Director of Hardware Engineering & Manufacturing

InnerPlant•Des Moines, IA

7d•Onsite

About The Position

InnerPlant is seeking a Director of Hardware Engineering & Manufacturing to lead the hardware systems for their commercial product, CropVoice. CropVoice translates signals from living plant sensors to identify stress before visible symptoms appear, helping farmers optimize inputs and increase yields. The Director will oversee the entire hardware product lifecycle, from architecture and engineering through prototyping, validation, manufacturing, deployment, and continuous improvement, as the company scales its technology. This role is based in Des Moines, IA, and reports to the Chief Operating Officer.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
8+ years of relevant engineering experience, with significant experience leading hardware product development.
3+ years of engineering leadership or management experience.
Demonstrated experience taking complex hardware products from prototype through production and into the field, including managing external engineering, manufacturing, and technology partners.
Experience with electronics, embedded systems, sensors, optics, instrumentation, or related technologies.
Strong understanding of manufacturing processes and design-for-manufacturing principles, including experience working with contract manufacturers and external suppliers.
Experience developing verification, validation, reliability, and test strategies.
Strong project and program management capabilities with a track record of meeting deadlines.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Demonstrated ability to recruit, develop, and lead high-performing engineering teams.
Willingness to work hands-on and dive deeply into technical problems when needed.

Nice To Haves

Experience developing sensing, imaging, optical, agricultural, industrial, automotive, robotics, or other field-deployed hardware, including for harsh or variable environmental conditions.
Experience in agriculture, ag technology, or precision agriculture.
Experience in a startup or rapidly scaling technology company.

Responsibilities

Lead hardware product design and development, including owning the hardware engineering roadmap and system architecture for CropVoice's optical, electrical, embedded, mechanical, and data-acquisition systems.
Lead development from concept and rapid prototyping through design verification, validation, production, and field deployment.
Oversee the design of hardware that meets product and field requirements and operates reliably in harsh environmental conditions (heat, cold, moisture, dust, vibration, variable power).
Oversee equipment operation to ensure efficiency and reliability of CropVoice hardware and troubleshoot as needed.
Use field data and customer feedback to continuously improve product performance.
Drive efficient and scalable manufacturing processes, including owning the transition of hardware products from engineering prototypes into repeatable and scalable manufacturing.
Develop and manage relationships with contract manufacturers, suppliers, and strategic technology partners, and build scalable and cost-effective supply-chain strategies.
Establish manufacturing processes, quality standards, test procedures, and production controls, and lead root-cause analysis for manufacturing and field failures.
Establish reliability and environmental testing programs and verification and validation strategies.
Establish engineering processes that enable rapid development without compromising product quality or reliability.
Recruit, develop, mentor, and lead a high-performing hardware engineering team with clear technical ownership, accountability, priorities, and development processes.