Director of Engineering Operations (Laser-Driven Fusion)

Location: Darmstadt, Germany

Company

hirify.global develops laser-driven inertial fusion technology to create clean, sustainable power at commercial scale. The company is backed by a $240M Series A and operates across Germany and the US.

What you will do

• Own engineering planning, workload management, and capacity reporting across Mechanical, Electrical, and Controls.
• Lead configuration and release administration, including Inventor licensing, Autodesk Vault, and Jama.
• Define and enforce planning, configuration, release, and quality processes for engineering teams.
• Coordinate supplier readiness to ensure suppliers receive controlled, revision-correct technical information.
• Build supplier-quality and nonconformance processes, including Engineering Quality Lead and Supplier Quality Engineer capabilities as approved.
• Partner with Systems Engineering, Systems Integration, Commercial Procurement, and the PMO to maintain clean handoffs and provide reliable readiness evidence.

Requirements

• Experience with engineering configuration management, release control, and change control in a hardware engineering environment.
• Hands-on knowledge of engineering data and release tools such as Jama, Autodesk Vault, Inventor, or comparable PLM/PDM systems.
• Experience managing supplier technical coordination and quality or nonconformance processes, including auditable conformity records.
• Proven ability to plan and manage engineering capacity and workload across multiple disciplines.
• Leadership experience managing managers or senior specialists and building process ownership within a team.
• Clear, candid communication with senior leaders and sound judgement when escalating cross-functional trade-offs.

Nice to have

• Background in systems engineering or systems integration on complex hardware programmes.
• Experience establishing a quality function from a small base, including supplier quality engineering.
• Familiarity with capacity-based planning methods and planning tools.
• Working knowledge of German engineering and supplier environments, and fluency in German.
• Experience with Autodesk licensing administration or enterprise engineering tool administration.
• Experience reporting engineering readiness and risk to Integration or programme leadership.

Culture & Benefits

• Work in an early-stage, growing company developing clean-energy and scientific technology in an international environment.
• Receive a competitive salary, stock options, 30 vacation days per year, and a retirement plan with a 20% contribution on private pension contributions plus loyalty incentives.
• Receive Windows or Apple equipment, including a laptop, keyboard, mouse, and headset.
• Use the Darmstadt office canteen, snacks and drinks, NAVIT mobility support, and Wellhub fitness and wellness services across Europe.
• Participate in regular company events supporting collaboration and team bonding.