Professor of Industrial Engineering and Management, specialising in future production systems

subject areas within the department, which employs approximately 60 staff, including 9 professors. The department also includes the disciplines of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and Physics.

Industrial Engineering and Management at Karlstad University comprises two main strands: production planning and control, and innovation management. The present recruitment focuses on strengthening the production planning and control strand. You will play a key role and take particular responsibility for the continued development of this specialisation area, including resilient and sustainable value chains in which digitalisation plays a crucial role.

Teaching will primarily involve courses within the master’s programme specialising in resilient operations and supply chain management, which is being developed with funding from the Knowledge Foundation. Research in Industrial Engineering and Management is currently conducted primarily within the Digital Adaptive Manufacturing for Industry (DAMI) research centre, which addresses interdisciplinary digitalisation challenges of relevance to industry. The subject area also maintains established collaborations with the disciplines of Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Computer Science, as well as with the Service Research Center (CTF) at Karlstad University.

Duties

As a professor, your main duties comprise research, teaching at undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels, collaboration activities and academic leadership. Your duties include overall responsibility for the research environment with a focus on future production systems, as well as leading and further developing the research and research environment within the field.

You are expected to actively contribute to the development of the subject area at both national and international levels and to secure external research funding. You will play an active role in the development of education at all levels.

As a professor, you are expected to collaborate with the wider community for a mutual exchange, as well as work towards ensuring that the knowledge and expertise available at the university is of benefit to society.

Administration is also included in the duties. To contribute to a positive work environment and further the department’s activities, we expect you to be a present and active part of the day-to-day operations and workplace community.

Qualification requirements

To be eligible for the position of professor in Industrial Engineering and Management, applicants are required to have demonstrated both research and teaching expertise in the subject area.

Additional qualification requirements:

• Excellent research achievements within the subject area, demonstrated through scholarly work of a high international standard and a clear progression in research quality.
• High quality and relevance in research production.
• Experience of and demonstrated ability to supervise doctoral students to the successful completion of their PhD studies.
• Relevant experience of collaborating with the wider community, as well as communicating research activities and results.
• Demonstrated academic leadership, including experience of academic service (for example, serving as an external reviewer and/or member of an examining committee, participation in other committees and other leadership positions), as well as leading research projects within the subject area.
• Demonstrated ability to apply for and secure external research funding.
• Demonstrated ability to plan, conduct, develop and evaluate teaching, examinations and other pedagogical activities at different levels and using varied teaching methods.

Teaching staff at Karlstad University are expected to teach in both English and Swedish. The position requires a high level of proficiency in spoken and written English. An applicant who does not meet the proficiency requirement in Swedish may still be hired, provided they can actively acquire these language skills.

A professor must also have completed courses in supervision and higher education pedagogy. Applicants without these qualifications may still be hired provided that they commit to completing the training within two years of employment, or apply for validation of equivalent qualifications.

For more information on qualification requirements, please refer to Karlstad University’s Appointments Procedure.

Assessment criteria

In the assessment criteria for appointment as a professor, the degree of such expertise required as a qualification for employment shall apply. Equal weight will be given to the assessment of teaching expertise and the assessment of research or artistic expertise.

Special weight will be given to:

• Research excellence in the field of future production systems, with a specialisation in one or more of the following areas:
  • Resilient and sustainable value chains and processes
  • Digitalisation and/or AI with industrial applications
  • Advanced production systems and products, with a focus on sustainable and resilient processes
• Experience of supervising doctoral students within the subject area.
• Demonstrated ability to secure research funding in collaboration with industry across different TRL levels.
• As the subject area and research environment are in a phase of development, special weight will be given to the candidate’s commitment and ability to establish and develop a robust research environment within the field.
• Documented experience of doctoral supervision, including serving as principal supervisor throughout all stages of doctoral education, normally as the principal supervisor for at least one doctoral student all the way to the thesis defence.

Considerable weight will be given to:

• Experience of international appointments or assignments, such as a postdoctoral position, a period as a visiting researcher, or involvement in international organisations and networks.
• Documented experience and ability to lead and communicate research and development activities with colleagues and students in matters relating to teaching and assessment within your subject or subject area.

Valuable qualifications:

• Recognised or distinguished teaching skills
• Industry experience
• Ability to teach in Swedish

Terms

This is a permanent, full-time position. Start date as agreed by both parties.

Application

Submit the application via the University’s web-based recruitment tool, Varbi. For advice on how to draft your application, refer to “What should be included with my application?”. Applicants are responsible for submitting a complete application in accordance with the advertisement, for providing translations of any documents written in a language other than Swedish, Norwegian, Danish or English, and for ensuring that the documentation allows for objective and qualitative assessments. A complete application should be submitted by the application deadline. An incomplete application may jeopardise a fair assessment of qualifications.

The application should include:

• CV
• Cover letter describing your qualifications and research interests in relation to the duties of the position
• An in-depth account of research experience
• An in-depth account of teaching experience
• Certificate to verify completed courses in higher education pedagogy or an account of equivalent skills
• Documented and successful experience in supervising doctoral students, including scope
• An account of other relevant experience
• An account of managerial and administrative experience
• Plans for future work
• An account of collaborations, international network experience, etc.
• A list of publications (in multi-authored publications, the role of the applicant must be specified)
• An account of language proficiency
• Copies of relevant course transcripts, degree certificates, and other certificates
• No more than 10 scientific publications and no more than 5 materials intended to convey knowledge, such as textbooks, computer programs for teaching, or popular science articles
• Two references, at least one of whom is a current or former supervisor

Attach all the documents and publications you wish to be considered to the electronic application (do not just provide links). Name each uploaded document to clearly indicate its content.

Documents that cannot be submitted electronically, such as books or publications, should be sent in triplicate to the following address:

Karlstads universitet
HR-administratör
651 88 KARLSTAD
Sweden

Application deadline: November 16, 2026

State reference number: 2026/166

We look forward to your application!

Karlstad University has chosen advertising channels for this recruitment and firmly declines any contact with advertising or recruitment agencies.

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