Director of Product Engineering

This is a fully onsite position located in Irwindale, CA.

About the role

The Director of Product Engineering leads the research and development of industrial process automation products, including sensors, electronics, controls, embedded software, and mechanics. The role focuses on using innovative techniques, tools, and technologies to reduce development time while increasing product reliability.

Responsibilities

• Cultivate a collaborative, high-performing engineering environment, strengthening alignment and cooperation across global teams while fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.
• Drive strategic problem-solving and technical innovation, identifying emerging technologies, evaluating market potential, and advising leadership on developments impacting cost, schedule, profitability, customer satisfaction, and cross-functional operations.
• Lead intellectual property (IP) development and technology roadmap planning, analyzing industry trends, resource requirements, and market needs to guide project prioritization and long-term engineering strategy.
• Manage and develop external engineering partners and technical suppliers, ensuring strong execution, effective collaboration, and high-quality delivery across all outsourced development activities.
• Establish and refine engineering processes, metrics, and standards, providing clear direction on policy application, ensuring compliance with safety and product design requirements, and driving improvements in time, cost, quality, and operational excellence.
• Complete role standard work and deliver all other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Proven leadership of product strategy, roadmap execution, and full product lifecycle management.
• Strong ability to align product portfolios with business strategy, market needs, and financial objectives.
• Demonstrated success leading, developing, and scaling product management teams.
• Deep understanding of voice-of-customer, market analysis, and competitive positioning.
• Strong cross-functional leadership across sales, engineering, operations, and supply chain.
• Financial acumen including pricing, margin management, and business case development.
• Executive-level communication, prioritization, and decision-making skills in dynamic environments.
• Strong know-how of physical and chemical effects to measure conductivity, pH, flow, and other relevant process parameters.
• Experience managing software, electrical, mechanical, and test/verification engineering teams that have created process- or factory automation products, ideally analytical sensors, controllers, and transmitters.
• Experience with embedded systems for industrial environments.
• Expertise in product development processes from product requirements to launch and sustaining, including product requirements, architecture, hardware and software development, verification, production, and launch.
• 5+ years of individual contributor experience as an engineer or researcher, 5+ years of project team leadership or manager experience, and 5+ years managing R&D or engineering teams, ideally in a global environment.
• Experience with DFM (design for manufacturing), DFT (design for test), and industrialization of products.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to present complex technical projects to groups.
• Leadership proficiency that relates to both individual team members and the team as a whole.

Qualifications

• MS in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Physics with 5 years of directly relevant experience, or BS in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or a related field with 10 years of directly relevant experience.

Working Conditions / Physical Requirements

• Regularly required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear.
• Frequently required to sit.
• Occasionally required to stand and walk.
• Must regularly lift and/or move up to 10 pounds, frequently lift and/or move up to 25 pounds, and occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.
• Occasionally exposed to fumes or airborne particles, toxic or caustic chemicals, and risk of electrical shock.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Pay

Salary range: $160,000–$180,000 plus bonus.