We are seeking a Founding Head of Engineering to turn prototype into factory-ready hardware, build a world-class team, and ship our first customer system within 12 months.
Location: Netherlands / San Francisco Bay Area / Remote (with periodic travel to NL)
Reports to: CTO & CEO
HallTech is unlocking the next era of advanced manufacturing through high-efficiency, scalable thin film deposition.
We are a venture-backed deep-tech startup transforming Physical Vapor Deposition. Our proprietary gridless ion source achieves superior combination of coating quality and throughput, while unlocking new process windows beyond the limits of conventional PVD systems. We are now gearing up for industrialization.
- Industrialise our prototype
Scale our gridless ion source to 10–100 kW, release a production-ready system package, and install our first customer pilot.
- Lead core system design
Own system architecture (vacuum, mech, power electronics, controls), balance in-house vs outsourced builds, and release technical production documentation.
- Build and lead the team
Hire and mentor 5–8 engineers across mechanical, electrical, and plasma domains; instil a high-ownership culture.
- Ship a customer-ready unit
Deliver a working tool into customer hands within 12 months, including on-site setup, process demo, and first-layer success metrics.
- Translate proof-of-concept learnings into robust industrial hardware
- Define system specs and own technical roadmap
- Interface with early customers to gather feedback and adapt design
- Ensure safety, maintainability, and serviceability of deployed systems
- Protect IP and documentation for future replication
- Shape team culture, structure, and hiring processes
- Collaborate closely with the founders on long-term strategy
- 5 + years leading hardware teams in PVD, semiconductor tools, or vacuum systems.
- Hands-on expertise with ion sources or plasma-based deposition (you’ve tuned beam current, not just modelled it).
- Track record of turning prototypes into field-ready tools.
- Experience with plasma diagnostics, beam current control, or RF power delivery
- Ability to lead across mechanics, electronics, and controls, even if not an expert in all
- Comfortable balancing urgency with engineering rigour in a seed-stage start-up.
- Gridless ion-source experience.
- Familiarity with process integration in display, solar, or semi fabs
- Thin-film deposition experience and/or strong network with thin-film deposition solution providers
- Direct ownership over a groundbreaking product
- Hybrid work, hardware weeks on site.
- Hardware-forward culture with quick build-test cycles
- Travel opportunities for customer deployments and conferences
- Competitive salary + founding-team stock options.
- Green-field challenge: Design the architecture, processes and team from scratch with no legacy constraints.
Email [email protected] with your CV and a brief note on the toughest hardware system you’ve shipped and why you’re proud of it. We read every application.
www.halltech.nl