Senior Director Digital & Technology and Head of Digital Products & Engineering

EPC-Production BV; Heerenveen; On-site; EUR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company Car

Work-from-home allowance

Internet allowance

Bike leasing option

Pension plan

Bloom up

Job summary

Sharp is seeking a senior leader to shape our global digital engineering capabilities and drive digital transformation. You will build and scale a high‑performing team across digital product management, software engineering, data, AI and platform engineering, and set the organization design, talent strategy, and governance necessary for sustainable execution.

You will own the strategy, roadmap and portfolio for enterprise digital products, translate business opportunities into charters and

Qualifications

• 12+ years of progressive experience across digital products, software engineering, architecture, or technology leadership.
• Experience leading enterprise product engineering and digital transformation across multi-site or global environments.
• Strong expertise across enterprise software product engineering, cloud platforms, data/analytics, AI and scalable platform patterns.
• Experience in regulated industries and governance, such as GxP, validation, data privacy and cybersecurity.

Responsibilities

• Lead and scale a global digital product management, software engineering, architecture, data, AI and platform engineering teams.
• Own strategy, roadmap and portfolio for enterprise digital products aligned to business priorities.
• Define architectures, delivery plans and investment cases for reusable platforms and APIs.
• Establish product-management disciplines including discovery, prioritization, design, delivery and adoption.

Skills

Team leadership

Digital product leadership

Software engineering

Architecture

Data & AI

Platform engineering

Cybersecurity collaboration

GxP / regulated environments

Education

Bachelor's or Master’s in IT

Tools

Azure cloud

APIs & microservices

Job description

If you are passionate about combining technology, product thinking, and people leadership to deliver meaningful business impact, we would like to hear from you. In this role, you will have the opportunity to shape Sharp's global digital engineering capabilities and play a key part in its digital transformation.

Key responsibilities

• Build, lead and scale a high-performing global team across digital product management, software engineering, architecture, data, AI and platform engineering.
• Establish the organization design, talent strategy, hiring, performance management, leadership development, succession planning and culture required to create sustainable internal execution capability.
• Develop leaders and technical talent across geographies while creating clear accountability, engineering standards and effective collaboration across internal teams and strategic partners.
• Own the strategy, roadmap, and portfolio for enterprise digital products and reusable platforms aligned to Sharp's growth, customer, manufacturing, quality, and productivity priorities.
• Translate business opportunities into clear product charters, target outcomes, architecture direction, delivery plans, and investment cases.
• Establish product-management disciplines spanning discovery, prioritization, design, delivery, adoption, lifecycle ownership, and measurable value realization.
• Create reusable capabilities, shared services, data products, and integration patterns that can scale across business units, regions, and sites.
• Partner with enterprise architecture, cybersecurity, data, applications, quality, and business leaders to maintain a coherent global technology ecosystem.
• Build and lead a high-performing internal product engineering capability across architecture, software development, integration, quality engineering, and platform operations.
• Define pragmatic reference architectures for cloud-native applications, APIs, microservices, data platforms, mobile experiences, and AI-enabled solutions.
• Establish disciplined secure software development lifecycle, DevSecOps, CI/CD, testing, observability, release management, documentation, and support practices.
• Remain close enough to architecture and engineering decisions to challenge designs, remove delivery barriers, and ensure solutions are scalable, supportable, and secure.
• Make clear build, buy, extend, and partner decisions while retaining internal ownership of product strategy, architecture, intellectual capital, and technical standards.
• Lead digital solutions across manufacturing intelligence, line visibility, connected equipment, IoT/IIoT, process parameters, electronic-record workflows, planning and scheduling, quality, and customer collaboration.
• Partner with Operations, Engineering, Quality, Regulatory, Cybersecurity, and site teams to embed GxP, validation, data integrity, privacy, security, and IT/OT requirements from design through operation.
• Move high-value prototypes and proofs of concept into governed enterprise products with clear ownership, adoption plans, operational support, and measurable business outcomes.
• Serve as the Digital Engineering & Technology partner to Commercial and Clinical leadership, participating in operating rhythms, engaging directly with sites and shop floors, and translating business needs into an actionable digital roadmap.
• Balance local regulatory, customer, process, and operating realities with global standards and platforms; provide visible ownership for prioritization, escalation, delivery transparency, and value realization.
• Accelerate enterprise value-creation priorities, by converting opportunity concepts into executable products, releases, adoption, and realized benefits.
• Define and track product outcomes, OKRs, delivery health, adoption, risk, product economics, and business value; communicate progress clearly to executive stakeholders.
• Reduce avoidable vendor dependency and repeated external delivery costs by building internal capability, reusable assets, strong technical governance, and disciplined sourcing.
• Help shape and lead a globally distributed engineering model, strategic partner and potential future digital capability-center talent.
• Establish and lead enterprise capabilities across AI, Generative AI, Data Science, advanced analytics and machine-learning engineering, including responsible-AI governance, scalable platform patterns and disciplined model lifecycle management.
• Convert AI, data and analytics opportunities into secure, governed products that generate measurable commercial, operational, manufacturing and quality outcomes.
• Own the digital products and engineering portfolio, associated investment priorities, delivery operating model and budget, ensuring that technology investment produces measurable value and reduces avoidable external-vendor dependency.

Profile

• Preferably a Master's or Bachelor's degree in IT, minimum HBO (higher professional education) working and thinking level 12+ years of progressive experience across digital products, software engineering, architecture, or technology leadership
• Experience leading enterprise product engineering and digital transformation across multi-site or global environments
• Strong expertise across: Enterprise software product engineering and solution architecture Microsoft Azure or comparable cloud-native platforms APIs, integrations, microservices, enterprise data, and analytics platforms AI and Generative AI product patterns, governance, and enterprise adoption IoT/IIoT, connected manufacturing, shop-floor data, and Industry 4.0 solutions DevSecOps, CI/CD, automated testing, observability, and secure engineering practices Product management, user-centered design, discovery, road mapping, and adoption ERP, MES, QMS, eBR, and other regulated manufacturing-system integration patterns, including GxP, validation/assurance, data integrity, privacy, and cybersecurity
• Proven success moving products from incubation or prototype through scale and sustainable operation
• Experience building and leading distributed, cross-functional engineering teams
• Strong vendor, partner, commercial, and technology-cost management experience
• A hands-on product and engineering leader who can move fluently from strategy to architecture and delivery
• A product thinker who starts with user, customer, site, and business outcomes rather than technology for its own sake
• Credible with executives, operators, quality leaders, engineers, architects, and software delivery teams
• Experienced in regulated industries such as pharmaceuticals, life sciences, healthcare, manufacturing, or other complex environments
• A strong builder who can attract, mentor, and scale diverse teams across countries and organizational boundaries
• Pragmatic, commercially aware, and comfortable operating in a fast-paced, high-accountability, value-focused environment
• Willing to travel to Sharp Locations for short periods (depending on the location)

Offer

At Sharp, we strive to create a work environment where all employees can maximize their potential.

We offer a versatile and challenging position in a dynamic workplace, with numerous career development opportunities.

You can expect a suitable salary package, supplemented with a range of benefits, such as:

• A full-time position with diverse responsibilities
• Company Car
• Work-from-home allowance
• Internet allowance
• Bike leasing option
• Pension plan
• Bloom up

'Wil jij werken bij een internationale contractverpakker en leverancier van klinische proeven en hierbij mee helpen het leven van patiënten wereldwijd te verbeteren?' Dan kan Sharp jouw volgende werkgever worden. We zijn een internationale speler op het gebied van het verpakken van farmaceutische producten met vestigingen in de Verenigde Staten, Verenigd Koninkrijk, Nederland en België. Bij ons kom je terecht in een groeiend bedrijf dat bijdraagt aan de levenskwaliteit van patiënten wereldwijd en werk je binnen een enthousiast team met verschillende disciplines. We streven er naar een dynamische werkomgeving te creëren waarin alle medewerkers hun vaardigheden optimaal kunnen gebruiken en creëren tal van doorgroeimogelijkheden. #OurWorkMatters Jouw Sharp reis begint hier! Kijk voor meer informatie over Sharp ook eens op onze LinkedIn en Twitter.