Sr. Director, V&V Engineering

Nextpower•Fremont, CA

About The Position

The Senior Director of Verification and Validation (V&V) Engineering leads the strategy, organization, and execution of end-to-end testing across Nextpower products, systems, and integrated solutions. The role connects requirements and design intent to objective evidence, from component and product verification through system integration, qualification, and field validation. In partnership with engineering and business teams, this leader ensures solutions are safe, reliable, performant, and ready for customer use. The position establishes risk-based V&V methods, standards, and lifecycle gates; leads product verification, qualification, system integration, and validation; and develops the organizational and technical capabilities needed to support the product roadmap. It also guides evidence-based release decisions, drives learning from failures and field findings, and leads people, planning, budgets, equipment investments, and external partnerships.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in engineering or a related technical field.
15 or more years of relevant engineering experience, including substantial responsibility for verification, validation, test, or reliability.
Seven or more years leading multidisciplinary engineering or test teams, including responsibility for managers, organizational capability, or major cross-functional programs.
Demonstrated success leading end-to-end V&V for complex hardware and software products, system-level integration, and customer-facing integrated solutions.
Strong command of requirements-based testing, risk analysis, design of experiments, reliability and qualification methods, failure analysis, and evidence-based release decisions.
Experience designing and operating lab, test-yard, field, or customer-pilot programs, with sound judgment about test coverage, safety, data quality, and schedule trade-offs.
Ability to build trust across technical and business teams and communicate test evidence, technical risk, and recommendations clearly to executives and customers.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in engineering or a related technical field.
Experience in utility-scale solar, renewable energy, power electronics, eBOS, electromechanical products, industrial automation, or other complex energy systems.
Familiarity with product certification and compliance programs, including relevant UL, IEC, IEEE, NRTL, or grid-interconnection requirements.
Experience with test automation, requirements or test-management platforms, simulation, data analytics, software-in-the-loop, or hardware-in-the-loop environments.
Experience leading globally distributed teams and working with contract manufacturers, suppliers, independent laboratories, and field partners.

Responsibilities

Establish end-to-end V&V strategy, standards, methods, and lifecycle gates across requirements, design, development, qualification, launch, and field learning.
Translate product requirements, use cases, hazards, and design inputs into test plans, traceability, coverage goals, acceptance criteria, and clear ownership; engage early to influence architecture and design.
Lead component, subsystem, and product testing for functional and performance behavior, reliability and durability, environmental exposure, mechanical and structural integrity, electrical and thermal behavior, controls and software, and applicable safety or EMC needs.
Ensure test methods reflect intended use, operating limits, foreseeable misuse, and appropriate margins; use analysis and simulation alongside physical testing where useful.
Define and lead integration testing for solutions combining Nextpower products and interfaces, including mechanical structures, eBOS, power conversion, controls, software, and applicable third-party equipment.
Validate interfaces, interoperability, system performance, safety, resilience, and customer workflows across normal, fault, boundary, and recovery conditions, from simulation and bench testing through labs, test yards, pilots, and field deployments.
Ensure system configurations and test environments represent customer installation, operating, and service conditions.
Develop a high-performing, globally connected V&V organization and the lab, test-yard, instrumentation, test-rig, and field-validation capabilities needed for the product roadmap.
Expand automation, data capture and analysis, requirements-to-test traceability, reusable test assets, and appropriate simulation, software-in-the-loop, and hardware-in-the-loop methods.
Maintain safe test practices, calibrated equipment, repeatable procedures, and reliable data.
Set evidence-based readiness reviews and clearly communicate coverage, results, open issues, residual risks, and release recommendations to engineering and executive leaders.
Lead failure triage, root-cause analysis, corrective actions, and regression testing; use test, pilot, customer, and field findings to drive design and process improvements.
Partner with Product, Systems, Engineering, Quality, Certification, Software, NPI, Operations, Service, suppliers, and customers to resolve cross-functional risks.
Set organizational priorities, staffing plans, budgets, equipment investments, and external lab or supplier partnerships; align test capacity with program timing and business needs.
Coach leaders and technical staff, strengthen engineering judgment, and establish accountability for test quality, execution, and timely escalation.