Senior R&D Engineer / R&D Manager

English (EN) Nederlands (NL)
Vacancy closed

Senior R&D Engineer / R&D Manager

BlueHeart Energy Alkmaar

What is required?

  • MSc. / Preference Phd in the direction of Physics, Mechanical Engineering or Aerospace Engineering
  • At least 10 years’ relevant work experience
  • Good command of the English language, both verbally and in writing
  • Good R&D management skills and being able to guide junior R&D colleagues
  • Senior R&D level in thermodynamics, thermal fluids and materials (combination of rubbers and metals) and hardware development
  • Knowledge of and experience with testing and modeling (including Comsol, Matlab and Phyton)
  • Able and willing to work in a start-up environment, goal oriented and good adaptability

What will you get?

  • €4.500 - €7.000 gross p/m (depending on knowledge and experience)
  • 40-hour working week
  • 25 days holiday
  • Training opportunities
  • Company Phantom shares, laptop and SIM card EU+USA

What will you do?

  • 40% Managing the team
  • 20% Reviewing analyses and reports of team members
  • 20% Meetings with partners and suppliers
  • 20% Facilitating and planning test work

This vacancy has been created based on interviews with employees to help you get a realistic preview of the job.

Vacancy

As a Senior R&D Engineer / R&D Manager, you will lead BlueHeart Energy's Research & Development team. You provide technical support for the development and analysis of mechanical and thermal systems, and hardware development.

You are a mentor for the Junior Engineers in the team and together with the entire team you deal with technical issues and planning the development of new methods and hardware. In this position, you also have a coaching role, and ask critical questions when necessary about your team members’ working methods. You help them think about making all processes as efficient as possible. You also work together with the Lab Supervisor to coordinate agreements on test plans, test implementations and test environments.

You manage the Research & Development team, consisting of four Mechanical Engineers, a Technician, a Physicist and the Lab supervisor. The team includes people of different nationalities, so English is the main language.

If you enjoy having a coaching role in a dynamic work environment and find it challenging to prioritise your tasks well in a company where there is still a lot of innovation going on, then this is a job for you.

Working week

Senior R&D Engineer / R&D Manager

On an enjoyable working day, you guide the team in making the final decision for a fundamental technical change in the process. This gives you a lot of energy!

On a less enjoyable day, you spend a lot of time watching other people's work, so you have relatively little chance to do your own work.

  • 08:00
  • 09:00
  • 10:00
  • 11:00
  • 12:00
  • 13:00
  • 14:00
  • 15:00
  • 16:00
  • 17:00
  • 18:00
    • Reading and answering emails
    • Reviewing analyses of team members
    • Lunch
    • Daily Scrum Stand-up
    • Team meeting
    • Meeting with Mechanical Engineer
    • Supplier meeting
    • Meeting with Lab Supervisor
    • Planning test work
    • Lunch
    • Daily Scrum Stand-up
    • Meeting with Management team
    • Meeting with Mechanical Engineer
    • Thinking along with technical issues
    • Meeting with Junior Engineer
    • Performing tests
    • Preparing a technical report
    • Lunch
    • Daily Scrum Stand-up
    • Meeting with Technician
    • Supplier meeting
    • Reading and answering emails
    • Meeting with Management team
    • Reviewing analyses of team members
    • Meeting with Mechanical Engineer
    • Thinking along with technical issues
    • Lunch
    • Daily Scrum Stand-up
    • Meeting with Mechanical Engineer
    • Reviewing technical reports of team members
    • Drinks with the company
    • Reading and answering emails
    • Meeting with Lab Supervisor
    • Thinking along with technical issues
    • Planning test work
    • Lunch
    • Daily Scrum Stand-up
    • Meeting with Mechanical Engineer
    • Reviewing analyses of team members
    • Product backlog refinement
    • Thinking along with technical issues
    • Performing tests
    • Preparing a technical report

Firsthand experience

One of the employees on your team gets a request to do an analysis for another team and, as a result, loses track of their schedule. What do you do?

Sometimes team members struggle with their planning. For example, because a member from another team requests something and it is difficult to assess whether this request is more important than the things going on in their own team. In your role as Senior R&D Engineer/ R&D Manager, you have more insight in what is going on organisation-wide and where the priorities lie, which usually allows you to coach your team members well in their planning.

During the weekly team meetings, you discuss what the top two or three priorities are for that week, so you are aware of what is happening within your own team. If necessary, you consult the other team to get a more complete picture of when they need the analysis. You then know how this task should be scheduled in relation to the others and whether you need to shift other things for this.

Growth

The growth path at BlueHeart Energy is not fixed. The company expects to grow rapidly in the coming years and create opportunities for everyone who is ready to take on new responsibilities. BlueHeart Energy offers training and courses and knowledge sharing between employees is very important. The great advantage of the start-up phase is that your own initiative is highly valued and you can create your own job. As Blue Heart Energy grows, you grow with it.

Senior R&D Engineer / R&D Manager

Working at BlueHeart Energy

BlueHeart Energy was founded in 2016 to apply thermoacoustics as a technology in heat pumps. Thermoacoustics is a disruptive approach to generate heat and cold, with potential to revolutionize the whole industry. Over the past five years, BHE has developed a thermoacoustic engine to power heat pumps in residential buildings. This so called 'Blue Heart' of a heat pump is sold to manufacturers. In the coming years, Blue Heart will have to be further developed and optimized. Besides this, we must set up our production and strengthen the relationships with our customers.

View company profile of BlueHeart Energy
  • Headquarters in Alkmaar
  • 28 employees
  • Active in more than 10 countries
  • 20% / 80%
  • Average age 38 years
  • Casual
  • Hybrid working

Colleagues

Michiel Hartman (51) - General Manager

Why did you decide to work for this company?
I founded Blue Heart because sustainable heating and cooling is one of the biggest challenges in the energy transition. Thermoacoustics is one of the game changers to make this possible. A complex technique with great impact which requires a great team with various specialties. Building Blue Heart on all these aspects is my big motivator.

What was your previous job?
Founder of QWIC electric bicycles and president of the Branch Association of Electric Transport. I was also temporary Project Manager of large heat projects in The Netherlands.

What do you do in your spare time?
Tennis, skiing, family, outdoor sports (workouts and water sports).

Haico Halbesma (52) - Chief Financial Officer

Why did you decide to work for this company?
Blue Heart's Energy goal to green the built environment in terms of heating and cooling appealed to me greatly. This combined with the opportunity to work with a multidisciplinary team on the complex challenge of applying this clean solution widely, bringing it to the market on a large scale and getting it produced in the Netherlands.

What was your previous job?
Director.

What do you do in your spare time?
Sailing.

Roelof Schuitema (48) - Technical Sales Manager

Why did you decide to work for this company?
I was involved in multiple renewable energy projects including Blue Heart Energy's heat pump. When the project spun off into a startup, I seized the opportunity to work full time at Blue Heart. My work brings innovation, development and the application of sustainable technology together, with the entire company operating as a team. That's the ideal working environment for me, and that's what makes working at Blue Heart so great.

What was your previous job?
Operationeel manager at Teamwork Technology.

What do you do in your spare time?
Hiking, camping en spending time with my kids.

Frank Roet (45) - Project Engineer

Why did you decide to work for this company?
After a ten years in the oil and gas industry, I wanted to use my knowledge and experience to build something great. I like a dynamic environment, so a startup is a good fit for me. As an experienced development engineer, I can really do my thing here.

What was your previous job?
Technical Product Specialist.

What do you do in your spare time?
Building electronics.

Application process

First interview (by phone)
Personal interview + requirements
Deepdive on knowledge
You've got the job!

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