Head of Global Test & Metrology Semiconductor Industry 100 | Location Switzerland

Our client is the global market leader in a niche technology for the semiconductor industry. Their components are engineered into the production systems of the worlds leading chipmakers and equipment manufacturers - critical high-reliability parts that make modern chip production possible. Many engineers and technicians have built their careers there over 15 even 20 years.

They are not a machine builder - they are the critical sub-system supplier that OEMs rely on for reliability performance and continuous innovation.

The Role

We are looking for a Head of Global Test Lab to lead a global test and validation organization into its next chapter: a lab that is not only operationally excellent today but digitally native data-driven and scalable across multiple international sites.

You will lead a multi-layered organization of several Team Leads and a combined team of roughly 2025 engineers and technicians spanning product testing applications engineering and industrialization. Your lab safeguards the performance and reliability of every product platform shipped - through pressure control testing lifecycle and endurance testing particle and leak detection thermal testing and materials analysis across sites in Europe Asia and North America.

This is a hands-on leadership role. You will spend real time in the lab - not only in strategy meetings - while shaping a five-year vision for how testing data and automation come together at global scale.

What You Will Own

• Digital Test Lab & Data Backbone

Today test data lives across disconnected systems and site-specific tools. You will lead the transition to a unified structured data architecture - enabling data reuse cross-site analytics and the foundation for smarter faster testing decisions.

• Automation & Test Throughput

Many lab processes are still manual. You will drive the automation of test execution and data processing increasing throughput without compromising the rigor our industry demands.

• Global Process Maturity

With sites in Europe and Asia and further expansion planned you will establish common standards comparable methods and shared governance - so quality and speed dont depend on which site runs the test.

• Team & Capability Development

You will lead technical leaders and their teams developing capability across a workforce that ranges from senior PhDs to technicians with decades of hands-on production experience. Your ability to connect with both is essential.

• Customer-Centric & Application Testing

While your primary focus is internal test capability you will maintain a clear line of sight to how components perform in real customer applications - ensuring the lab stays connected to what matters commercially.

What You Bring

• Proven experience leading a technical organization of multiple teams or team leads (not just individual contributors) - ideally 15 people across more than one location
• Professional background in special machinery sector semiconductor equipment precision sensing or high-end measurement/test hardware
• Hands-on ownership of a lab digitalization initiative - for example implementing a data lake test data management system or lab automation/MES integration (not just using existing software tools)
• Genuine current comfort in a physical lab environment - you know your way around test benches not just dashboards
• Fluent German (native or C1) and professional English
• Willingness to relocate to or regularly commute to Switzerland (45 days on-site expected)

Nice-to-haves:

• Degree in Physics Mechanical Engineering Electrical Engineering or a related technical field (PhD a plus)
• Experience leading internationally distributed teams (e.g. Europe and Asia)
• Technical familiarity with PLC programming (e.g. Beckhoff) Python for data analysis or time-series databases (e.g. CrateDB InfluxDB)
• Experience working with semiconductor OEMs as customers or close partners
• Familiarity with process maturity frameworks such as ISO 17025 Lean Lab or Six Sigma

Youll join a company where testing isnt a support function - its a strategic capability that directly shapes product reliability for some of the most demanding customers in the world. Youll have real mandate to modernize how a global lab operates backed by a leadership team that has already invested in digitalization and automation as top priorities. And youll do it in a business that has weathered decades of technology cycles by staying exceptionally close to its craft.