Engineering Manager – xIL Product Management

Caterpillar Inc.•Mossville, IL

11d•$159,120 - $238,680•Onsite

About The Position

The Engineering Manager – xIL Product Management will lead the strategy, product roadmap, adoption, and execution of Caterpillar’s X-in-the-Loop (xIL) engineering ecosystem within the Intelligent Machine Systems organization. The ecosystem provides scalable capabilities across Software-in-the-Loop (SIL), Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL), and related virtual and physical validation environments, helping engineering teams develop, integrate, test, and validate intelligent machine software earlier and with greater automation. The role treats xIL capabilities as engineering products with defined customers, roadmaps, backlogs, releases, service expectations, adoption targets, lifecycle plans, and measurable outcomes. It partners across software, controls, systems engineering, validation, DevOps/software factory, architecture, infrastructure, suppliers, technology partners, and product groups to build a cohesive strategy and advance a virtual-first, continuous development, integration, and validation model. The position combines people leadership, technical product management, engineering transformation, and cross-functional execution. The manager leads and develops delivery leads, product owners, and technical engineering professionals; manages performance; builds organizational capability through hiring and talent development; and fosters customer focus, engineering excellence, experimentation, ownership, and continuous improvement. The position is onsite five days per week in Mossville, Illinois, with 20% travel. Relocation assistance may be available under Caterpillar policies; visa sponsorship is unavailable.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
Progressive experience in software, embedded systems, controls, simulation, systems integration, test/validation, or engineering platforms.
Demonstrated leadership experience managing engineering teams, technical products, or complex cross-functional engineering initiatives.
Experience with one or more xIL domains such as SIL, HIL, simulation, digital twins, embedded software integration, controls validation, or automated testing.
Understanding of modern software engineering practices, including CI/CD, DevOps, automated testing, version control, configuration management, and software quality.
Experience translating engineering or customer needs into technical roadmaps, prioritized backlogs, and executable product plans.
Extensive experience in planning, decision making and critical thinking, technical excellence, customer/market focus, managing people, collaborating globally, and influencing through expertise.
Ability to communicate effectively and adapt messages to different audiences.
Ability to lead teams, manage performance and workplace conflict, and support employee development.
Ability to collaborate across teams and networks, reconcile differing viewpoints, and use collective expertise to achieve organizational goals.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree in an engineering or technical discipline.
Experience developing or deploying virtual ECUs and virtualized embedded software environments, including different vECU fidelity levels.
Knowledge of automotive, off-highway, robotics, autonomy, or embedded-control development workflows.
Experience with plant modeling, simulation, digital twins, FMI/FMU, co-simulation, model-based development, or distributed simulation.
Experience integrating SIL/HIL environments into enterprise CI/CD pipelines.
Familiarity with embedded software architectures, ECU software stacks, communication networks, and hardware abstraction concepts.
Experience managing commercial engineering tools and strategic supplier relationships.
Understanding of cloud and on-premises compute infrastructure supporting scalable simulation and testing.
Experience defining platform/product KPIs, DORA-style engineering flow metrics, quality metrics, and adoption measures.
Demonstrated success moving engineering organizations toward shift-left, virtual-first, and continuous validation practices.

Responsibilities

Own the vision, strategy, and multi-year roadmap for the IMS xIL ecosystem, including SIL, HIL, vECUs, simulation, and continuous validation capabilities.
Manage xIL capabilities as engineering products with defined customers, backlogs, releases, service expectations, adoption targets, and lifecycle plans.
Drive a virtual-first, shift-left engineering strategy that enables earlier software integration, verification, and validation while reducing dependence on physical hardware and test assets.
Coordinate cross-functional teams to deliver integrated, scalable xIL tools and platforms across the engineering lifecycle.
Translate customer and program needs into prioritized product capabilities, technical roadmaps, investment decisions, and build/buy/partner strategies.
Champion xIL adoption, standardization, and reuse across IMS, including reuse of models, simulations, test assets, automation, environments, and engineering workflows.
Define and track KPIs and performance metrics for adoption, engineering effectiveness, platform performance, quality, and business impact, and use insights to drive continuous improvement.
Build and lead a high-performing xIL product and engineering organization, partnering across Software Factory, DevOps, architecture, controls, systems, validation, suppliers, and technology partners.
Lead, coach, and develop delivery leads/product owners and technical engineering professionals supporting xIL products.
Manage team-member performance by setting goals and expectations, providing feedback and coaching, evaluating performance, recognizing contributions, and addressing performance gaps.
Build organizational capability through hiring, talent development, succession planning, and technical skill development.
Create a culture of customer focus, engineering excellence, experimentation, ownership, and continuous improvement.
Enable teams to make data-driven product and engineering decisions.