Executive Director Solution Development – DC Airports

About Vanderlande

Vanderlande is a global leader in logistics automation, empowering the world’s biggest retailers, airports, and e-commerce giants. With more than 9,000 employees worldwide, we drive innovation across three domains:

• Airports: Delivering market-leading baggage handling systems and passenger solutions, active in more than 600 airports worldwide.
• Warehousing: Supporting major global e-commerce players and retailers in food, fashion, and general merchandise by dispatching billions of products daily.
• Distribution: Powering the logistics behind the world’s biggest retailers, sorting over 52 million parcels every day through advanced automation solutions.

Working at Vanderlande offers a unique opportunity to make a global impact, collaborating with world-leading retailers, airports, and e-commerce giants to drive innovation in logistics automation. As part of an innovative environment, you will be at the forefront of cutting-edge automation technology, helping to shape the future of supply chain solutions. Additionally, you will be part of a collaborative culture, working alongside a passionate and dynamic team dedicated to driving excellence and transforming the logistics industry.

Position Overview

The Executive Director of Solution Development is responsible for the systems engineering and systems integration of the Airports solutions under development at Vanderlande. This role cooperates closely with business stakeholders to align development requirements and priorities across the end-to-end value chain, ensuring that various hardware and software development streams seamlessly work together to define and deliver integrated, platform-based solutions that add value to Vanderlande’s customers.

This is a truly cross-value chain and cross-department role with high business impact, requiring the ability to bring all business and technology stakeholders together to prepare and deliver their parts of the integrated solution, ensuring it is fit-for-purpose, of high quality, and delivered at a predictable pace.

The role demands communication and influencing skills at the highest level to steer and influence behavior within the designated domains and to act as a strategic partner in the Portfolio Board.

Key Responsibilities

Solution Leadership

• Represent the Technology organization in the governance and decision-making process for the domain solution portfolios.
• As a key contributor to the Portfolio Board, cooperate closely with business partners from the Solutions Management and Operations teams to align solution development requirements and priorities across the end-to-end value chain.
• Ensure that the decisions and priorities of the Portfolio Board are executed flawlessly and according to plan by the hardware and software development teams in the Technology organization.
• Jointly define and own the multi-year solution development roadmap with business partners.
• Create and maintain relationships with senior and executive management in both the Business and Technology organizations to ensure that solutions under development are well-defined, complete, fit for purpose, and achievable.
• Provide guidance to the Business on how to ensure that solutions are fit for configure-to-order, eliminating complexity for the Airports Domain team and the customer, and assisting in appropriate decision making.

Solution Design & Development

• Lead agile teams of systems engineers, architects, and integrators to define consistent and traceable platform solution requirements and designs, ensuring high-quality platform test and integration execution.
• Oversee the refinement of cross-cutting solution initiatives on the portfolio backlogs, ensuring these initiatives are decomposed seamlessly across various hardware and software development streams.
• Implement a transparent platform release and configuration management approach with clear performance metrics to measure performance, progress, and maturity of solution refinement, systems engineering, and systems integration activities.
• Monitor and mitigate risks and opportunities in programs. Challenge technical solutions by participating in open-up meetings and WHIF meetings for the first few deployments to ensure fast feedback loops and manage operational escalations.
• Provide guidance to the Business on application of platform solutions and engage with the customer for technical requirements, providing needed visibility into the development process and readiness towards customer-facing releases.

Technology Strategy & Execution

• Cooperate closely with business partners to align solution development requirements and priorities across the end-to-end value chain.
• Develop, together with the Business, a multi-year development roadmap. Forecast budget, workload, and act on resource constraints. Ensure good alignment of the development roadmap with customer pilots and projects.
• Allocate and request the correct budgets and defend them if necessary in the semi-annual R&D Steering Committee (RDSC) to ensure the solution portfolio development is organized for success.
• Responsible for validating the customer solution together with stakeholders and helping achieve operational and service readiness in the first few deployments.
• Ensure strategic initiatives such as Cyber Security and Sustainability are captured and incorporated in the backlog with the right priority.
• Ensure programs are executed according to the Vanderlande Process map. Stimulate, initiate, and manage continuous improvement projects.

Team Development

• Provide leadership and mentorship to solution development teams.
• Lead a team of architects and testers/integrators while working closely with engineering, product management, and business stakeholders to ensure scalable, high-performance, and secure solutions.
• Interact closely with various hardware and software development streams so that overarching solution requirements and designs are feasible and well-understood, and that stream deliverables meet platform integration standards.
• Create and maintain relationships with senior and executive management in both the Business and Technology organizations to ensure that solutions under development are well-defined, complete, fit for purpose, and achievable.
• Build a culture of trust and foster an agile way of working between Business and Technology teams to ensure a seamless delivery flow of value to our customers.

Key Qualifications & Experience

• More than 15 years of relevant working experience in multidisciplinary product development, with a technical master’s degree.
• Proven track record of success in leading global platform or product development programs that require coordination of multiple development streams across multiple locations.
• Experience in leading roles in systems design, system architecture, software engineering, and/or systems integration of mission-critical software-intensive systems.
• Ability to inspire and influence others, with strong leadership skills and business acumen.
• Leadership experience with agile development at scale is a plus.
• Domain knowledge of and experience in the Airports business is a plus.
• Team player with natural leadership and excellent communication skills.

What We Offer

In the challenging and responsible position as Executive Director Solution Development, you will have the chance to make a significant contribution to industry-leading projects and be closely connected to our dedicated people and customers at Vanderlande. We offer a position in an informal, international, and professional working environment with ample scope for personal development. By joining our profitable and growing company, you will be able to reach your goals and focus on your future.

• 32 vacation days (16 statutory days and a flexible budget worth 16 days).
• Flexible working hours.
• A hybrid workplace (40% working from home and 60% in the office).
• A Health & Wellbeing budget worth €300 per calendar year.
• Commuting allowance, including full reimbursement of travel by public transport.
• Working from home allowance.
• Short term incentives.
• Electric lease car or in lieu compensation.
• Collective pension scheme and discount on additional health insurance.
• On-site company health centres with a gym, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists.
• Vanderlande Academy and training facilities to boost your skills.
• A variety of Vanderlande Network communities and initiatives.
• And a great company restaurant and coffee bar with barista.