Engineering Director

Job Title: Director of Engineering

(Product Development & Engineering Process Focus)

Company Overview

Syndicate is a growing organization that provides shared services and operational support to multiple affiliated entities. The Engineering Director plays a critical role in building a culture of best practices across multiple entities balanced with cultivating autonomy, agility, and brand personality.

Position Summary

The Director of Engineering is responsible for leading and optimizing engineering processes to drive innovation, accelerate new product development (NPD), and ensure successful product commercialization. This role focuses on building disciplined, efficient, and scalable systems that enable engineering teams to consistently deliver high-quality, manufacturable products. The Director partners cross-functionally with Product Management, Operations, Quality, and Supply Chain to align engineering execution with business objectives.

Key Responsibilities

Engineering Process Leadership

• Design, implement, and continuously improve engineering processes that support innovation, product development, and lifecycle management.
• Establish and enforce stage-gate or similar structured product development frameworks.
• Drive standardization in design practices, documentation, and change management (ECO/ECN)
• Develop metrics (KPIs) to measure engineering efficiency, quality, and time-to-market
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives to eliminate waste, reduce rework, and improve throughput.
• Standardize what should be and personalize what has to be for continued success.

Product Development & Innovation

• Oversee new product development from concept through commercialization.
• Ensure engineering processes enable rapid prototyping, iteration, and validation.
• Champion design for manufacturability (DFM), design for assembly (DFA), and cost optimization
• Support innovation initiatives, including evaluation of new technologies, materials, and methods.
• Balance speed-to-market with product reliability, compliance, and performance

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Ability to work with the business units in a way that allows them to keep their autonomy, agility, and brand personality while still maintaining best practices.
• Partner with entity Product Management to translate market needs into engineering requirements.
• Collaborate with Operations and Manufacturing to ensure smooth product launches and production readiness.
• Work with Quality and Regulatory teams to ensure compliance with applicable standards.
• Align with Supply Chain on sourcing strategies and supplier development.

Team Leadership & Development

• Build, lead, and mentor a high-performing engineering team.
• Define roles, responsibilities, and career development paths within engineering.
• Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Allocate resources effectively across projects and priorities.

Product Commercialization

• Ensure readiness for product launch, including validation, documentation, and manufacturing transfer.
• Drive efficient handoff from development to production.
• Monitor post-launch performance and lead continuous product improvement efforts.
• Support cost reduction, value engineering, and lifecycle management initiatives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering (Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial, or related field); Master's preferred
• 8–15 years of engineering experience, including leadership roles
• Proven success leading new product development and commercialization efforts
• Strong background in engineering process development and optimization
• Experience implementing stage-gate or similar product development frameworks
• Deep understanding of DFM/DFA, GD&T, and manufacturing processes
• Experience working in a regulated or quality-driven environment (e.g., ISO 9001)
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in manufacturing environments with complex mechanical products
• Familiarity with PLM systems and engineering change control processes
• Lean, Six Sigma, or continuous improvement certification
• Experience scaling engineering teams and processes in a growth environment
• Experience leading innovation and engineering across multiple autonomous organizations and product lines

Key Competencies

• Strategic thinking with operational execution
• Process design and optimization
• Cross-functional collaboration and influence
• Data-driven decision making
• Change management and leadership
• Strong communication and leadership presence

Success Metrics (Examples)

• Reduction in product development cycle time
• Improved first-pass design success rate
• Reduction in engineering change orders post-launch
• On-time, on-budget product launches
• Improved product quality and field performance