Design Engineering Manager
About The Position
CMC is seeking an experienced Design Engineering Manager to lead the development of professional rescue products from early opportunity definition through commercial launch. This on-site position is based at CMC’s world headquarters in Santa Barbara, California, and works closely with product development, engineering, testing, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and end users. The manager combines hands-on technical leadership, people management, and cross-functional product development ownership. The role guides concept development, engineering analysis, prototyping, verification and validation, and design transfer, ensuring products address customer needs and business objectives while meeting regulatory requirements and cost, quality, and schedule targets. The manager leads and develops a growing engineering team working on PPE for the rescue and rope access markets, including soft goods, harnesses, and technical hardware. They partner with product management, commercial teams, end users, and engineering leadership to set product requirements, technology roadmaps, and development priorities. They oversee multiple development programs, establish plans and resources, guide technical decisions and design reviews, and coordinate design transfer, production readiness, and launch. The role also embeds quality, safety, regulatory, and risk-management requirements into development and improves workflows using lessons learned and performance indicators.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field.
- 7 to 11+ years of progressive mechanical engineering and product development experience, including responsibility for taking physical products from concept through design, prototyping, verification and validation, design transfer, and production launch.
- At least 2 to 3 years of formal people leadership, engineering management, or significant technical and project leadership experience.
- Demonstrated success leading cross-functional development of complex physical products in a structured stage-gate or equivalent development process.
- Advanced proficiency with 3D CAD and product data management tools, and ability to evaluate engineering analyses, prototypes, test data, and design documentation.
- Deep knowledge of mechanical design, GD&T, design for manufacture and assembly, prototyping, engineering risk management, verification and validation, design transfer, and prototype-to-production lifecycles.
- Ability to translate customer and product requirements into robust engineering solutions.
- Ability to make sound decisions with incomplete information, facilitate productive technical debate, resolve cross-functional conflicts, manage development risk, and maintain focus under schedule pressure.
- Strong written, verbal, and visual communication skills.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.
- Ability to meet the physical demands described, including regularly lifting or exerting up to 40 pounds and the specified walking, standing, hand-use, and vision requirements.
Nice To Haves
- Master’s degree.
- Experience with safety-critical products, personal protective equipment, rescue equipment, or regulated products.
- Experience using analysis tools to support design decisions.
Responsibilities
- Recruit, lead, and mentor engineers developing PPE for the rescue and rope access markets, including soft goods, harnesses, and technical hardware.
- Build team capability in customer-focused product development, engineering design, prototyping, testing, design for manufacture, and project execution; establish roles, performance expectations, and development plans.
- Partner with product management, commercial teams, end users, and engineering leadership to translate market opportunities and customer needs into product requirements, technology roadmaps, priorities, and objectives.
- Lead multiple product development programs from opportunity definition and concept selection through detailed design, prototyping, verification and validation, design transfer, and commercial launch.
- Establish program plans, milestones, resources, budgets, risks, and decision points to deliver on schedule and within approved investment targets.
- Guide concept generation and selection, resolve technical trade-offs, and lead design reviews.
- Review and approve product requirements, risk analyses, 3D models, engineering drawings, prototypes, test methods, verification and validation results, and technical documentation.
- Collaborate with product management, manufacturing engineering, quality, regulatory, supply chain, commercial teams, and end users to balance customer value, performance, safety, cost, manufacturability, serviceability, and time to market.
- Participate in customer research, field observation, product evaluations, and competitive assessment to identify unmet needs and validate concepts.
- Work with manufacturing engineering and supply chain to define production processes, tooling, supplier requirements, quality controls, cost targets, and launch-readiness criteria.
- Support design transfer, pilot builds, issue resolution, and production ramp-up.
- Embed quality, safety, regulatory, and risk-management requirements into product development from early design stages.
- Establish engineering standards, maintain design documentation and change control, support product certification, and improve development workflows using lessons learned and measurable performance indicators.
- Make sound decisions with incomplete information, facilitate technical debate, resolve cross-functional conflicts, manage development risk, communicate expectations, and keep teams accountable and focused on customer needs and program priorities.
- Present product concepts, technical trade-offs, program risks, test results, and recommendations to technical and nontechnical audiences.
- Perform essential functions that include regularly walking, standing, handling, fingering, or feeling objects, tools, or controls; occasionally crouching or kneeling; and regularly lifting or exerting up to 40 pounds of materials.
- Undertake some business travel.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
