VP, Advanced Development

SharkNinja•Needham, MA

1d•$280,000 - $325,000•Onsite

About The Position

SharkNinja is a global product design and technology company. At SharkNinja, we’re building an AI-native culture. We’re seeking a visionary innovation leader to head our global Front-End Innovation team dedicated to floor care. This role is about leading the spark behind SharkNinja's next generation of floor care icons. You'll be the creative catalyst defining what's next in cleaning technology, helping teams turn blue-sky thinking into tangible, consumer-loved innovations that dominate shelf and define categories. Your team will shape the early concept architecture across all three floor care platforms, corded, cordless, and hard floor extraction, that eventually fuels mass production through our NPD pipeline. The ideal candidate is a designer at heart with deep engineering credentials, a command of floor care technology and consumer behavior, and a relentless passion for solving real cleaning problems in inventive, inspiring ways.

Requirements

A degree in Product Design Engineering, Industrial Design, or a related field blending design and engineering. A PDE background is highly valued.
15+ years of experience in product design and innovation, ideally in high-volume consumer goods, with meaningful experience across floor care, home appliances, or adjacent categories.
Demonstrated command of floor care technology across at least two of the three platforms: corded, cordless (stick/handheld), and hard floor extraction/wet-dry systems.
A rich portfolio of category-defining consumer products that demonstrate design excellence, storytelling, and successful commercialization.
Proven leadership building and developing creative teams, mentoring talent, championing new voices, and fostering collaboration across disciplines.
The ability to lead with vision and conviction while remaining hands-on, detail-oriented, and deeply engaged in the creative process.
A natural presenter with charisma and clarity to sell ideas across all levels, from engineers and supply chain to C-suite executives.
Strong technical foundation in high-volume manufacturing and a genuine appreciation for the intersection of creativity and feasibility.
Bold thinking, grounded in insight, empathy, and a deep understanding of how consumers actually use and feel about their floor care products.

Responsibilities

Lead SharkNinja's Floor Care Front-End Innovation team, driving concept creation, design storytelling, and early platform exploration across corded, cordless, and hard floor extraction categories.
Inspire a team of Industrial Designers and Product Design Engineers to generate physical and visual prototypes that sell ideas and excite cross-functional partners and senior executives.
Own the innovation roadmap for floor care, identifying whitespace opportunities across corded performance vacuums, cordless stick and handheld platforms, and wet/dry hard floor extraction systems.
Be a design storyteller, pitching future-focused floor care concepts that connect emotionally with consumers and drive alignment across the business.
Champion a studio culture that blends hands-on making, iterative sketching, advanced prototyping, and bold thinking grounded in technical and manufacturing feasibility.
Partner with Mechanical Engineering, R&D, Product Development, and Product Marketing to ensure concepts across all three platforms are rooted in scalable product strategy.
Apply deep knowledge of floor care-specific technologies, including motor systems, suction architecture, filtration, battery systems, fluid management, and extraction mechanics, to ensure concepts are exciting and achievable.
Leverage materials expertise and manufacturing knowledge (plastic injection molding, die casting, sheet metal, soft goods) to drive DFM/DFA best practices from concept through handoff.
Bring user insights, trend forecasting, and emerging technologies to shape future floor care design visions, anticipating how consumers clean today and how they'll expect to clean tomorrow.
Cultivate a high-energy innovation environment where curiosity, creativity, and invention are celebrated and continuously pushed forward.