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Senior R, D & I Project & Program Manager

Location: 

Olen, BE

Business Unit:  Electro-Optic Materials

 

About Umicore

Powering the cars of today and tomorrow. Reducing harmful emissions. Giving unique properties to high-end applications. Giving new life to used metals. As a global advanced materials and recycling group, we develop, produce, and recycle materials for a better life.

 

About Electro Optic Materials

Power in space. Vision at night. Coatings thinner than human hair. Umicore is a world leader in material solutions for the space, optics and electronics sectors – enabling every day cutting-edge technologies. We guarantee our customers secure access to supply, plus recycling technologies that give materials a new lease of life. To produce materials with even higher performance, and provide recycling to new markets, we cannot stand still. We need to find new ways to do things, discover new solutions and develop new processes. Which is where you come in.

 

Your Key Accountabilities

Electro-Optic Materials is executing multiple strategic growth programs across Infrared Optics, Substrates, High-Purity Electronics, Ge76 and Recycling.

As MET Program Manager, you translate the metallurgy roadmap into executable programs and take end-to-end ownership of the strategic initiatives already defined. Your role goes beyond coordination and follow-up: you lead the programs, drive decisions and execution, and personally deliver selected workstreams where your contribution is needed to move them forward.

You combine strong project and program management capabilities with the ability to align technical, operational and business stakeholders. You regularly zoom out to maintain the integrated view, priorities and business impact, and zoom in to understand the technical and operational detail, resolve issues and ensure effective delivery.


Main responsibilities:

Program leadership

  • Own, shape and maintain the integrated MET roadmap and translate it into executable programs.
  • Take end-to-end responsibility for strategic programs across multiple growth platforms.
  • Translate business priorities into concrete project portfolios, execution plans and clear decisions.
  • Define scope, milestones, deliverables, resources and accountabilities, and adapt them as programs evolve.
  • Maintain the overall program perspective while regularly engaging in the detail needed to challenge assumptions and move execution forward.

Governance and execution

  • Establish fit-for-purpose program governance that enables timely decisions and effective execution.
  • Actively manage progress, risks, budgets, resources and interdependencies rather than only reporting on them.
  • Drive prioritization, resolve issues and ensure that decisions are translated into action.
  • Lead management reviews and steering committees with clear recommendations, trade-offs and escalation points.
  • Drive strategic initiatives from concept through industrial implementation and personally execute selected workstreams where this accelerates delivery.

Cross-functional alignment

  • Create alignment and drive coordinated execution across R&D, Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain and Business Development.
  • Connect technical development, industrialization and business objectives, switching between strategic and detailed discussions as required.
  • Actively manage dependencies and interfaces between projects, functions and growth programs.
  • Bring the right stakeholders together to resolve bottlenecks, make decisions and maintain momentum.
  • Escalate material risks with clear mitigation proposals and follow through until resolution.

Business value creation

  • Build and challenge business cases and investment proposals, linking technical choices to operational and financial impact.
  • Direct resources and management attention toward the highest-value opportunities and most critical constraints.
  • Convert technical capabilities into industrial growth, operational robustness and deployable solutions.
  • Ensure that roadmap implementation delivers measurable business value, not only completed activities or milestones.
Who we are looking for
  • Master's degree or PhD in Engineering, Materials Science, Chemistry or a related field.
  • Proven experience leading complex projects or programs from definition through industrial implementation in an industrial or technology environment.
  • A hands-on leadership style, with the willingness and ability to personally drive selected workstreams and solve critical issues.
  • Ability to regularly zoom out to maintain strategic direction and integrated priorities, and zoom in to understand technical and operational detail.
  • Strong stakeholder management, influencing and decision-making skills.
  • Experience with industrialization, technology scale-up and CAPEX projects.
  • Strong analytical and organizational capabilities, combined with sound judgement and a bias for action.
  • Ability to lead complex initiatives and create accountability across functions without direct authority.
  • Excellent communication and presentation skills.
  • Fluent in English. Knowledge of Dutch is an advantage.

 

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?

 

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