Senior Director, Design Engineering, Electrical

Blue Bird Corporation•Fort Valley, GA

15h•Onsite

About The Position

Reporting to the SVP of Engineering, the Senior Director, Design Engineering - Electrical provides strategic and operational leadership for Blue Bird's Electrical and Controls Engineering function across the full product portfolio and multiple locations. This role leads the development and execution of the technical direction, governance, organizational capability, and operating model for high- and low-voltage electrical systems, vehicle controls, and next-generation electrical architectures across all powertrains and vehicle configurations. The Senior Director translates business and product strategy into a multi-year engineering roadmap; delivers safe, compliant, reliable, manufacturable, and cost-effective solutions from concept through launch and field support; and builds a high-performing leadership and engineering team. As a senior engineering leader, this position partners across Product Development, Program Management, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, Purchasing, Service, Finance, and commercial teams to improve speed to market, product quality, warranty performance, customer satisfaction, and long-term business results.

Requirements

Senior functional leadership capability with a demonstrated record of setting technical strategy, translating strategy into executable plans, and delivering measurable business and product results.
Deep technical expertise in vehicle electrical systems, including high- and low-voltage architecture, distribution, controls, diagnostics, communications networks, and electric-vehicle safety.
Broad leadership expertise across multiple engineering disciplines, product platforms, locations, and phases of the product lifecycle.
Proven ability to lead leaders, build organizational capability, establish accountability, coach high-potential talent, and develop succession plans.
Strong portfolio and program governance capability, with the ability to prioritize competing initiatives, allocate resources, manage dependencies, and deliver complex programs from concept through launch.
Senior-level judgment and systems thinking, with the ability to make sound trade-off decisions involving safety, compliance, quality, cost, timing, customer needs, and technical risk.
Strong business and financial acumen, including operating and capital budget ownership, business-case development, cost analysis, forecasting, and return-on-investment assessment.
Demonstrated command of product safety, regulatory compliance, engineering governance, design assurance, verification and validation, and change control.
Senior leadership presence and communication skills, with the ability to present complex technical and business matters clearly to senior leaders and align stakeholders around decisions and priorities.
Proven ability to influence across functions and organizational boundaries and build trusted relationships with customers, suppliers, and internal business partners.
Demonstrated change leadership, continuous-improvement orientation, and ability to challenge established practices constructively
Strong analytical and problem-solving capability, including the use of data, engineering evidence, and risk-based decision making
High integrity, sound professional judgment, and a visible commitment to safety, quality, customer focus, collaboration, and accountability
Working knowledge of engineering development and collaboration tools, product lifecycle management systems, and standard business applications.
Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering or a closely related engineering discipline from an accredited institution, required.
15+ years of progressively responsible product engineering experience in the automotive, commercial vehicle, truck, bus, or similarly complex manufacturing industry, required.
8+ years of progressive engineering leadership experience, including experience leading managers, senior technical leaders, and/or multi-site engineering organizations, required.
All candidates must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States and will be required to provide proof of employment eligibility at the time of hire.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Engineering Management, or Business Administration, preferred.
Senior leadership experience in vehicle electrification, embedded controls, advanced electrical architecture, and/or zero-emission commercial vehicles; PMP, Lean, or Six Sigma certification is a plus.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute the electrical and controls engineering strategy, multi-year technology roadmap, operating model, and priorities in alignment with Blue Bird's product and business objectives.
Lead a multi-site organization of engineering managers, technical leaders, and professionals; manage organizational structure, workforce plans, talent development, succession, performance expectations, and accountability.
Serve as the senior technical authority for high- and low-voltage electrical systems, vehicle controls, electrical architecture, diagnostics, electric vehicles, and electrical safety.
Implement and maintain engineering governance, design standards, technical review and approval processes, configuration and change controls, and documentation requirements.
Lead the portfolio of electrical engineering programs from concept through production launch and field support, ensuring disciplined scope, resource, schedule, budget, risk, and milestone management.
Lead development and launch of next-generation electrical architectures, technologies, and processes that improve vehicle capability, reliability, serviceability, scalability, and speed to market.
Ensure designs and validation plans meet applicable federal, state, industry, safety, and customer requirements and support the company's product safety and compliance obligations.
Champion robust engineering practices, including systems engineering, requirements management, design reviews, DFMEA, DFM/DFA, verification and validation, and engineering release discipline.
Lead resolution of significant product, launch, field, and warranty issues by driving cross-functional root cause, containment, corrective action, and lessons learned.
Partner with Manufacturing, Quality, and Operations leadership to improve design for manufacturability, first-time quality, production efficiency, and long-term product performance.
Partner with Supply Chain, Purchasing, and Supplier Quality to develop a technically capable, resilient supply base and ensure supplier design, validation, APQP, and PPAP readiness.
Drive value engineering, product cost, complexity reduction, and standardization initiatives while maintaining safety, quality, customer, and regulatory requirements.
Develop and manage the function's operating and capital plans, resource allocation, business cases, and investment recommendations; track return on investment and delivery of committed benefits.
Provide clear, timely communication on strategy, performance, program health, technical risk, investment needs, and critical decisions to the SVP of Engineering and senior leadership.
Perform other duties as assigned.