Design & Proposal Engineer

Career at Damen

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About the role

At Damen Yachting we design, build and refit some of the world’s most advanced luxury yachts, expedition and shadow vessels. As our product portfolio continues to grow and technologies and regulations evolve, the connection between product development, engineering and sales becomes increasingly important.

As Design & Proposal Engineer, you play a key role in this connection. You support sales opportunities today, while contributing to the technical foundations of tomorrow’s yacht platforms. Working across disciplines and lifecycle stages, you help translate ideas, requirements and innovations into feasible, well‑founded yacht concepts.

This role combines technical sales support and concept definition with structured contributions to product and platform development. In practice, the emphasis lies on supporting sales opportunities and proposals, complemented by recurring involvement in platform improvement, feasibility studies and lifecycle‑related activities.

Your position in the organisation

You will be part of the Product Management organisation and work closely with Sales and Engineering. In day‑to‑day practice you are structurally involved in sales opportunities and platform development initiatives, acting as a technical connector between disciplines.

You work intensively with Product Managers, Sales Managers, Engineering disciplines and external parties such as suppliers and classification societies.

What you will do:

Sales & proposal support

• Support sales managers with preparing complete and technically sound proposal documentation
• Develop, amend and maintain General Arrangements and Technical Specifications for platform-based and semi-custom yachts
• Translate client, sales and market requirements into feasible technical concepts and configurations
• Provide technical input during sales reviews, meetings and presentations
• Contribute to cost calculation concepts in close cooperation with Product Management and Finance

Product development & platform support

• Contribute to Product Definition Packages (PDP), integrating input from Naval Architecture, Mechanical, Electrical, Interior and Shipbuilding disciplines
• Support the handover from concept definition to Engineering and help safeguard product intent during early development phases
• Support consolidation of PDP content during early engineering and fabrication stages
• Contribute to lessons learned, standardisation and continuous improvement initiatives
• Actively safeguard compliance with relevant Class and Flag State regulations

You will work with both established platforms and developing concepts, with room to identify improvements and feed lessons learned back into future PDP updates.

Product lifecycle & future developments

• Contribute to defined and scoped activities within the Product Portfolio Lifecycle Management framework
• Support early-stage feasibility and impact studies related to:

• Platform development
• Introduction of new technologies
• Regulatory or compliance changes

• Prepare structured technical input and analyses to support Product Managers in lifecycle and portfolio decision-making

These future-oriented activities form a recurring part of the role, alongside ongoing sales and platform work.

Supplier & stakeholder interaction

• Engage suppliers and subcontractors to explore and validate system-level solutions
• Assess technical, commercial and regulatory implications of supplier proposals
• Act as technical interface between Product Management, Sales, Engineering and external stakeholders within your assigned scope

What success looks like

You are successful in this role when:

• Sales teams can move forward with confidence based on your technical input
• Proposal documentation is consistent, realistic and technically robust
• Your contributions improve the quality, reusability and robustness of platforms and PDPs
• Lessons learned are translated into tangible improvements and standards

Success is primarily qualitative, focused on content quality, consistency and contribution to sound decision‑making.

What you bring

• A BSc or MSc in Naval Architecture, Shipbuilding, Mechanical or Electrical Engineering
• Experience in yacht or shipbuilding environments
• Broad technical understanding across multiple engineering disciplines
• Working knowledge of yacht systems and Class and Flag State regulations
• Comfortable working with conceptual modelling and drafting tools such as Rhinoceros, AutoCAD, Maxsurf and Pias
• A pragmatic, hands‑on mindset with attention to detail
• Ability to assess technical and commercial implications and translate them into clear documentation
• Clear communication skills in an international working environment

Depending on the topic, you will work both hands‑on at concept level and reviewing or validating technical input from other disciplines and suppliers.

What we offer

At Damen Yachting, we highly value our employees and support both professional and personal development. We offer:

• A technically challenging role at the heart of Damen Yachting’s product development
• Exposure to a broad range of yacht platforms, technologies and disciplines
• A dynamic, informal and professional working environment
• Opportunities to broaden your technical scope and develop towards roles in product management, system architecture or senior technical positions
• A competitive salary and 8% holiday pay
• 27 holidays and 13 ADV days
• Travel allowance of €0.23 per kilometre
• PME pension arrangement
• Profit sharing based on company results
• Flexibility to work from home up to two days a week
• Additional benefits such as a bicycle plan and company fitness