Director of Engineering - New Product Development

American Holt•Norwood, MA

About The Position

The Director of Engineering – New Product Development is a senior leader who manages an engineering team, sets technical strategy, and ensures projects align with company business goals. The primary focus is developing new product lines, with a strategic focus on legacy product lines. The position reports to American Holts’ General Manager & VP. The Director owns the new product development portfolio, leading products from voice-of-customer discovery and concept development through design, prototyping, validation, production launch, and post-launch review. In partnership with the General Manager, the Director develops and executes a multi-year product and technology roadmap, establishes a scalable new product development process, and builds an innovation-focused engineering culture. The role works cross-functionally with Sales, Product Management, customers, other ProMach business units, and project teams. It allocates engineering resources, tracks development performance, maintains engineering standards and controls, and drives continuous improvement of existing products.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
7–10 years of experience in a manufacturing and engineering environment.
5 years of management experience.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with subordinates, peers, senior management, and suppliers.
Demonstrated experience developing and improving operational processes and solving complex challenges.
Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
Strong leadership, decision-making, and conflict-resolution skills.
Proficiency with NetSuite or Syteline ERP systems and the Microsoft Office suite.

Responsibilities

Own the new product development portfolio and lead products from voice-of-customer discovery and concept development through design, prototyping, validation, production launch, and post-launch review.
Work with the General Manager to develop and execute a multi-year product and technology roadmap aligned with business strategy, customer needs, market opportunities, and growth objectives.
Establish and continuously improve a disciplined, scalable new product development process with clear stage gates, decision criteria, ownership, documentation, and executive visibility.
Partner with Sales, Product Management, customers, and other ProMach business units to identify unmet needs, define product requirements, assess commercial potential, and prioritize high-value opportunities.
Lead cross-functional project teams and ensure new products meet committed targets for scope, schedule, quality, performance, manufacturability, cost, and return on investment.
Work with the General Manager on feasibility analysis, concept evaluation, prototyping, testing, design reviews, risk assessment, and design verification and validation.
Embed design for manufacturability, design for assembly, standardization, modularity, reliability, safety, serviceability, and target-cost principles early in the development cycle.
Work with the General Manager to recruit, develop, mentor, and retain engineers and strengthen technical capability, accountability, collaboration, and independent problem-solving.
Allocate internal and external engineering resources across new product development, sustaining engineering, customer projects, and strategic initiatives while protecting critical launch milestones.
Monitor new product development metrics, including milestone attainment, development cycle time, project risk, product cost, quality, launch readiness, and post-launch performance; communicate progress, tradeoffs, and decisions to leadership.
Maintain engineering standards, procedures, design controls, documentation, intellectual property practices, and change-management processes.
Drive continuous improvement of existing products for quality, performance, and cost.