Senior Director of Engineering - Analyzer Product Group

Picarro • Santa Clara, CA

9d • Onsite

About The Position

Picarro is seeking a Senior Director of Engineering to lead the Analyzer Group , responsible for engineering delivery across current analyzer products and next-generation analyzer platforms . This role owns end-to-end execution across hardware, firmware, software, systems integration, reliability, and manufacturability , and partners closely with R&D and platform leaders to bring differentiated CRDS-based products to market. The ideal candidate is a high-ownership engineering leader with deep technical credibility and exceptional operational rigor—someone who builds predictable delivery , drives cross-functional alignment, and sets a culture of professionalism, accountability, and execution excellence .

Requirements

• 12+ years in engineering leadership roles, including managing managers and multi-disciplinary teams (hardware/firmware/software/systems).
• Demonstrated success delivering complex products in a hybrid hardware + software environment (analytical instruments, industrial systems, or equivalent).
• Proven ability to build and execute platform roadmaps and accelerate delivery through modular architecture and strong engineering processes.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to translate technical tradeoffs to executives and cross-functional partners.
• Ownership & Accountability Takes responsibility for outcomes; does not deflect ownership across teams or functions.
• Operational Rigor / Planning Excellence Produces and maintains integrated HW/FW/SW plans with clear deliverables and resource needs; builds stakeholder confidence through transparency.
• Reliability & Execution Discipline High say–do ratio; anticipates risks early and drives mitigation without waiting for escalation.
• Strong Judgment / Change Control Drives necessary changes with clear justification and validation; avoids unplanned scope churn.
• Cross-Team Leadership Coordinates effectively across engineering, quality, ops, and suppliers—especially during 8D/CAR responses.
• Professional, Respectful Leadership Demonstrates consistent professionalism; fosters constructive technical debate without combative or disrespectful behavior; models strong meeting discipline.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with reliability engineering, field escalation processes, and formal corrective action systems (8D/CAR).
• Experience in regulated or safety-critical product environments; exposure to CRDS or optical instrumentation is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead engineering for the Analyzer portfolio including next-gen platform and products built on that platform.
• Own delivery of key analyzer programs across development, sustaining, and quality.
• Drive cross-team execution for customer escalations , including 8D analyses and Corrective Action Requests (CARs) tied to field issues.
• Partner with R&D leaders on critical technology initiatives, including optical feedback CRDS development , ensuring engineering execution is aligned with research direction and productization requirements.
• Establish and maintain comprehensive, integrated project plans that cover hardware, firmware, and software with clear milestones, dependencies, resourcing, and risk burndown.
• Drive weekly operating cadence: status, risks, decision logs, and mitigation plans; ensure stakeholders have high visibility into progress and blockers.
• Maintain a high say–do standard: commitments are credible, tracked, and delivered; missed commitments trigger root-cause analysis and plan correction.
• Provide strong technical leadership across analyzer architecture and design tradeoffs; drive decisions that are necessary, validated, and value-based , avoiding churn and unnecessary redesign.
• Implement a decision-making framework that ensures changes are justified by customer value, reliability, manufacturability, serviceability, or schedule risk reduction .
• Ensure design changes (e.g., subsystem replacements) have clear milestone definitions, qualification plans, and outputs (ECO, test reports, validation results).
• Own engineering response for customer escalations requiring 8D and CAR closure , driving cross-functional coordination across engineering, operations, quality, and suppliers.
• Ensure timely root cause identification, containment, corrective actions, verification, and customer-ready reporting—particularly for strategic accounts (e.g., Brooks-class programs).
• Build and lead a high-performing organization: hire, develop, coach, and retain strong managers and technical leaders.
• Set clear expectations for professional conduct : respectful collaboration, constructive technical debate, reliable meeting participation, and strong communication norms.
• Address performance and behavior issues promptly and directly; create a culture of ownership, quality, and teamwork.
• Manage internal/external resources (including consultants) to maximize impact; ensure utilization aligns to the plan and outcomes.
• Track spend, forecast accurately, and manage within budget constraints; report variances early with corrective actions.
• Drive engineering best practices across analyzer development, including DFM (manufacturability), DFS (serviceability), reliability, and scalability.
• Establish a culture where verification/validation occurs at each step and quality is engineered in—not inspected in.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Health Savings Account (HSA) plans
• Life, Short-Term Disability, and Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Paid Time Off and Paid Holidays
• Employee Referral Program
• 401K
• Social events (summer picnic, holiday party, team lunches, etc.)
• On-site Health & Wellness programs (fitness challenges, outdoor bootcamp, flu-shots, etc.)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed