Introduction to the job
As an Area Manager, you will serve as a hands-on leader, ensuring the safe, on-time delivery of high-quality products to both internal and external customers. In this role, you will drive continuous improvement in processes, operational effectiveness, and efficiency across your area of responsibility. You will proactively identify opportunities for enhancement and lead initiatives that elevate overall performance.
You will build and maintain a strong partnership with our sister facility in Berlin, Germany, to exchange best practices and align on operational excellence. In collaboration with Production and Development Engineers, you will play a key role in the adoption and industrialization of new products and processes.
Success in this role requires a collaborative mindset—you thrive as a team player and take equal pride in the achievements of your team members as in your own.
- Lead and supervise a team of >5 or more direct reports, with an overall organizational scope of more than 30 employees.
- Manage multiple work centers, competencies, or shifts, often involving a broad technical scope and complex, cross-functional stakeholder engagement.
- Coordinate activities requiring advanced vocational expertise or experienced Bachelor's-level thinking, while applying your own academic-level analysis and decision-making.
Key Responsibilities
1. Operational Leadership & Delivery
- Lead manufacturing operations within the BCELL area, which includes several advanced optical production processes:
- Bonding – assembling precision optical components
- Contacting – joining optical surfaces at a microscopic level for high-performance systems
- Etching – shaping and refining surfaces using controlled material removal techniques
- Lithography – applying patterns to optical surfaces using light-based processes
- Laser Processing – using high-precision laser technology to modify and enhance optical materials
- Manage these processes across multiple shifts in a 24/7 production environment to meet or exceed key performance indicators:
- Safety, Quality, First Pass Yield, On-Time Delivery, Lead Time, Labor Productivity, and 5S
- Ensure smooth, continuous operations with strong responsiveness to production issues and escalations
- Enable direct reports (GLs) in production planning, scheduling, and execution in partnership with Business Planning
- Translate customer demand into executable plans aligned with available equipment, workforce, and capacity
- Manage operational and capital budgets to meet performance targets
2. People Leadership & Organization Development
- Lead a layered organization of shift managers, team leads, and technicians
- Build, coach, and develop leadership capabilities within direct reports
- Drive employee engagement, inclusion, and team effectiveness
- Ensure retention and development of critical skills and technical expertise
- Act as a visible role model aligned to the ASML Leadership Profile:
- People Leader, Business Leader, Coach, and Culture Carrier
- Lead organizational design and capability transformation aligned to future business needs
3. Safety, Quality & Compliance
- Own Health, Safety & Environment performance across BCELL, with factory-wide impact
- Ensure compliance with ISO9001, ISO14001, and internal procedures
- Promote a proactive safety culture and hold teams accountable
- Investigate and drive systemic resolution of quality issues, including craftsmanship-related defects
4. Continuous Improvement & Operational Excellence
- Drive Lean Manufacturing and continuous improvement initiatives (L3/L4 level)
- Foster a culture of structured problem-solving, experimentation, and innovation
- Align CI portfolio to factory strategy and quantify business impact
- Challenge teams to identify waste, improve flow, and increase process capability
- Partner closely with Production Engineering to improve process performance and efficiency
5. Strategy, Planning & Capability Development
- Translate sector strategy into operational plans with a 2–3 year horizon
- Define and implement department KPIs aligned to strategic priorities
- Establish future capacity and resource planning to support demand growth and NPI
- Lead industrialization of new products and processes with cross-functional teams
- Drive organizational readiness for future technology and volume ramps
6. Stakeholder & Cross-Sector Collaboration
- Build strong partnerships across:
- Production Engineering
- Supply Chain / Business Planning
- Development & NPI teams
- Sister factories (Onsite and offsite)
- Influence stakeholders across functions and leadership levels (up to senior management)
- Represent BCELL operations in cross-sector initiatives and decision-making processes
7. Governance, Reporting & Decision-Making
- Provide clear operational insights, KPI performance tracking, and risk assessments
- Deliver actionable recommendations and drive decision-making
- Ensure transparency and alignment through structured reporting and tiered meetings
- Make data-driven decisions with strong business and operational judgment
Requirements
Education
- Bachelor’s Degree required (Engineering or related field preferred) 10–15 years in manufacturing operations, preferably high-mix, technical environments
- Master’s Degree (Engineering or related field preferred) 5-10 years in manufacturing operations, preferably high-mix, technical environments
Experience
- Proven experience leading leaders in a complex, multi-shift production environment
- Strong Lean/Continuous Improvement background with demonstrated results
- Experience in optics manufacturing, coating, or metrology preferred
- Knowledge of ERP systems (SAP preferred) and manufacturing systems
- Experience working in ISO-certified environments
- Limited experience of planning, managing and organizing resources within short to medium timescales within the overall policy framework.
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
- While performing the duties of this job, the employee routinely is required to sit; walk; talk; hear; use hands to keyboard, finger, handle, and feel; stoop, kneel, crouch, twist, reach, and stretch
- The employee is occasionally required to move around the campus
- The employee may occasionally lift and/or move up to 20 pounds
- May require travel dependent on company needs
- Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus
- The environment generally is moderate in temperature and noise level
- Must be able to read and interpret data, information, and documents
- Can observe and respond to people and situations and interact with others encountered in the course of work
- Can learn and apply new information or skills.
You must be work authorized in the United States without the need for employer sponsorship
Additional Responsibilities:
There is potential for exposure to strong magnetic fields, high voltage and currents.
This position requires access to controlled technology, as defined in the United States Export Administration Regulations (15 C.F.R. § 730, et seq.). Qualified candidates must be legally authorized to access such controlled technology prior to beginning work. Business demands may require ASML to proceed with candidates who are immediately eligible to access controlled technology.
Inclusion and diversity
ASML is an Equal Opportunity Employer that values and respects the importance of a diverse and inclusive workforce. It is the policy of the company to recruit, hire, train and promote persons in all job titles without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity. We recognize that inclusion and diversity is a driving force in the success of our company.
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Request an Accommodation
ASML provides reasonable accommodations to applicants for ASML employment and ASML employees with disabilities. An accommodation is a change in work rules, facilities, or conditions which enable an individual with a disability to apply for a job, perform the essential functions of a job, and/or enjoy equal access to the benefits and privileges of employment. If you are in need of an accommodation to complete an application, participate in an interview, or otherwise participate in the employee pre-selection process, please send an email to USHR_Accommodation@asml.comto initiate the company’s reasonable accommodation process.
Please note: This email address is solely intended to provide a method for applicants to initiate ASML’s process to request accommodation(s). Any recruitment questions should be directed to the designated Talent Acquisition member for the position.