Head of Innovation Programs

Salary Competitive

About ATLANT 3D

ATLANT 3D Nanosystems is pioneering the Atomic Scale Manufacturing Era, pushing the boundaries of advanced materials and micro/nanodevice production. Our mission is to drive breakthrough innovations, enabling businesses to develop disruptive applications with unmatched speed, precision, and quality. We foster a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement, and open innovation, where every team member contributes to shaping the future.

Role Overview

The Head of Innovation Programs is a senior technical leadership role collaborating closely with the CTO to translate complex challenges into actionable, solution‑driven plans. The role ensures disciplined execution, technical governance, and alignment across the Innovation Unit (Software, Hardware, R&D, Applications), ensuring innovation programs framing and execution discipline.


This is a full-time individual contributor role that operates across technical domains and works closely with functional leaders to ensure the company’s technology roadmap is clearly defined, aligned, and delivered.

You will act as a technical integrator and execution leader, supporting the CTO in shaping roadmaps, identifying capability gaps, and ensuring innovation programs progress efficiently from research to engineering development, pilot programs, and commercialization.

This role requires the ability to think strategically across disciplines, while ensuring alignment and execution across teams without replacing functional leadership.

The position combines:

  • System-level technical thinking

  • Technology roadmap development

  • Portfolio and program leadership

  • Innovation lifecycle management

  • Cross-functional coordination

  • Executive decision support


The role is execution-driven and requires strong technical judgment, structured thinking, and the ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving deep-tech environment.

Core Responsibilities

1. Technology Strategy

  • Ensure the development and continuous refinement of integrated technology roadmaps across Hardware Engineering, Software Engineering, Technology R&D, and Applications R&D in collaboration with the CTO and functional leads.

  • Translate strategic technology objectives into structured development roadmaps with clear milestones, dependencies, and delivery timelines.

  • Ensure alignment between research initiatives; hardware and software platforms; and application deployment.

  • Provide structured technical analysis and decision frameworks to support the CTO’s technology strategy.

2. Innovation Governance & Operating Model

  • Implement structured innovation processes with oversight and governance across Technology R&D, Hardware, Software, and Applications R&D, maintaining portfolio visibility through activity-based reporting that aligns with PMO guidelines.

  • Establish and enforce lean, efficient processes that support innovation velocity, while ensuring stage-gate discipline, technical readiness assessments, and milestone governance.

  • Define and maintain key innovation performance metrics across the technology portfolio, including stage progression, delivery reliability, resource utilization, and program risk indicators.

  • Monitor the health of the innovation lifecycle from initial concept through pilot stages by establishing reporting frameworks that provide leadership with real-time visibility.

  • Ensure technical quality, documentation rigor, and validation discipline across projects.

  • Act as readiness authority before executive reviews, customer pilots, FAT/SAT, and scale-up initiatives.

3. Cross-Domain Coordination

  • Ensure technology initiatives across Technology R&D, Hardware, Software, and Application R&D remain synchronized and aligned with the overall roadmap.

  • Support the CTO in evaluating trade-offs, resource allocation, and execution priorities across technical programs.

  • Define clear ownership models and acceptance criteria during handovers.

  • Align project prioritization with strategic technical objectives and resource capacity.

  • Identify critical path risks, cross-functional dependencies, and execution bottlenecks, proactively recommending solutions and mitigation strategies to resolve issues before they impact program delivery.

  • Facilitate structured transitions from R&D to Engineering and Applications, while also addressing manufacturability, scalability, and validation of readiness early.

  • Embed IP protection and documentation discipline into all innovation phases while coordinating pilot program governance and early commercialization readiness.

  • Support technical alignment with customers, strategic partners, and pilot program stakeholders to ensure innovation programs translate effectively into real-world applications.

4. Scalability Readiness

  • Help identify capability and skill gaps across R&D, Hardware, Software, and Applications required to support the technology roadmap.

  • Work with the CTO to define and introduce new roles, temporary task forces, or external expertise to close critical capability gaps.

  • Support hiring prioritization and capability development aligned with future technology needs.

  • Ensure the organization maintains the technical capacity required to scale innovation programs and product development.

Required Profile

Technical Background

  • Master’s degree in Engineering, Software, Systems, Automation, Mechanical Engineering, or related technical discipline.

  • 7+ years in deep-tech R&D, advanced hardware-software systems, or complex engineering environments.

  • Strong understanding of:

  • Product development lifecycles

  • Hardware–software integration

  • R&D to commercialization transitions

  • Quality validation processes (FAT/SAT)

  • Structured project governance (Agile, Stage-Gate, hybrid models)

Leadership & Execution Capabilities

  • Demonstrated experience coordinating complex technical programs across multiple engineering domains.

  • Ability to operate at system-level thinking similar to engineering and technology leaders.

  • Strong portfolio oversight and execution management experience.

  • Ability to synthesize complex technical inputs into structured strategic decisions.

  • Experience working closely with senior technical leadership.

  • Proven ability to work under pressure and manage multiple critical initiatives simultaneously.

  • Strong communication, analytical, and structured problem-solving skills.

Preferred Experience

  • Experience in startup or scale-up deep-tech environments

  • Exposure to advanced manufacturing, semiconductor, nanotechnology, or automation systems

  • Familiarity with ISO-aligned documentation practices

  • Experience implementing portfolio governance or PMO structures in technical organizations

  • Exposure to intellectual property strategy or patent development processes

Key Success Indicators (First 12 Months)

  • Increased predictability and discipline in innovation execution.

  • Clear, data-driven portfolio visibility for the CTO and leadership team.

  • Seamless coordination between R&D, Hardware and Software, and Applications.

  • Increased on-time delivery of critical technology roadmap milestones.

  • Identification and closure of critical technical capability gaps required for scaling innovation programs.

  • Centralized PMO oversight established for portfolio and milestone governance.

  • Clear technical readiness, documentation discipline, and risk visibility before projects advance to critical development stages.

Why This Role Matters

As Head of Innovation Programs, you ensure that ATLANT 3D’s breakthrough technologies are executed, integrated, and delivered through coordinated efforts across engineering, research, and application teams.

You will operate at the center of technology strategy and execution, shaping how innovation is structured, governed, and scaled across the organization.

Perks and benefits

This job comes with several perks and benefits

Equity package
Equity package

Skill development
Skill development

Social gatherings
Social gatherings

Free coffee / tea
Free coffee / tea

Free office snacks
Free office snacks

Near public transit
Near public transit

See all 12 benefits

Working at
ATLANT 3D

ATLANT 3D is building the first-ever atomic layer 3D printing Nanofabricator™ and launches services for micro and nanodevices with previously impossible concepts. Our vision is to enable rapid innovation with atomic precision and democratize access to advanced instruments. We are now building a Nanofabricator™ to enable atomic layer 3D printing with a selection of more than 450 different materials. Our team is unique in its vision, technology, connection to the industry, and demands. Funded by Sony, Innovation Fund Denmark, European Commission, ATLANT 3D Nanosystems start its development with industry defined demand, reliable partners, flexible and cost-efficient technology to enable next-level innovation. Why we are different ATLANT 3D Nanosystems is the first and only company that simplifies micro and nano processing. This enables rapid prototyping by solving problems that have never been solved before. We are building the Nanofabricator™, the world's first-ever standalone atomic layer technology platform for micro and nanofabrication. This allows the possibility to use more than 450 commercially available materials and enables the processing of micro and nanodevices within days instead of months or years. We are reinventing the way micro and nanodevices are made. Our values 1. Commitment to our goals 2. Entrepreneurial Mindset 3. Openness and Curiosity 4. Respect and Diversity 5. Collaborative and Integrity 6. Boldness and Decisiveness What we offer - The opportunity to become part of a company poised to revolutionize the development and manufacturing of electronic, photonics, and optics industries.  - An opportunity to have influence and make a significant contribution to a young and fast-growing company.  - International team collaboration.  - Opportunities and support to advance your personal development.  - Interactions with international partners, suppliers, customers, and associated travel.  At ATLANT 3D you will be a part of a team working towards disrupting 60 years of micro and nanofabrication technologies and systems: A once-in-a-lifetime experience. What we develop is unique, and we are incredibly excited to make a difference. You can join us to take a technological leap together. Growth opportunity. We are a fast-growing team with a need for experts, with ambitions to grow and flourish. ‍Learning and development. We are working in a cross-disciplinary field. Become a pioneer with us in developing new knowledge and technologies. Work and Life balance. We value the balance between work and play and are fans of Danish Hygge and the Bavarian style. Life in Denmark. Denmark is recognized as one of the happiest countries in the world with a family-friendly and safe environment, easy commuting, a high level of life, free healthcare, and access to any part of Europe or the World. 

Read more about ATLANT 3D

company gallery image