Mait Lead Engineer

40 hours per week Delft | Hybrid About this job We are currently looking for a MAIT Lead Engineer to join the team in Delft . Please note that for this role, presence in Almelo twice per month is required. As an MAIT Lead Engineer, you will have a pivotal role in defining the Manufacturing, Assembly, Integration and Testing processes that complex, high-reliability space optical systems will go through. MAIT Lead Engineer Main responsibilities • Strategic Oversight: Lead the technical MAIT (Manufacturing, Assembly, Integration, and Testing) and verification strategy for the product across its entire lifecycle-from early-stage development to final qualification and client acceptance. • Cross-Functional Collaboration: Serve as the central link between various engineering teams and stakeholders to guarantee seamless product development. • Milestone & Team Leadership: Establish critical integration and verification milestones, driving them to successful completion. Direct a dedicated MAIT team during test campaigns by organizing clear schedules, assigning responsibilities, and ensuring timely delivery. • Requirement Translation: Convert system-level specifications into a practical verification plan, selecting the ideal method for each requirement (e.g., analysis, inspection, demonstration, or testing). • Architecture & Matrix Management: Create and maintain the overall test architecture and verification matrix, breaking down high-level requirements into clear component, subsystem, and terminal-level campaigns. • Advanced Test Definition: Lead the conceptual design of sophisticated test setups and measurement methods required to validate optical, control, mechanical, electrical, and environmental performance. • Technical Guidance: Provide hands-on technical direction for integration, alignment, calibration, and testing protocols, ensuring they are dependable, scalable, and fit for high-reliability space hardware. • Authority & Decision Making: Act as the primary technical authority during all assembly, integration, and testing phases-making definitive calls on test readiness, configuration control, deviations, and troubleshooting. • Design Optimization: Critically review and challenge product designs to maximize testability and alignment efficiency, incorporating valuable lessons learned into next-generation designs. • Anomalies & Continuous Improvement: Oversee the evaluation of test data and non-conformances; spearhead root-cause investigations and implement corrective measures to boost product resilience. • Mentorship & Capability Building: Guide and develop engineers within the MAIT domain, fostering best practices, elevating technical excellence, and strengthening long-term verification capabilities. • Documentation Lifecycle: Take full ownership of the verification documentation process, from drafting initial plans to finalizing comprehensive test reports. • Software & Electronics Validation: Head the verification of embedded software, electronics, and control loops by defining validation methods for stability, interfaces, fault-handling, and overall functional performance. Requirements • Education: A Bachelor's or Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Applied Physics, Systems Engineering, or an equivalent technical field. • Industry Experience: Proven track record in the manufacturing, assembly, integration, and testing of precision-engineered or high-tech systems. • V&V Expertise: Deep experience in the verification and validation (V&V) of complex systems, preferably within highly regulated or high-dependability sectors. • Organization & Coordination: Strong organizational capabilities to coordinate testing timelines, manage resources, and maintain a clear overview of progress. • Rigorous Documentation: A systematic, detail-oriented mindset when it comes to planning, executing, and documenting test activities. • Strategic Engineering: Proven ability to turn abstract system requirements into actionable engineering solutions, including test strategies and verification matrices. • Test Setup Design: Practical experience in designing and utilizing advanced test equipment for optical, mechatronic, electrical, or environmental testing. • Multidisciplinary Insight: A solid grasp of precision alignment, system calibration, and the inherent challenges of integrating multidisciplinary hardware. • Data Analysis & Troubleshooting: Strong skills in interpreting complex test data, managing anomalies, and directing thorough root-cause investigations. • Technical Leadership: The seniority and confidence needed to mentor engineering teams and make sound, technical decisions during high-pressure integration campaigns. • Communication: Excellent English communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical decisions clearly to engineers, management, and external stakeholders. Please note that if you do not hear back from us within 10 days of your application, you may assume that we have selected another candidate we would like to interview for this position. We do our best to get back to you individually; however, due to a high volume of responses, it can be that we have not been able to reject your application in person. We kindly request that recruitment agencies do not contact us regarding this vacancy. We are not seeking assistance and will not be liable for any fees or charges associated with unsolicited CVs or candidate introductions. Any candidates submitted by agencies without prior written agreement will be considered our direct applicants and may be employed without obligation or fee. Are you enthusiastic about becoming our new MAIT Lead Engineer? Apply via our application form, or send your CV and motivational letter directly to . Our story At S[&]T we contribute to a safer life on earth by translating space data into valuable and actionable insights. We oversee data from instruments to application, and apply our expertise within our software frameworks, information products and consultancy. Our society relies on space and scientific instruments for climate change monitoring, navigation, defence and national security, and other crucial services we all use in our daily lives. These instruments produce an enormous quantity of complex data, and our goal is to unlock its value. We have more than 20 years of experience working on instrument calibration, the creation of data quality monitoring tools, the development of real-time data processing frameworks, and the development of application-specific algorithms. With this, we help organisations, governments and industries to strengthen their information position and thereby improve their decision making. We focus on the following domains: Space & Science, Defence & Security, Environment & Sustainability, and High-Tech Consulting. Privacy notice In order to apply for this vacancy you must submit your personal information to S[&]T. Our policy and processing of your personal information are compliant with the GDPR. How to apply Would you like to hear more? Send your CV and motivational letter to or apply directly through our website.