• Own product segment standards, roadmap and governance to align with market needs.
• Oversee technical proposals, ensuring feasibility, quality and timely delivery.

Skills

Ship design understanding

Staff leadership

Proposal development

Stakeholder management

English communication

Education

Academic background in Shipbuilding/Naval Architecture/Marine Engineering

Job description

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

ABOUT US

Damen Offshore & Specialized Vessels (OSV) designs, builds and delivers complex maritime projects for markets such as defense & security, offshore, public transport and dredging. We operate in an international, multidisciplinary environment and work closely with customers, suppliers, subcontractors, engineering teams and shipyards around the world. Within the Product Group Defense & Security, we focus on the development and sales of advanced military and governmental vessels. Our portfolio includes Offshore Patrol Vessels, auxiliaries, combatants, frigates, corvettes, landing platforms and other specialized platforms that combine proven Damen standards with customer-specific requirements. We work on large, engineering-to-order projects where innovation, reliability, standardization and controlled execution are key. To strengthen our product organization, we are looking for a Product Specialist who can translate market and customer needs into technically feasible, competitive and standardized product solutions — and who can lead and develop the Design & Proposal Engineers working within the assigned product segment.

THE ROLE

As Product Specialist Defense & Security, you are responsible for the development, management and maintenance of an assigned product portfolio segment. You own the product segment standards, product roadmap, portfolio baselines and technical product governance, while ensuring that our products remain aligned with market developments, customer needs, Damen requirements and applicable risk and compliance standards. In this role, you are not only a product authority, but also a leader of the assigned Design & Proposal team. You lead, coach and develop the Design & Proposal Engineers assigned to your product segment, ensuring capability, performance, quality and predictable delivery of product and proposal activities. You work at the interface between Product, Sales, Business Development, Tender Management, Engineering and management. You ensure that proposals within your product segment are technically feasible, commercially relevant, aligned with product baselines, and delivered with predictable quality and timing in support of Sales and tender processes. The role is part of the Defense & Security product organization and is intended for one of the assigned product segments, such as Auxiliaries or OPV / Combatants. Each Product Specialist owns a product segment and leads a dedicated Design & Proposal team.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Own and manage the assigned product portfolio segment, including product baselines, reference designs, standard specifications, product knowledge and roadmap development.
• Translate market developments, customer feedback, Sales Area input and project lessons learned into clear product improvements and development priorities.
• Maintain product standards and configuration control, while balancing customer-specific flexibility with standardization and long-term portfolio integrity.
• Safeguard the product philosophy and ensure that proposal and project deviations do not unintentionally erode the approved product baseline.
• Oversee the preparation and delivery of technical proposals in cooperation with Sales, Tender Management and relevant engineering stakeholders.
• Take ownership of technical proposal quality within the assigned product segment, including consistency with product standards, review readiness and sign-off support.
• Ensure proposal content reflects customer requirements, product standards, scope boundaries, assumptions, exclusions, risks and required approvals.
• Advise Sales, management and other stakeholders on product fit, feasibility, bid/no-bid considerations, standard versus custom solutions, development requirements, risks and assumptions.
• Lead and manage the assigned Design & Proposal Engineers as direct reports, including objective setting, prioritization, workload planning, performance expectations and capability development.
• Conduct regular coaching and feedback discussions, support development planning and contribute to annual review input in line with company procedures.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, knowledge transfer and retention of the assigned Design & Proposal capability.
• Drive continuous improvement by capturing lessons learned and implementing improvements into product standards, templates, proposal methods, product baselines and ways of working.
• Ensure all product, proposal and people-leadership activities are executed in line with Damen governance, HSSEQ, ethics, export-control, compliance and approval processes.

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

• An academic level of education or academic working and thinking level, preferably in Shipbuilding, Naval Architecture, Marine Engineering or a comparable technical discipline.
• At least 10 years of relevant work experience in shipbuilding, naval architecture, marine engineering, product development, proposal development or a comparable complex technical environment.
• Strong understanding of ship design, customer requirements, technical trade-offs, configuration control and standardization principles.
• Experience with business development, Sales support and tender or proposal processes, preferably in an international defense, security or export environment.
• The ability to act as a recognized product authority and translate specialist knowledge into clear consequences for product development, proposals and portfolio decisions.
• Experience in leading, coordinating or coaching technical or proposal teams.
• Experience with direct people management, including objective setting, performance feedback and people development, is preferred, but not a necessity.
• The ability to manage workload and priorities across tenders, product development and improvement work, and to identify resource constraints or priority conflicts in time.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and the ability to work effectively across multiple locations, including Gorinchem, Vlissingen and Abu Dhabi.
• Excellent communication skills in English.
• Dutch language skills are considered an advantage.
• Willingness to travel to customers, shipyards and other Damen locations when required.

COMPETENCIES

You are a strategic and structured product professional who can combine technical depth with commercial awareness. You create clarity in complex situations, make well-founded decisions and know how to balance customer focus with product standards, technical feasibility, risk management and long-term portfolio development. You communicate clearly with different stakeholders, bring structure to product and proposal activities and are able to align Sales, Business Development, Product, Engineering and project interests. As a people leader, you coach others, set clear expectations and actively support the development of the assigned Design & Proposal Engineers. You create a working environment in which people understand their priorities, receive useful feedback and can grow their product and proposal capabilities. You take ownership, remain calm under pressure and are comfortable working in an international, multidisciplinary and compliance-sensitive environment.

WHAT WE OFFER

• A salary in line with the market and our collective labour agreement Metalektro. The exact salary will depend on your knowledge and experience.
• A dynamic international working environment focused on technology and innovation;
• At least 27 vacation days and 13 additional ADV days;
• A strong focus on professional and personal development, among others through our Damen Academy;
• An active social network with events and sports activities within the Damen Group;
• Participation in a pension scheme;
• Travel expense reimbursement for commuting between home and work.

Why join Damen Offshore and Specialized vessels?

At Damen, you’ll have the opportunity to develop yourself in an international, dynamic work environment. We offer a workplace where innovation, teamwork, and personal growth are at the forefront. Together, we’re shaping the future of the maritime industry!

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.