About TotaLite
TotaLite builds high-precision optical sensors that monitor critical infrastructure and buildings worldwide — detecting structural displacement with millimeter accuracy at distances up to 100 meters.

We are scaling from 50 devices per year to over 2,000 annually within three years. That's not incremental growth. It demands a fundamental shift in how we operate: tighter quality discipline, mature supply chain control, and a production system built for scale.

We are 14 people transitioning from a technical product company into a reliable hardware delivery organization. That's where you come in.

About the Role
As Technical Operations Lead, you are responsible for building and professionalizing our hardware operations and supply chain — without turning us into a bureaucracy.

This is not a corporate operations role. This is a scale-up builder role.

You will:

• Own the end-to-end hardware supply chain (electronics, mechanical parts, embedded firmware dependencies)

• Manage ~5 key sub-suppliers

• Improve quality assurance and incoming inspection

• Implement structured version, inventory and configuration management

• Introduce clear planning for demand, supply and production batches

• Improve predictability in delivery

• Strengthen documentation and operational discipline first in the hardware operations and the supply chain, then across our company

You lead a small team (Hardware Operations Engineer + students) and work closely with Product, Hardware Engineer and Customer Support. 

You are comfortable switching between:

• Negotiating with suppliers

• Designing a lean process

• Reviewing calibration procedures

• Improving a documentation structure

• Solving a production issue

You don’t sit above operations. You improve them from within.

What you will actually spend time on

• Supplier management, including performance monitoring and cost control

• Planning production batches and managing lead times

• Defining quality control standards

• Structuring firmware and hardware version tracking

• Aligning with product on design-for-manufacturing improvements

• Coaching and structuring the operations team

• Turning recurring chaos into repeatable processes

• Improving operational processes, such as testing, calibration, version management and technical, customer oriented and process documentation
  
  

What you bring along:

• 5+ years of experience in hardware operations in a scale-up or SME environment

• Proven experience managing supply chains involving electronics, embedded software, mechanical components

• Experience with low- to mid-volume precision hardware (not only mass production)

• Experience implementing structured inventory, version and quality management

• Strong project management discipline

• Clear, proactive communication

• Comfort operating in ambiguity

You likely worked in:

• IoT

• Instrumentation

• Industrial hardware

• Technical B2B products

You are not a corporate operations director. You are a hands-on builder who likes turning messy growth into structured scale.

This role is not for:

• You only want strategic oversight without operational involvement

• You are used to large teams and multi-layer organizations

• You need extensive governance structures before acting

• You dislike getting into technical details
  
  

Why this role matters
If we scale without structure, quality and predictability will suffer. You will build the operational backbone that allows TotaLite to grow from product-driven startup to reliable hardware scale-up.

Why you’ll like working here:

• You'll work in a fast-growing dynamic startup with customers across the globe

• We enable people to work in ways that suit their working style, which is why we offer flexible hours and hybrid-working from our Rotterdam office.

• Opportunities for professional growth and development.

• A supportive and collaborative team culture.

• The salary ranges from € 5.800 to € 8.000,- per month based on your relevant experience, with opportunities for growth.

• great pension and insurance arrangements.

• Office in the center of Rotterdam, close to public transport

After you have applied
We aim to move quickly and transparently:

• Initial screening

• Technical conversation about your support operations experience

• Customer support and success conservation

• Practical assessment

• Final interviews with cultural ambassador

• Offer and welcome to TotaLite!