BE GREAT TOGETHER WITH US.

Innovation, Efficiency and Ambition: this is what VAT has stood for over 50 years. 

With this passion, VAT has grown to become the leading international developer, manufacturer and supplier of high-performance high-end vacuum valves and vacuum sealing technology, employing over 2000 people worldwide.  The headquarters are located in Haag (Switzerland), the production centers in Switzerland, Malaysia, Romania and Taiwan.

The Head of Supplier Ramp & Industrialization will lead end-to-end supplier ramp, industrialization, and regional ecosystem development combining machining capacity expansion and regional supplier strategy to support aggressive business growth, supply resilience, and operational scalability.  This is strategic role to drive the team to achieve external machining capacity expansion, supplier development, and long-term supply ecosystem readiness to support the company’s accelerated growth plans.  This role will ensure the team complete the sourcing, qualification, industrialization, and ramp-up of new machining suppliers to scale up machining capacity growth per targeted timeline.

Your responsibilities will include, but not limited to:

Supplier Ramp & Industrialization Leadership:

• Own and lead the end-to-end supplier ramp strategy, ensuring seamless transition from sourcing through qualification, industrialization, and full mass production readiness, with full accountability for achieving time-to-volume targets and eliminating ramp failures across critical commodities and suppliers.
• Drive execution of supplier qualification, industrialization, and ramp activities globally, ensuring alignment of process capability, manufacturing maturity, and cross-site readiness while proactively resolving technical, capacity, and quality constraints that may impact ramp timelines.
• Establish and enforce supplier readiness standards, ensuring all suppliers meet stringent requirements in capacity, technical capability, and quality systems before production release, supported by structured readiness assessments, governance gates, and executive-level visibility.

Machining Capacity Expansion:

• Lead the development and execution of machining capacity expansion strategy, translating demand forecasts into scalable machine capacity, machining hours, and supplier investment plans to support aggressive business ramp scenarios and long-term growth.
• Drive supplier investment programs and capacity build-up, including CNC machine expansion, automation, and infrastructure development, ensuring alignment between capital deployment, utilization efficiency, and sustainable cost competitiveness.
• Own capacity risk management and recovery planning, proactively identifying capacity gaps, bottlenecks, and over-dependencies while deploying dual sourcing, load balancing, and contingency strategies to ensure uninterrupted supply continuity.

Regional Ecosystem Development:

• Develop and establish robust regional machining hubs and supplier ecosystems, building integrated clusters across machining, treatment, and sub-tier capabilities to support scalable and cost-effective manufacturing expansion.
• Drive localization and Best Cost Country sourcing strategies, optimizing supplier footprint to balance cost competitiveness, operational efficiency, and geopolitical risk mitigation while enabling regional self-sufficiency.
• Design and implement a multi-region sourcing footprint, ensuring supply chain resilience through diversified geographic coverage, reduced dependency on single regions, and improved flexibility in response to market and demand volatility.

Supplier Development & Performance:

• Own supplier performance transformation across Quality, Delivery, Cost, and Capacity (QDC), establishing clear performance targets, governance cadence, and continuous improvement programs to elevate supplier competitiveness and reliability.
• Lead strategic supplier base optimization initiatives, including consolidation, dual sourcing, and capability uplift, ensuring the right mix of strategic partners is in place to support long-term business growth and risk mitigation.
• Establish and execute long-term supplier development roadmaps, aligning supplier capabilities with future technology requirements, capacity needs, and business expansion plans to create a scalable and high-performance supply ecosystem.

Cross Functional Leadership:

• Lead enterprise-wide alignment across Engineering, Supplier Quality, Supply Chain, and Business Units, ensuring synchronized execution of supplier ramp, industrialization, and capacity readiness in support of business objectives.Provide executive-level reporting and visibility on ramp readiness, capacity status, and key risks, translating operational performance into clear business impact and enabling timely decision-making and escalation.
• Establish and drive governance frameworks for supplier ramp execution, enforcing disciplined program management, milestone accountability, and structured escalation mechanisms to ensure consistent and reliable execution across all initiatives.

Strategic Leadership:

• Define and lead the long-term industrialization and supply ecosystem strategy, ensuring alignment with business growth trajectory, technology evolution, and competitive positioning in the market.
• Provide forward-looking market intelligence and supply risk insights, leveraging industry trends, supplier capabilities, and geopolitical developments to proactively shape sourcing strategies and mitigate potential disruptions.
• Enable business growth and scalability by ensuring a future-ready supply base, capable of supporting aggressive ramp scenarios, new product introductions, and rapid scaling without compromising quality, cost, or delivery performance.

Minimum Qualification     

• Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain, Procurement, Industrial Engineering, or related discipline. 
• Minimum 15 years of experience in strategic sourcing, supplier development, category management, or manufacturing operations within a global organization. 
• Proven experience in machining supplier management, CNC manufacturing, capacity planning, and supplier industrialization. 
• Strong understanding of machining processes, manufacturing operations, and supply chain ecosystem management. 
• Demonstrated experience managing supplier ramp-up, investment programs, and large-scale manufacturing capacity expansion. 
• Strong project management and stakeholder management capabilities with ability to drive alignment across cross-functional teams. 
• Strong analytical, negotiation, communication, and presentation skills. 
• Results-driven with strong ownership mindset and ability to manage multiple complex projects under demanding timelines. 
• Fluent in English, both written and spoken.

Preferred Qualification    

• Experience in high precision machining and semiconductor manufacturing supply chain environment. 
• Exposure to Asia sourcing, Best Cost Country sourcing, and supplier localization strategies. 
• Experience managing large-scale CNC capacity expansion and machining ecosystem development. 
• Familiarity with supplier investment models, capital planning, and manufacturing scalability assessment. 
• Experience in supplier consolidation, dual sourcing, and supply base optimization programs. 
• Knowledge of lean manufacturing, operational excellence, and continuous improvement methodologies. 
• Experience working within matrix global organizations and multicultural environments. 
• Additional language capability in Chinese or German would be an added advantage.

VAT is an equal opportunity employer. We see ourselves as a responsible and far-sighted employer that offers not only jobs, but also career and personal development opportunities through various training programs. We recognize the value of employee diversity and provide equal employment opportunity for all qualified application that contributes to innovation, improves customer orientation and employee satisfaction. One-step in this direction is to ensure that people are recognized and fairly compensated for their contributions to the company. In 2021, VAT received the Fair-ON-Pay+ certificate as an acknowledgement for our commitment in ensuring equal pay for equal work between men and women.