Engineering Manager - Special Hazards (onsite)

About the role

Johnson Controls, a global leader in thermal management, mission-critical building systems, energy efficiency, and decarbonization, helps customers use energy more productively, reduce carbon emissions, and operate with the precision and resilience required in rapidly expanding industries such as data centers, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, advanced manufacturing, and higher education. For more information, visit johnsoncontrols.com.

What You Will Do

The Engineering Manager, Special Hazards Fire Suppression Systems leads a team of engineers responsible for the design, development, testing, certification, and lifecycle management of fire suppression solutions for special hazard applications. This role combines technical leadership, product development expertise, and people management to drive innovation, regulatory compliance, product quality, and successful new product introductions.

How You Will Do It

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of mechanical, systems, and product engineers supporting special hazards fire suppression products.
• Drive execution of new product development, product enhancement, value engineering, and cost optimization initiatives from concept through commercialization using a structured stage gate product development process.
• Provide technical leadership in the design and development of special hazards fire suppression systems, including storage containers, valves, actuators, piping networks, nozzles, agent delivery systems, detection interfaces, control equipment, and associated hardware.
• Partner with Product Management to translate customer, application, regulatory, and market requirements into innovative suppression solutions.
• Collaborate with Operations, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, and Supply Chain teams to improve manufacturability, reliability, quality, and cost competitiveness.
• Lead system-level design reviews, validation testing, performance evaluations, and certification activities to support regulatory approvals and customer requirements.
• Manage engineering resources, project schedules, budgets, risk assessments, and technical priorities to meet organizational objectives.
• Support strategic technology roadmaps, product lifecycle management, and portfolio growth initiatives.
• Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, continuous improvement, safety, and customer focus within the engineering organization.
• Serve as a technical representative with customers, certification agencies, consultants, industry organizations, suppliers, and cross-functional leadership teams.
• Build and sustain a high-performing engineering team.
• Deliver innovative products that meet customer, regulatory, and business requirements.
• Drive improvements in quality, reliability, and operational efficiency.
• Effectively manage multiple development programs and competing priorities.
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement and technical excellence.

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Fire Protection Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related technical field.
• 8+ years of progressive engineering experience in product development, fire protection, industrial products, or related industries.
• 3+ years of engineering leadership or people management experience.
• Strong knowledge of mechanical engineering principles including fluid dynamics, pressure vessels, valves, piping systems, materials selection, and design for manufacturability.
• Experience leading cross-functional product development projects from concept through production launch.
• Proficiency with engineering analysis tools and product validation methodologies.
• Knowledge of structured product development processes and new product introduction practices.
• Strong understanding of regulatory compliance, quality systems, and certification requirements.

PREFERRED

• Experience with special hazards fire suppression systems.
• Familiarity with NFPA standards, UL/FM approvals, marine certifications, and international fire protection standards.
• Experience with Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement methodologies.

Hiring Salary Range

Hiring salary range: $105,000 - $130,000 (Salary to be determined by the education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, internal equity, and alignment with market data.) This role offers a competitive Bonus plan that will take into account individual, group, and corporate performance. This position includes a competitive benefits package. The posted salary range reflects the target compensation for this role. However, we recognize that exceptional candidates may bring unique skills and experiences that exceed the typical profile. If you believe your background warrants consideration beyond the stated range, we encourage you to apply. To support an efficient and fair hiring process, we may use technology assisted tools, including artificial intelligence (AI), to help identify and evaluate candidates. All hiring decisions are ultimately made by human reviewers. For details, please visit the About Us tab on the Johnson Controls Careers site.