Director of Furnace Product Engineering

Job Overview

The Director of Furnace Product Engineering is the senior leader responsible for the complete engineering lifecycle of Hisense’s gas furnace product line for the North American market. This role leads the design, development, certification, performance optimization, quality improvement, and launch readiness of all furnace platforms, ensuring products meet U.S. and Canadian regulatory standards and deliver world-class safety, reliability, and efficiency.

This leader will guide cross-regional engineering teams (U.S., China) to build a competitive, high-efficiency furnace portfolio and support Hisense’s long-term heating strategy.

Duties/Responsibilities

• Product Line Technical Leadership
• Own the technical direction, architecture, and roadmap for condensing and non-condensing gas furnaces.
• Define engineering strategy to achieve performance, safety, manufacturability, and cost targets.
• Lead platform planning, feature specification, and product differentiation for U.S. and Canada.
• Furnace System Engineering & Development
• Oversee design and development of combustion systems, burners, igniters, blowers, heat exchangers, venting, and control systems.
• Lead CFD / thermal modeling reviews, prototyping, lab testing, and performance verification.
• Ensure robust designs through FMEA, DFSS, reliability testing, and accelerated life testing.
• Certification, Safety & Regulatory Compliance
• Lead coordination with UL, CSA, AHRI, DOE, and local code bodies.
• Ensure furnace platforms meet all safety and energy requirements, including UL 1995, UL 727, CSA standards, NOx/emissions, and DOE efficiency regulations.
• Manage certification testing plans with internal and external labs.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Partner with Product Planning on requirements and competitive feature benchmarking.
• Work with Manufacturing to ensure design for manufacturability and cost competitiveness.
• Collaborate with Quality and Service teams to identify field issues and implement corrective actions.
• Support Sales and key retailer engagements with technical expertise.
• Quality, Reliability & Field Performance
• Drive root-cause analysis for field failures, safety events, and service issues.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives to improve reliability, ignition stability, condensate management, furnace noise, and heat exchanger durability.
• Implement robust validation protocols for cold-climate and high-altitude operation.
• Leadership, Talent & Team Development
• Build and lead a high-performing U.S. Furnace Engineering team.
• Mentor global engineering partners to strengthen Hisense’s heating product capability.
• Promote a culture of innovation, discipline, accountability, and engineering excellence.
  
  

Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field; Master’s preferred.
• 10 years engineering experience in HVAC heating, with strong furnace product experience.
• Expertise in combustion system design, heat exchanger development, fluid mechanics, and thermal engineering.
• Strong knowledge of UL/CSA/DOE/AHRI heating standards.
• Experience leading NPI/NPI furnace projects from concept to launch.
• Proven leadership managing cross-functional and multi-site engineering teams.
• Strong communication and technical decision-making skills.
  
  

Preferred

• Experience at major HVAC manufacturers (Rheem, Lennox, Goodman, Trane, Carrier, York, Daikin, Nordyne, etc.).
• Hands-on experience in CFD/thermal simulation tools (ANSYS Fluent, CFX).
• DFSS, Six Sigma, TRIZ, or reliability engineering certification.
• Experience with manufacturing processes for heat exchangers, combustion chambers, and furnace assembly lines.
  
  

Hisense USA provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, or any other category protected under applicable law. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.