Senior Engineering Manager

About Umicore

Reducing harmful vehicle emissions. Giving new life to used metals. Powering the cars of the future. As a global materials and technology group, we apply our specialist knowledge to offer materials and solutions that are essential to everyday life. We aim to be a clear world leader in materials for clean mobility and recycling and have turned our sustainability approach into an even greater competitive advantage. With ambitions like this, imagine what you could do?

What you will be doing

Umicore is planning to scale up its patented technology for recycling of Li-ion batteries from a pilot scale to a full industrial scale. The scaleup requires significant investment and testing efforts on the pilot scale in order to validate the main process and technology choices. As Senior Engineering Manager, you are responsible to manage and implement the investment program and the testing program for the pilot scale battery smelter in Hoboken. You thereby translate the validation needs of the project team working on the industrial battery smelter into a concrete investment and testing program for the pilot installation. You align investments and tests with all relevant stakeholders including operations of the pilot plant, R&D, commercial... You define and propose the most suitable unit operations and plant lay-out for the allocated scope. You manage the investment projects at the pilot smelter from ideation phase until startup phase. Once investments and testing at the pilot smelter are completed (ca. 2-3 years), you could potentially move as senior engineering manager into the project team that will build the industrial battery smelter.

Your contribution within the BRS business unit

· You translate the validation questions of the industrial battery recycling project team into concrete investments and tests at the pilot battery smelter in Hoboken.

· You coordinate all efforts within the Engineering team during Phase 2 (Concept Engineering), Phase 3 (Basic Engineering) and Phase 4 (Detailed Engineering) for the allocated scope of the to be build industrial plant. You define a project time line for each engineering Phase and report regularly on the progress.

· You coordinate the investment cost projections and provide detailed insights in expected operational costs for the future industrial operations.

· You monitor technology developments in the defined scope via external competitive benchmarking, peer user-network participation, regular supplier contacts, etc. Based upon this research, you assess and select technology providers/partners for specific unit operations.

· You manage your team dynamically in function of the time-scope-budget triangle based on the priority setting of the BRS’ Business Unit. In addition, you coordinate cooperation with external engineering resources efficiently in line with these priorities.

· You report to the Director Engineering of BRS.

Who we are looking for

· You combine a Master’s Degree in Engineering with at least 10 years of engineering experience in the (chemical) process industry.

· You possess strong project management skills from concept, over realization to project closure. You are a good organizer and work in a well-structured manner.

· You are able to take decisions and take the initiative to deliver results in line with customer expectations. You are strongly action-driven.

· You have strong communication & interpersonal skills and have experience in a managerial position where you have coached a technical competent team.

· You are fluent in written & spoken English. Additional EU language is a plus.

What we offer

We aim to lead the way. Not just for our customers, but for our employees too. That is why we strive to create a collaborative environment in which we can all succeed, and a culture through which we can all share ideas, develop our expertise and advance our careers. We engage in building an inclusive work culture that offers equal opportunities for all employees irrespective of their diverse backgrounds. As you would expect from a world-leading organisation, we will also reward your contribution with a competitive salary and benefits. With all this and more, imagine what you could do?