Configuration Lead Design & Engineering

Configuration Lead Design & Engineering Nearfield Instruments Design Rotterdam, Netherlands Posted on Jun 10, 2026 Job description As Configuration Lead, you are the central owner of product configuration integrity across the full lifecycle of our semiconductor equipment. You bridge engineering, manufacturing, and service by ensuring that every product variant is defined, controlled, and traceable, from concept through customer delivery and field operation. You are a change driver: you don't just administer processes, you improve them. You lead a team of engineers responsible for configuration management, engineering practices, PLM engineering data management. You will work on highly complex, precision instruments where configuration errors have real consequences, for yield, for safety, and for customer uptime. You'll have the mandate to mature our configuration practices as we scale, and direct access to the engineers and leaders who make product decisions. This is a role for someone who cares deeply about getting it right, and who can bring others along on that mission. What you'll do Team Leadership & Development • Lead, coach, and develop a team of configuration engineers and specialists, fostering a high-performance culture focused on quality, ownership, and continuous improvement • Set clear objectives, priorities, and development plans; conduct regular performance reviews and provide ongoing feedback • Build and scale the team in line with organizational growth, ensuring the right capabilities and capacity are in place Configuration Management • Own and maintain the configuration baseline for all assemblies, subassemblies, and top-level product structures • Define and enforce configuration identification, control, status accounting, and auditing (CMII/EIA-649 principles) • Ensure that as-designed, as-built, and as-maintained configurations are consistent and fully traceable • Manage product variants and option structures in collaboration with systems engineering and product management PLM & Data Governance • Administer and develop the PLM system (e.g. Teamcenter, Windchill, Arena) as the single source of truth for product structure, BOMs, and documentation • Define and govern PLM workflows, naming conventions, numbering schemes, and release processes • Drive PLM adoption across mechanical, electrical, and software engineering teams • Identify and resolve data quality issues; continuously improving the health of product data Change Leadership • Lead the Product Change process end-to-end: intake, impact assessment, approval routing, implementation, and closure • Balance speed and control - ensuring changes reach production and field without causing configuration drift or supply chain disruption • Coach engineers and other stakeholders on writing clear, complete change requests and assessing downstream impact Cross-functional Collaboration • Work closely with Systems Engineering, D&E system function teams, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain, and Service to align configuration strategy with business needs • Support new product introduction (NPI) by establishing configuration structures early in development Job requirements What you bring • BSc or MSc in Mechanical Engineering or a related technical discipline • 5+ years of experience in configuration management, preferably in high-tech capital equipment, semiconductor, or precision manufacturing • Demonstrated ownership of a PLM system (Teamcenter, Windchill, Arena, or equivalent) - not just as a user, but as a process owner or administrator • Deep familiarity with engineering change processes and the discipline to drive them to closure • Experience with role in Change Control Board • Strong understanding of BOMs, drawing release, and document control • Ability to influence without direct authority; you earn credibility through expertise and follow-through • Fluent in English; Nice to have • Experience with CMII, EIA-649, or AS9100 configuration management standards • Background in semiconductor equipment, lithography, metrology, or vacuum systems • Exposure to software or electrical configuration alongside mechanical