VP, Engineering & Innovation

Hoshizaki America•San Antonio, TX

About The Position

A key member of the executive team, the VP, Engineering & Innovation leads and organizes the Engineering team in designing, developing, and optimizing current and next-generation beverage dispensing equipment. The role leads engineers, designers, and support staff through new product development, continuous improvement, modern design, and IoT initiatives to build market demand and increase profitability with technology that helps customers pour more, pour better, and pour responsibly. The position establishes the strategic direction of engineering and development, builds a culture of innovation and quality, and defines metrics, methodologies, and best practices for execution and continuous improvement. It collaborates across the business to align products with strategic goals, customer needs, and manufacturing strengths, while ensuring departmental decisions and resource plans support organizational priorities. The role develops engineering leaders and teams, maintains expertise in emerging technologies and industry trends, and leads the development and integration of automation, connected technologies, smart controls, and IoT capabilities into product platforms. It also partners with Operations on manufacturing automation, manages vendor and service-provider relationships, and plans budgets and resources for engineering delivery.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering; Mechanical or Electrical preferred.
15+ years of engineering leadership experience.
Experience leading new product development from concept through commercialization.
Experience with connected products, IoT, automation, cloud-based technologies, and digital customer solutions.
Experience supporting manufacturing automation initiatives, including robotics, automated equipment, vision systems, or Industry 4.0 technologies.
Strong understanding of lean manufacturing principles, Design for Manufacturing (DFM), and continuous improvement methodologies.
Proven ability to build and develop a company’s engineering function.
Experience managing product quality, reliability, and cost improvement initiatives.
Extensive knowledge of engineering principles.
Strong leadership skills, including the ability to motivate, develop, teach, and enable staff to achieve high performance.
Strong understanding of automation technologies, smart controls, connectivity, and digital product solutions.
Knowledge of manufacturing automation principles and Industry 4.0 technologies, and the ability to align engineering and operational objectives.
Deep understanding of customer needs and changing requirements, or the ability to learn quickly and adapt.
Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, and time management skills.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
Excellent interpersonal communication skills.
Ability to envision a future state and plan over a 1–2-year time span.
Ability to organize people, resources, and multiple priorities.
Commitment to high ethical standards and company values.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree preferred.
Experience in foodservice, beverage, refrigeration, or other industrial equipment manufacturing preferred.
Mechanical or Electrical engineering degree preferred.

Responsibilities

Establish and implement the strategic direction of the company’s engineering and development initiatives.
Build a culture of innovation, growth, and high-quality standards across the Engineering organization.
Define, communicate, and implement metrics, methodologies, and best practices for quality execution and continuous improvement; identify opportunities to reduce time to market without sacrificing quality or customer position.
Evaluate long- and short-term products for alignment with strategic goals.
Understand business requirements and collaborate vertically and horizontally to achieve business objectives through technical solutions.
Align products with strategic goals, customer needs, and manufacturing strengths while building collaborative working relationships.
Ensure staffing, people management, development, organizational structure, hardware acquisitions, and facilities decisions align with the organization’s plan.
Create programs and activities that foster team growth, engagement, and results-oriented performance.
Develop engineering leaders and teams capable of building strategic partnerships with internal and external stakeholders and advancing digitally enabled business capabilities.
Maintain knowledge of emerging technologies and industry trends and provide expertise and guidance across engineering and technology functions, projects, and operations.
Lead development and integration of automation, connected technologies, smart controls, and IoT-enabled capabilities into current and future product platforms.
Partner with Operations to identify, evaluate, and implement manufacturing automation solutions, including robotics, automated assembly, vision systems, and digital manufacturing technologies, to improve safety, quality, throughput, and productivity.
Manage relationships with vendors and service providers to ensure quality output.
Estimate, prioritize, and plan budgets and resources to deliver engineering initiatives.