Associate Director, Systems Engineering

Wonder•Boston, MA

7d•$229,000 - $255,000•Hybrid

About The Position

About The Opportunity We’re looking for an Associate Director of Systems Engineering to lead the development of our next-generation automated beverage platform. This role requires a principal architect who can bridge high-level product strategy with technical execution across the entire development lifecycle. You will have ultimate authority and accountability for the product, driving a complex, multi-disciplinary program from a blank slate to a fully realized, high-performance system. You will operate at the intersection of hardware, software, and controls to ensure we deliver a world-class solution that meets Wonder's high standards for quality and scale.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or Mechatronics Engineering or a related technical field.
Proven Leadership: 12+ years of experience in engineering, with a significant track record of leading large-scale, complex hardware/software projects from scratch ideally in the robotics or industrial automation industry.
Technical Breadth: Deep expertise in systems integration, robotics, or industrial automation. You should be equally comfortable discussing controls architecture, mechanical design and software.
The "Architect" Mindset: Demonstrated ability to synthesize competing requirements into a cohesive, elegant system architecture. You are comfortable with ambiguity and making difficult architectural, technical and product decisions.
Execution Focus: A "builder" mentality with the grit to manage through the challenges of hardware development and the leadership to keep a large team aligned and motivated.
Communication Excellence: Ability to distill complex technical concepts for executive leadership while providing granular technical guidance to individual contributors.
Strategic Precision: Exceptional organizational skills and a mastery of modern project management tools (Jira, Confluence, Miro, etc.), with the ability to architect these tools for a matrixed team.
Product and Business focused mindset: you have experience owning product requirements and becoming deeply embedded in business priorities and user needs.

Nice To Haves

Experience and know-how in the Beverage industry building beverage products and established relationships with beverage equipment vendors is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Own the Product Roadmap: Act as the ultimate accountable person for the success of the automated beverage system, defining the product requirements and driving the technical vision.
Architect Complex Systems: Lead the high-level architecture across mechanical, electrical, and software domains, making the "big-picture" decisions that balance performance, reliability, and timeline.
Drive 0-to-1 Development: Navigate the full product lifecycle, from initial concepts and prototyping, to a high fidelity prototype to real world pilots.
Lead Cross-Functional Teams: Guide a diverse team of hardware and software engineers, fostering a culture of high performance, rapid iteration, and technical excellence.
Manage Timelines & Risk: Build and maintain aggressive but achievable development timelines, proactively identifying and mitigating technical and operational risks.
Cross-Departmental Collaboration: Work closely with our culinary platform team to ensure the product we build matches our culinary and business ambitions.
Drive "Buy vs. Build" Strategy: Lead the evaluation and selection of key technology partners and sub-components deciding when to outsource or leverage off-the-shelf parts versus developing proprietary solutions in-house
Identify, onboard, and cultivate strategic third-party vendor relationships in the beverage equipment industry, ensuring partners are deeply aligned with and invested in our product vision.