Senior Manager – KinetiX Hardware Engineering

Wabtec•Norcross, GA

23h•$104,800 - $149,300

About The Position

How will you make a difference? The Senior Manager, KinetiX Hardware Engineering, is a hands-on technical leader responsible for both leading and actively contributing to the development of the KinetiX inspection system hardware. This role leads a multi-disciplinary hardware engineering team, including electronics, mechanical, and optical engineering, while also serving as a technical project leader coordinating execution with software engineering, manufacturing, and production teams. This position combines people leadership, system-level technical ownership, and day-to-day engineering involvement. The Senior Manager remains close to the design work, architecture decisions, and technical tradeoffs while ensuring disciplined execution across hardware, software, and production interfaces. What will your typical day look like? Hands-On Multi-Disciplinary Technical Leadership Lead and integrate electronics, mechanical, and optical engineering disciplines into cohesive hardware solutions. Actively contribute to system architecture, design reviews, and key technical decisions across hardware subsystems. Drive integration of sensors, optics, electronics, mechanics, and enclosures into complete inspection systems. Serve as the primary technical escalation point for complex cross-disciplinary and system-level issues. Technical Project Management & Coordination Provide technical project leadership for hardware development efforts, working closely with software and production teams. Lead and coordinate product certification and manage the process to maintain updated documentation for applicable certifications, including CE and other applicable certifications. Coordinate hardware/software integration milestones, dependencies, and readiness for production. Partner with program and project managers to ensure technical execution aligns with schedule, cost, and quality goals. Support bid, tender, and product definition activities by assessing technical feasibility, risks, and resource needs. People & Team Leadership Lead, mentor, and develop engineers across electronics, mechanical, and optical disciplines. Balance hands-on technical contribution with coaching and delegation to grow team capability. Set clear technical priorities, execution expectations, and accountability. Build and maintain a strong engineering culture focused on ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement. Product Development & Lifecycle Ownership Drive hardware development from concept through production and sustaining. Own hardware Bills of Materials (BOMs), approved configurations, and option structures. Govern engineering change control across hardware disciplines and lifecycle phases. Lead root-cause analysis and corrective actions for hardware issues found in production or the field. Manufacturing & Production Interface Work closely with manufacturing, supply chain, and quality teams to ensure design for manufacturability (DFM) and design for serviceability (DFS). Support production readiness, first builds, and issue resolution during ramp-up. Ensure hardware designs are robust, repeatable, and scalable for global production. Quality, Risk & Continuous Improvement Establish and track hardware quality, reliability, and delivery metrics. Identify technical risks early and drive mitigation plans. Standardize designs, documentation, and engineering processes to reduce complexity and customization. Champion lessons learned and continuous improvement across hardware development.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Civil, Electrical, or Industrial Engineering (or related field).
8+ years of experience in hardware or systems engineering.
3+ years of experience leading multi‑discipline engineering teams.
Strong hands‑on background in electro‑mechanical and/or optical systems.
Experience coordinating hardware development with software and manufacturing teams.
Experience with BOM ownership, configuration management, and engineering change control.
Strong communication skills and ability to lead without losing technical depth.
Project management training or experience

Nice To Haves

Experience in machine vision, optics, sensing systems, or industrial inspection platforms.
Prior role combining technical leadership and project execution responsibilities.
Experience supporting production ramp-up and sustaining engineering.
Systems-level thinker comfortable working across hardware and software boundaries.

Responsibilities

Lead and integrate electronics, mechanical, and optical engineering disciplines into cohesive hardware solutions.
Actively contribute to system architecture, design reviews, and key technical decisions across hardware subsystems.
Drive integration of sensors, optics, electronics, mechanics, and enclosures into complete inspection systems.
Serve as the primary technical escalation point for complex cross-disciplinary and system-level issues.
Provide technical project leadership for hardware development efforts, working closely with software and production teams.
Lead and coordinate product certification and manage the process to maintain updated documentation for applicable certifications, including CE and other applicable certifications.
Coordinate hardware/software integration milestones, dependencies, and readiness for production.
Partner with program and project managers to ensure technical execution aligns with schedule, cost, and quality goals.
Support bid, tender, and product definition activities by assessing technical feasibility, risks, and resource needs.
Lead, mentor, and develop engineers across electronics, mechanical, and optical disciplines.
Balance hands-on technical contribution with coaching and delegation to grow team capability.
Set clear technical priorities, execution expectations, and accountability.
Build and maintain a strong engineering culture focused on ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Drive hardware development from concept through production and sustaining.
Own hardware Bills of Materials (BOMs), approved configurations, and option structures.
Govern engineering change control across hardware disciplines and lifecycle phases.
Lead root-cause analysis and corrective actions for hardware issues found in production or the field.
Work closely with manufacturing, supply chain, and quality teams to ensure design for manufacturability (DFM) and design for serviceability (DFS).
Support production readiness, first builds, and issue resolution during ramp-up.
Ensure hardware designs are robust, repeatable, and scalable for global production.
Establish and track hardware quality, reliability, and delivery metrics.
Identify technical risks early and drive mitigation plans.
Standardize designs, documentation, and engineering processes to reduce complexity and customization.
Champion lessons learned and continuous improvement across hardware development.