Director of Engineering

Milwaukee Electronics • Milwaukee, WI

2d

About The Position

About Milwaukee Electronics – Products Division Milwaukee Electronics is a privately held, family-owned Electronics Manufacturing Services company with over 70 years of engineering and manufacturing excellence. In addition to our core EMS business, Milwaukee Electronics operates a proprietary Products Division serving the material handling and industrial automation markets. SUMMARY The Director of Engineering is responsible for the strategic leadership and technical oversight of product engineering operations, ensuring that the Product Realization Process delivers measurable value to the business. This role establishes engineering strategy, defines technical direction, and ensures consistent execution of scalable engineering processes aligned with organizational objectives. The Director of Engineering leads and develops engineering teams while maintaining accountability for product development performance, quality, cost, schedule, and global scalability. In partnership with executive leadership, this role evaluates and develops a strategic roadmap for engineering and product expansion into low-cost global regions, ensuring product architectures, documentation standards, and development processes support multi-site and international growth. This position reports directly to the Vice President of Products.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related technical discipline
• Minimum of ten (10) years of progressive engineering experience in product development environments
• Minimum of seven (7) years of experience leading product-focused engineering teams
• Demonstrated experience supporting or leading engineering operations across multiple regions or international environments
• Demonstrated experience leading the design and development of electronic hardware and software products, including IIoT-based or connected systems
• Demonstrated ability to define, implement, and maintain structured engineering processes across the product development lifecycle
• Experience leading product-centric engineering organizations with full lifecycle accountability
• Ability to provide technical guidance and oversight on architecture, design decisions, and engineering tradeoffs
• Experience designing scalable product architectures that support multi-site or global manufacturing deployment
• Experience planning, directing, and coordinating the work of engineering staff
• Experience recruiting, developing, and evaluating engineering personnel
• Ability to align engineering priorities with business, operational, and product objectives
• Ability to collaborate effectively with Product Management, Operations, and executive leadership
• Demonstrated ability to lead organizational change and scale engineering capability in evolving business environments
• Ability to communicate technical and strategic information clearly to technical teams and executive stakeholders
• Ability to ensure appropriate development and maintenance of engineering documentation, standards, and specifications
• Ability to establish and maintain engineering principles, methodologies, and development frameworks
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Strong organizational and planning skills
• Demonstrated financial acumen, including the ability to evaluate ROI, cost structures, and capital investment decisions related to engineering initiatives
• Proficiency with standard business and engineering software tools
• The role requires the ability to sit, stand, and walk, and to use a computer and other standard office equipment for extended periods.
• Minimal physical exertion is required.
• Because this job has access to controlled technology, we must comply with ITAR. Any job offers will be contingent on verification that the candidate is a U.S. person (i.e., U.S. citizen, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent resident, or individual granted asylum/refugee status in the U.S.) or can otherwise satisfy ITAR compliance requirements.
• Upon hire, the successful candidate must present acceptable proof of identity and current authorization to work in the U.S., as required on Form I-9.
• We do not provide sponsorship support for employment-based visas such as H-1B.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with Agile, Scrum, or other structured product development methodologies
• Experience evaluating or establishing engineering or manufacturing capability in low-cost global regions
• Working knowledge of global regulatory compliance, import/export considerations, and region-specific technical standards

Responsibilities

• Engineering Strategy & Execution Partners with executive leadership to establish long-term product, engineering, manufacturing, and scalability objectives
• Defines and implements scalable engineering processes and governance models
• Leads end-to-end product development from concept through validation, production, and lifecycle support
• Ensures compliance with internal engineering standards and quality system requirements
• Leads cost-reduction, design-for-manufacturability, and process optimization initiatives
• Reviews project plans, schedules, and budgets to ensure alignment with business objectives
• Develops and manages engineering operating and capital budgets
• Global Strategy & International Expansion Develops and supports a phased roadmap for engineering and product expansion into low-cost global regions
• Evaluates regional engineering capabilities, supplier ecosystems, regulatory requirements, and manufacturing readiness
• Ensures product architectures, documentation standards, and engineering processes are designed for global replication and cost-optimized multi-site deployment
• Establishes governance frameworks enabling consistent execution across domestic and international locations
• Collaborate with Operations and Supply Chain to align product strategy with global sourcing and cost optimization initiatives
• Supports international market entry through engineering risk assessment and localization planning
• Provides strategic oversight of the product development portfolio, ensuring optimal allocation of engineering resources to maximize business impact
• Establishes priorities and allocates resources to meet product, schedule, quality, and scalability objectives
• Designs and evolves the engineering organizational structure to support business growth and global scalability
• Establishes performance standards, drives accountability, and leads talent development and succession planning
• Promotes cross-functional collaboration and consistent execution of engineering processes

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director