Director of Engineering

CLARK Material Handling Company•Lexington, KY

About The Position

The Director of Engineering is responsible for the design and support of CLARK products in North America, including engineering products built in Lexington and reviewing designs from overseas engineering centers for products sold in North America. The role ensures products meet technical and market requirements and CLARK’s “Built to Last” philosophy. It represents CMHC on the Global Product Planning Committee, reviews project scopes, and leads quality improvement initiatives with internal teams and affiliates. The Director oversees engineering functions supporting new and current equipment, including review of field issues with engineering and service staff and ensuring corrective actions and engineering change requests are developed. As a senior leader, this role aligns department priorities, investments, and initiatives with CLARK’s Three Points of Contact Strategic Framework: Sales Growth, Urgent Customer Service, and Culture. The position leads product innovation and support, develops engineering talent, and responds to customer and market needs. The role manages engineering teams, projects, resources, facilities, equipment, budgets, and capital expenditures; partners with other departments and the global engineering team; and ensures products meet safety and statutory requirements. Periodic domestic and international travel is required, as are meetings and teleconferences with international affiliates that may occur outside normal work hours.

Requirements

Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering.
15 years of experience in engineering and product support, including multi-project oversight and management of engineering teams and projects.
Demonstrated success leading organizations through strategic initiatives supporting business growth, customer satisfaction, quality improvement, and organizational development.
Ability to build high-performing teams and cultivate accountability, innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Ability to make sound business and technical decisions aligned with Sales Growth, Urgent Customer Service, and Culture.
Comprehensive knowledge of the forklift and material handling industry.
Strong analytical skills.
Polished dealer and customer presentation skills.
Sound technical and business judgment.
Maturity to interact effectively with managers of other departments and upper management.
Authorization to work indefinitely in the United States without sponsorship.
Ability to undertake periodic domestic and international travel.

Responsibilities

Ensure engineering initiatives, resource allocation, and strategic decisions support Sales Growth, Urgent Customer Service, and Culture.
Drive innovation and new product development to strengthen CLARK’s competitive position and create value for dealers and customers.
Foster urgency, accountability, and customer focus across engineering, service, warranty, and technical support functions.
Build a high-performance culture focused on engagement, collaboration, continuous improvement, leadership development, and accountability.
Evaluate major engineering projects, investments, and process improvements for alignment with strategic priorities and long-term business objectives.
Plan, organize, direct, monitor, and control the product engineering process and motivate staff.
Plan department facilities, equipment, and services.
Manage engineering design and development of new products and support of current production products.
Work with other department heads to develop Engineering department strategic goals aligned with corporate strategy.
Lead engineering process improvements and implementation of engineering tools to improve new-product development quality and pace.
Drive design-to-cost and maximize common parts use and design to identify cost-reduction opportunities.
Establish, monitor, and improve key performance indicators for innovation and new-product development performance.
Lead resolution of critical customer and product issues through root-cause analysis.
Build, coach, mentor, and develop an effective engineering team and high-performing talent.
Allocate engineering resources and skills to ensure projects meet plans and technical, cost, quality, and schedule requirements.
Ensure products comply with safety and other statutory requirements.
Oversee customer service support for dealers and customers on application and service issues.
Review dealer service and warranty issues and mediate sales policy decisions fairly and consistently.
Enhance the quality of all CLARK products regardless of manufacturing source; establish quality reviews, lead monthly warranty reviews, and ensure corrective actions and engineering change requests are generated.
Collaborate with CMHC manufacturing operations to run modification operations cost-effectively and safely while meeting customer delivery requirements.
Create and control department expense budgets and plan and implement capital expenditures.
Review personnel actions and ensure adequate organizational training, retirement transition plans, and careful selection of new hires.
Partner with the Global Engineering team to ensure global projects meet quality, cost, and delivery targets.
Represent CMHC on the Global Product Planning Committee and review overseas engineering designs for products sold in North America.
Review scopes of new projects and lead quality improvement initiatives internally and with affiliates.
Travel periodically domestically and internationally to support customers, the sales team, distribution partners, and CLARK manufacturing locations.
Attend meetings and teleconferences with international engineering, quality, and engineering affiliates, sometimes outside normal work hours.