**North Carolina – Research Triangle Area | Executive Leadership | 2–3 Year Expat Assignment**

As Managing Director AAE North America, you will lead the next phase of our U.S. organization from the Research Triangle/Raleigh area in North Carolina.

For a minimum of two to three years, you will be based in North Carolina, combining local entrepreneurship with the technology, expertise, and capabilities of AAE Group. You will have the autonomy to further build the business, while doing so as an integral part of one international organization.

Pushing technical boundaries

AAE develops and manufactures complex high-tech modules, systems, and machines for international customers in industries including semiconductor, medical, life sciences, and consumer goods. This requires deep technological expertise, reliable industrialization, and long-term partnerships with customers that set high standards for quality, manufacturability, and delivery performance.

With AAE North America, we bring this expertise closer to our U.S. customers. Our ambition is to further develop existing partnerships, attract new customers, and strengthen our position in markets including medical and life sciences. At the same time, we are building a local organization in North Carolina that can operate entrepreneurially while leveraging the knowledge, technology, and scale of AAE Group.

What will your role be?

You will have full responsibility for the continued development and growth of AAE North America, operating across strategy, commercial development, organizational development, and operations.

The Managing Director position is currently held as part of a temporary expat assignment. As AAE North America enters its next phase, we are looking for a successor who can build on the foundation established over the past several years and set the direction for the organization’s continued development and growth. A thorough handover with the current Managing Director will be part of the transition.

• Build and lead AAE North America, with full business and P&L responsibility.
• Develop the local team and leadership organization, creating a scalable structure with clear responsibilities and the capabilities required for further growth.
• Accelerate commercial growth by expanding strategic customer relationships, developing new business, and positioning AAE as a high-tech partner and OEM in the U.S. market.
• Implement the AAE business unit model, enabling business units to operate close to their markets and customers while leveraging shared technology, expertise, and scale across AAE Group.
• Further develop our site in the Research Triangle Area, ensuring that facilities, organization, and operations scale with our commercial and technological ambitions.
• Connect AAE North America with AAE Group, ensuring that knowledge, commercial opportunities, and strategic decisions are effectively shared across the organization.
• Actively contribute to the strategic direction of AAE Group as a member of the Executive Team and report directly to the CEO of AAE Group.

This means you will not only be responsible for the organization as it stands today. You will build the organization that will enable AAE to continue growing in North America in the years ahead.

Being part of something great

AAE is a high-tech family-owned company with more than 600 employees across Europe (580) and North America (20), with further international expansion planned in Southeast Asia. Through our different business units, we develop and manufacture technology for international customers in demanding markets.

With the acquisition of AAE North America in 2024, we took another step in our international development. Our focus now shifts to further growth: operating closer to our U.S. and global customers, strengthening our market position, and building an organization that can act decisively and independently while remaining firmly connected to AAE Group.

Our culture plays an important role in this. Ambitious, Can-do, Human, and Together are the values that shape how we work. In North Carolina, our goal is not simply to replicate the culture we have built in Helmond, but to combine it with the best of American entrepreneurial and business culture.

For us, international growth is therefore about more than revenue, locations, and processes. It is also about people, leadership, and building an organization that can succeed over the long term.

You’ve got what it takes

For this position, we are looking for an experienced senior leader with strong commercial capabilities and a proven track record of building and scaling a technology-driven organization.

You understand how to develop long-term relationships with technologically demanding customers and how to translate commercial growth into the right organization, people, processes, and operations. You bring structure where it is needed without limiting local entrepreneurship.

You bring:

• Master’s-level education or equivalent professional and intellectual capability.
• Extensive senior executive or management experience in high-tech, advanced manufacturing, machine building, or a comparable technology-driven environment.
• Demonstrated experience with full P&L responsibility.
• Experience building, professionalizing, and scaling an organization.
• A strong commercial track record in developing strategic customer relationships and generating new business.
• Experience in international leadership and connecting different cultures, interests, and organizational levels.
• Experience with the U.S. market and American business culture.

This role also suits someone who thrives in an organization that is still evolving. You can set direction, make decisions, and bring people with you, while staying close enough to customers and operations to understand what the business needs.

How we take care of you

At AAE, we believe job satisfaction is just as important as results. You will have significant scope to develop professionally and to shape this role as AAE North America enters its next phase.

In addition, we offer:

• A gross monthly salary between €7,600 and €12,000, depending on experience.
• A variable bonus tied to your responsibilities and results.
• 27 vacation days and 7 ADV days based on full-time employment.
• A mobility allowance.
• An appropriate expat package for your assignment in the United States.
• Opportunities for professional development within AAE.
• The prospect of a suitable next career step within AAE Group following your expat assignment.

Together we move the world happily forward

We believe that differences make both people and organizations stronger. That is why we are building a diverse and inclusive organization where everyone has the opportunity to make their own unique contribution.

Do you see yourself in this role? We look forward to receiving your application.

Moving the world forward is not something you do alone. It takes people who think differently, see things differently, and bring different experiences.

Whatever your background, experience, or perspective, we warmly invite you to apply.