Operational Area Manager

What you will do

The operational area manager is responsible for day-to-day high quality and highly efficient output, according to the customer’s needs.  You motivate and coach your team and you ensure the best training and selection of staff. Together with your team and in close collaboration with your Fab Engineering manager counterpart you enable predictive tool performance and availability, you deliver the required results, and you constantly seek improvements.    

Your industry experience will help you to optimize the way of working of your area in an operational environment. Effective solutions for day-to-day problems regarding resource management, tool performance and delivering value on time are your first focus. Your practical experience is crucial to manage goals, milestones, set the right priorities and ensure high quality processes for your team. You enjoy leading your team with solid knowledge, clear goals and up to date work planning. Being a communicative people manager, you motivate your team to reach challenging milestones. You ensure the daily collaboration with customers as well as equipment suppliers run smoothly. 

Your key responsibilities are: 

• You participate in CAPEX and roadmap discussions, decision-making and programs management.   
• You are in close contact with Fab Engineering management for your area, such that you stay up to date with trends and evolutions in our industry with respect to hardware and applications in both clean rooms.   
• You are responsible for the operational strategy of the area resources. 
• You define and monitor resource budgeting, based on operational needs. 
• You deploy operational excellence in the day to day business in close collaboration with Fab Engineering.  
• You optimise the performance of your team, supporting different projects. 
• You are responsible for identifying, initiating and implementation of operational efficiency improvements. 
• You ensure 24/7 operational continuity in the most effective way.  You follow up of the day-to-day activities. 
• You are responsible for achieving the different targets set within the department: ensure delivering value on time towards our internal and external customers.   
• You manage the team resources to optimally support the requests from various stakeholders. 
• You coach the team resources towards enhanced skill levels. 
• You represent Fab Operations management in corporate projects. 

What we do for you

We offer you the opportunity to join one of the world’s premier research centers in nanotechnology at its headquarters in Leuven, Belgium. With your talent, passion and expertise, you’ll become part of a team that makes the impossible possible. Together, we shape the technology that will define the society of tomorrow.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and proud of our open, multicultural, and informal working environment with ample possibilities to take initiative and show responsibility. We commit to supporting and guiding you in this process; not only with words but also with tangible actions. Through imec.academy, 'our corporate university', we actively invest in your development to further your technical and personal growth. 

We are aware that your valuable contribution makes imec a top player in its field. Your energy and commitment are therefore appreciated by means of a market appropriate salary with many fringe benefits. 

Who you are

You obtained preferably a Master's degree in Engineering or Applied Sciences.  You are an inspirational people manager: You inspire trust and confidence; you empower team members and you are enthusiast to take up challenges and reach ambitious objectives with the team. Former experience in guiding and coaching people is required.  
Preferably, you combine a maximum of the following skills: 

• Having relevant (hands-on) experience in operations way of working in a clean room environment. 
• Communication superstar with an agile mindset: You enjoy sharing knowledge and technical information with comfort and clarity. You can build bridges between different departments and stakeholders (e.g. Unit process development, Integration Engineers, Fab Engineering, Quality, ..). You easily switch from a hands-on and tactical level to a more strategic level.  
• Process & quality driven problem solver: You manage multiple priorities with a proactive “can do” attitude.  Thanks to your result-oriented focus and sense of urgency, you can drive projects to closure in a fast-paced environment. 
• You are stress resistant.   
• Analytical thinker: You quickly detect and define problems. You can set-up a coherent action plans and coach problem solving.  
• You enjoy your work and radiate positive energy around you and your team. 
• You have experience in planning and leading strategic initiatives. 
• You have excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to collaborate across departments in a productive manner. 
• You possess a can-do attitude and an extreme dedication to efficiency. 
• Excellent time management, multi-tasking, and project management skills. 
• A business-minded strategic planner with experience in data analysis and budget management. 
• You have demonstrated strong leadership in a fast paced ever changing operations environment.

Imec is the world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies. The combination of our widely acclaimed leadership in microchip technology and profound software and ICT expertise is what makes us unique. By leveraging our world-class infrastructure and local and global ecosystem of partners across a multitude of industries, we create groundbreaking innovation in application domains such as healthcare, smart cities and mobility, logistics and manufacturing, and energy.  

As a trusted partner for companies, start-ups and universities we bring together 4,500 brilliant minds from over 90 nationalities. Imec is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium and also has distributed R&D groups at a number of Flemish universities, in the Netherlands, Taiwan, USA, China, and offices in India and Japan. All of these particular traits make imec to be a top-class employer. To strengthen this position as a leading player in our field, we are looking for those passionate talents that make the difference! 

IMEC and its affiliates will not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from a candidate. IMEC will consider unsolicited referrals and/or resumes submitted by vendors such as search firms, staffing agencies, professional recruiters, fee-based referral services and recruiting agencies (hereafter “Agency”) to have been referred by the Agency free of charge. IMEC will not pay a fee to any Agency that does not have a prior written agreement with IMEC, validated by its HR department, in place regarding a specific job opening and allowing to submit resumes.