Senior Automation Engineer Digital Enablement Team

Help shape the future of engineering at Heerema by turning repetitive work and complex challenges into smart, scalable digital solutions.

Your role in the story:

Great engineering shouldn’t be slowed down by repetitive work. At Heerema, engineers across our disciplines continuously see opportunities to automate, digitalise and work smarter. As Senior Automation Engineer, you have the opportunity to help turn those ideas into real impact.

You help shape how digitalisation develops across Engineering at Heerema. Working closely with Engineering, Technology and IT & Digital, you identify opportunities, scope solutions and help determine which initiatives create the most value.

Your role goes beyond individual solutions. You bring structure and direction to the digitalisation roadmap, align stakeholders and help ensure solutions are scalable, maintainable and fit within Heerema’s wider digital landscape. As a sparring partner to the Digital Enablement Team Lead, you help shape practical ways of working as the team continues to grow.

Your development background gives you the technical depth to challenge decisions and contribute hands‑on when needed. Your real impact lies in connecting engineering, technology and people to turn good ideas into solutions that make engineering at Heerema smarter and more effective.

What you will be working on

• Roadmap & Portfolio Development: Helping shape the engineering digitalisation roadmap and portfolio, aligning priorities with business value and available capacity, and creating transparency around initiatives, decisions, dependencies and progress.
• Solution Scoping: Working closely with engineers and stakeholders to understand challenges, identify digitalisation opportunities and translate business needs into clear and practical solution directions.
• Stakeholder Alignment: Connecting Engineering, Technology and IT & Digital, challenging requirements where needed and creating alignment around priorities, ownership and technical direction.
• Delivery & Scalability: Supporting technical decision‑making and ensuring solutions align with agreed architecture, security, platform and lifecycle standards.
• Value & Adoption: Validating solutions with end users, assessing their value and supporting successful adoption within engineering disciplines.
• Engineering Enablement: Guiding engineers and citizen developers in turning ideas into sustainable solutions, while promoting good practices around quality, reusability and maintainability.
• Technical Guidance: Using your development experience to assess approaches, challenge design decisions and contribute hands‑on where your expertise adds value.

Key ingredients for success

• Education: Master’s degree in engineering or computer science, with a strong affinity for engineering.
• Engineering & Digitalisation: Strong understanding of engineering workflows and the ability to identify and shape automation opportunities.
• Stakeholder Management: Able to challenge requirements, align different stakeholders and translate engineering needs into practical solutions.
• Structure & Prioritisation: Experience bringing structure and ownership to digital initiatives and setting the right priorities.
• Technical Foundation: Practical software development experience, particularly in Python, to assess solutions and challenge technical decisions.
• Mindset: A pragmatic, collaborative approach with the ability to combine strategic thinking with getting things done.

Nice to have:

Experience with C++, RAG, Knowledge Graphs or engineering information architecture.

Your Foundation for Success

At our core, we champion an entrepreneurial spirit and a relentless pursuit of growth. We seek individuals who excel in personal development, seize opportunities where others see challenges, and turn them into success.

Whether you're a creative problem-solver, an ambitious go‑getter, or someone who thrives in collaboration, we cultivate a culture of passion, dedication, and continuous improvement.

Personal leadership and initiative are non‑negotiable: you own your growth and the impact you make. If you tackle challenges with a creative yet practical mindset, drive goals with determination, and add value to diverse teams, you'll thrive with us. Together, we create impact and drive meaningful change, always focused on results.

Here’s why people love working with us

• Strong compensation & benefits, including an annual bonus plan tied to company performance;
• Bonus basis = your annual gross salary + 13th month + 8% holiday allowance;
• Future-proof pension: gross scheme covering base + 13th month + holiday allowance, with no mandatory contribution up to €70k;
• 30 days off to recharge, with the option to buy 10 extra days;
• Free access to our in-house gym, including fitness classes;
• Activities to connect with colleagues, such as our Friday‑afternoon get‑together;
• A modern and easily accessible office in Leiden.

Are you ready to make the impossible possible?