Director – Platform Hardware Engineering

Fluence • Houston, TX

1d

About The Position

The Director – Platform Hardware Engineering is a leadership role responsible for defining and driving multi-platform hardware architecture, engineering strategy, and organizational capability across complex product portfolios. Reporting directly to the VP of Engineering Leadership, the role leads and mentors Platform Leaders and Engineers to support cohesive execution, technical leadership, platform modularity, high reliability, and operational excellence from concept through global deployment.

The Director works across business strategy, hardware architecture, multi-generational product roadmaps, and cross-functional operational governance. The position owns portfolio-level Design-to-Cost goals, time-to-market performance, alignment with tactical and strategic capability partners, and deployment of engineering standards across global engineering teams.

The role leads platform architecture and technology roadmaps; develops engineering capabilities and standards; manages hardware engineering execution across release gates; and champions design excellence, quality, compliance, cross-functional coordination, and product lifecycle management. The position requires a bachelor’s or master’s degree in a relevant engineering discipline and at least 12 years of progressive hardware engineering experience in complex systems.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, systems engineering, or a related hardware discipline.
• 12+ years of progressive hardware engineering experience in complex electrical, mechanical, or power electronics systems.
• Demonstrated track record of conceptualizing, launching, and scaling successful multi-generational hardware platforms in global markets.
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of application and throughout employment without employer sponsorship; Fluence does not sponsor work visas for this position.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive multi-generational hardware platform architectures, reusable building blocks, standard interfaces, and scalable options and variants across global project configurations.
• Lead technology trade-off studies and integration of innovative technologies, including advanced power conversion, thermal systems, and auxiliary integration.
• Provide technical requirements direction to engineering leads and specialists across workstreams and disciplines.
• Support engineering leads in establishing competency frameworks, best practices, design standards, training programs, and knowledge-sharing mechanisms.
• Foster technical rigor, accountability, innovation, data-driven decision-making, continuous improvement, and ownership.
• Build collaboration across global engineering teams and mechanisms for sharing architecture, design standards, lessons learned, and reusable solutions.
• Collaborate with Systems Engineering to establish system and component requirements in Jama.
• Align with P2D gates and define engineering milestones for each gate.
• Lead hardware engineering milestones across release gates, from concept definition through prototyping, testing, validation, pilot builds, and full-scale manufacturing rollout.
• Establish hardware design specifications and acceptance criteria aligned with international standards such as IEC, UL, and IEEE.
• Coordinate with multidisciplinary engineering, product, program, testing, NPI, sourcing, procurement, and firmware/software teams to deliver cost-effective, high-quality designs on schedule.
• Coordinate prototype builds and engineering validation to ensure hardware readiness for development milestones, stage-gate reviews, and certification testing.
• Provide executive-level reporting on technical progress, project status, risks, resource requirements, and strategic recommendations.
• Work with Engineering and NPI to embed DFM, DFS, DFQ, and DTC rules early in product design.
• Partner with Quality Engineering on FMEA, root-cause analysis for component non-conformances, and qualification protocols.
• Ensure design compliance with grid codes, standards, and market regulations identified by Compliance and Certification teams.
• Partner with Product Management and Sales Engineering to validate hardware requirements, establish design-to-cost targets, and support complex technical bids.
• Support sustaining hand-offs.
• Work with Supply Chain, Procurement, and Contract Manufacturers during prototype builds, certification, and system testing.
• Maintain alignment among Engineering, Product Management, Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, and Commercial organizations on platform strategy and product roadmaps.
• Plan technical documentation.
• Lead root-cause investigations and resolution of complex technical issues across design, testing, manufacturing, and field operations.
• Partner with electrical and mechanical Design, Product Definition, and Engineering PLM teams to plan and execute phased releases and deliver design outputs on time at each stage gate.
• Ensure design teams practice effective variant management and use design options and variants to optimize product configurations and maintain flexibility.
• Lead and mentor a team of Platform Leaders and Engineers.

What This Job Offers

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