Director, Test Engineering

Job Summary

The Director, Test Engineering is responsible for defining, governing, and coordinating Vertiv’s Engineering test strategy across product development, validation, manufacturing, and certification activities. This role establishes common testing standards, methodologies, and release requirements, and ensures their consistent implementation across Lines of Business (LoBs) and regions.

The position provides technical leadership, standards, and orchestration for testing activities, including Design Verification Testing (DVT), test automation, certification testing, Design for Test (DFT), and coordinates with Advanced Manufacturing Engineering on End‑of‑Line (EOL) testing.

The Director of Test Engineering owns the Core Engineering Test Automation team and serves as the primary Engineering interface to external certification agencies.

Key Responsibilities

Test Strategy & Standards

• Define and maintain enterprise-wide test strategies for NPDI, ETO, and Sustaining Engineering programs.
• Establish common test standards, procedures, and acceptance criteria for: 
  • Design Verification Testing (DVT)
  • Reliability and environmental testing (in coordination with Quality and Reliability teams)
  • Automated testing
• Define product release test requirements and ensure alignment with DFMEA, PFMEA, and reliability expectations.
• Drive consistency in test planning, execution, reporting, and traceability across businesses and regions.

Design Verification Testing (DVT) Leadership

• Own the DVT methodology and governance model, including test scope definition, readiness criteria, and exit criteria.
• Coordinate DVT execution across LoBs and regions, ensuring alignment to Vertiv standards.
• Ensure DVT results are effectively correlated with simulation data, historical performance, and field feedback.

Test Automation

• Directly lead the Core Engineering Test Automation team.
• Define and execute the test automation roadmap for product validation and regression testing.
• Drive increased adoption of automation in both engineering validation and manufacturing test environments.
• Promote reuse of automation frameworks, tools, and test assets across product families.

Manufacturing Test Collaboration

• Partner closely with Manufacturing Engineering to: 
  • Define Design for Test (DFT) requirements early in product development.
  • Align engineering test strategies with End‑of‑Line (EOL) and factory acceptance testing.
  • Ensure smooth transition from engineering validation to production test.
• Support continuous improvement of manufacturing test coverage, efficiency, and robustness.

Certification & External Relationships

• Serve as the primary Core Engineering interface to external certification agencies (e.g., UL, IEC, CE).
• Coordinate certification test strategies, scheduling, and technical alignment across LoBs.
• Ensure engineering test plans anticipate and support certification requirements.
• Maintain strong working relationships with third‑party test houses and certification partners.

Governance, Metrics & Continuous Improvement

• Establish KPIs and dashboards for test effectiveness, cycle time, coverage, and automation maturity.
• Identify gaps, redundancies, and inefficiencies in current testing approaches and drive corrective actions.
• Support Vertiv Operating System (VOS) initiatives related to quality, speed, and cost.

Scope & Authority

• Global testing standards ownership; no direct ownership of lab facilities or daily lab operations
• Direct management of the Core Engineering Test Automation team
• Influences product release decisions through test readiness and results

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Mechanical, or Systems Engineering (required)
• Master’s degree preferred
• 12 years of experience in product development and engineering test environments
• Demonstrated leadership in: 
  • Design Verification Testing (DVT)
  • Test automation
  • Product validation and reliability testing
  • Manufacturing test (DFT and EOL)
• Experience working with certification agencies and compliance testing
• Proven ability to lead cross‑functional, globally distributed teams without direct line authority
• Data center, power electronics, thermal, or industrial systems experience preferred
• Strong systems‑level engineering mindset
• Ability to define standards and drive adoption at scale
• Excellent communication skills in English and stakeholder management skills
• Comfortable operating at both strategic and hands‑on technical levels
• Lean / Six Sigma experience a plus