Lead System Design Engineer

HighRes•Beverly, MA

3d•$100,000 - $120,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Lead System Design Engineer (SDE) is the technical expert for customer-facing projects after purchase order and serves as the gate between finalized project scope and production system design. The role leads the customer experience (CX) design phase, works with customers and internal cross-functional teams to complete and obtain sign-off on CX drawings, and provides production SDEs with a complete design brief before detailed design begins. The Lead SDE manages and develops direct reports across Associate and Staff SDE levels, supports their active projects, conducts peer reviews, and is ultimately accountable for the quality of engineering work released to the production floor. The role reviews and approves engineering deliverables for technical accuracy, completeness, customer requirements, design standards, and safety, and escalates unresolved concerns before work proceeds. When not supporting customer-facing projects, the Lead SDE works on continuous improvement initiatives to increase efficiency and prevent recurring issues in the production detailing process. The role collaborates with the engineering manager to establish project scope, schedules, milestones, and implementation dates.

Requirements

System Design Engineering experience.
Excellent written and oral communication skills.
Analytical, technical, and problem-solving skills.
Solid knowledge of the system design process and the mechanical design of HRB systems.
Organization and time-management skills, with the ability to adapt to changing situations and conditions.
Ability to work autonomously and multitask.
Ability to communicate proactively and work efficiently while influencing and negotiating with stakeholders.
Ability to lead and develop junior engineers.

Responsibilities

Manage direct reports across the Associate and Staff SDE levels.
Conduct one-on-one meetings and write annual reviews.
Support direct reports’ active projects, advocate for resolving roadblocks, and escalate timeline challenges to appropriate stakeholders.
Participate in hiring and onboarding.
Advocate for individual and departmental development and improvement.
Establish development plans for each direct report and act on them monthly.
Set an example of ideal culture and behavior for more junior team members.
Complete timesheets, expense reporting, and other administrative activities on time.
Lead the CX design phase for assigned production projects, owning requirements gathering and cross-functional alignment.
Facilitate requirements discovery with customers and internal stakeholders, documenting and agreeing on hardware scope, constraints, and acceptance criteria before detailed design begins.
Obtain formal customer experience sign-off on finalized hardware scope and deliver a complete design brief to the production SDE.
Conduct peer reviews of system designs produced by production SDEs.
Evaluate designs for technical accuracy, completeness, adherence to customer requirements, and alignment with HighRes design standards.
Provide actionable feedback and collaborate with engineers to resolve issues before design release.
Serve as the production gate, controlling which engineering work is approved for release to the production floor.
Review and approve engineering deliverables before production cutover, ensuring quality, completeness, and safety standards are met.
Maintain accountability for the quality of engineering work delivered to the production floor and escalate unresolved concerns before work proceeds.
Execute improvements to the system design engineering process and department.
Identify problems in current processes, department organization, or general policies; research and propose solutions; and implement or oversee accepted solutions.
Work with the engineering manager to establish project scope and schedules, including target milestones and implementation dates.