Senior Technical Program Manager R&D

Nearfield Instruments; Rotterdam; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Nearfield Instruments develops and builds revolutionary high-throughput Scanning Probe Microscopy systems, enabling chipmakers to push semiconductor performance. As Program Manager R&D, you will own a critical, multi-disciplinary R&D program—coordinating people, dependencies, and decisions to turn breakthrough tech into delivered systems.

You will lead the full lifecycle from concept to customer delivery, aligning with the R&D Manager and cross-functional teams to keep scope, timelines, budget,

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience as a Program Manager in high-tech system development.
• Strong leadership and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience delivering complex systems to customers.
• Track record of taking research projects through to end products.
• Technical affinity and ability to translate engineering challenges into plans.
• Excellent problem-solving and communication skills.
• Comfort working in a fast-paced, evolving environment.

Responsibilities

• Leading the end-to-end execution of a complex, multi-disciplinary R&D program central to Nearfield's technology and product roadmap.
• Aligning and guiding cross-functional teams of project managers and technical experts together with the R&D Manager.
• Owning program scope, timelines, budgets, risks, and escalations.
• Collaborating with supply chain and external partners to ensure program readiness.
• Reporting program status and progress clearly to leadership and stakeholders.
• Ensuring continuous alignment with Nearfield's technology roadmap and customer expectations.

Skills

Program management

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Systems delivery

Technical affinity

Communication skills

Problem-solving

Job description

Nearfield Instruments develops and builds revolutionary high-throughput Scanning Probe Microscopy systems that empower the world's leading chipmakers to push the boundaries of semiconductor performance. As our technology and product roadmap grows more ambitious, so does the complexity of getting it from concept to customer. As Program Manager R&D, you will take ownership of one of our most critical, multi-disciplinary R&D programs — orchestrating the people, dependencies, and decisions that turn breakthrough technology into delivered systems.

What you're going to do

You will lead the full lifecycle of a high-impact R&D program, from early concept through to customer delivery. Working closely with the R&D Manager, you align and guide cross-functional teams of project managers and technical experts, and you are the one who keeps scope, timelines, budget, and risk under control when the program gets complex; which it will.

Your main responsibilities include:

• Leading the end-to-end execution of a complex, multi-disciplinary R&D program central to Nearfield's technology and product roadmap.

• Aligning and guiding cross-functional teams of project managers and technical experts together with the R&D Manager.

• Owning program scope, timelines, budgets, risks, and escalations.

• Collaborating with supply chain and external partners to ensure program readiness.

• Reporting program status and progress clearly to leadership and stakeholders.

• Ensuring continuous alignment with Nearfield's technology roadmap and customer expectations.

Who you'll be working with

You will work at the intersection of R&D, engineering, supply chain, and customer delivery, reporting into Andre Verweij and collaborating daily with project managers, system architects, and technical leads across disciplines. Your decisions directly shape how fast, and how well our next-generation metrology systems reach the world's leading chipmakers.

You'll be part of a passionate, collaborative team in a dynamic scale-up environment, where the program you run is treated as business-critical, not just another project on a list.

Who you are

You are a strategic thinker with a hands-on mindset; someone who thrives in complexity and uncertainty, and who leads with clarity and confidence even when the path forward isn't fully defined yet.

You have:

• Proven experience (5 years+) as a Program Manager in high-tech system development, preferably in semiconductor metrology.

• Strong leadership and stakeholder management skills.

• Experience delivering complex systems to customers.

• A track record of taking research projects and technology development through to successful completion and delivery into end products.

• Technical affinity and the ability to translate engineering challenges into actionable plans.

• Excellent problem-solving and communication skills.

• Comfort working in a fast-paced, evolving environment.