Lead Product Engineer

Job Title:Product Engineering Lead

Function:Product Design

Reports to:Product Validation Manager

Job Description

Purpose of Job Role

The Product Engineering Lead Mechanical & Hardware is responsible for owning the complete product engineering lifecycle from design release to factory handover. The role ensures that all mechanical & hardware designs, parts, and BOMs are fully validated, production-ready, and released through a controlled process in coordination with cross- functional teams (CFTs), factories, and vendors.

This position acts as the single point of accountability for mechanical hardware readiness, ensuring repeatability, quality, and change control during scale-up and mass production.

Responsibilities

Product Design & Release Ownership

Own end-to-end mechanical hardware design release from prototype to mass production.

Ensure designs meet functional, reliability, manufacturability, and cost requirements.

Drive structured design reviews and release approvals.

Ensure design intent is clearly documented and communicated.

Mechanical BOM & Part Release

Own and maintain a repeatable, production-grade mechanical & Hardware BOM.

Ensure correct part specifications, drawings, materials, tolerances, and finishes.

Maintain revision control, traceability, and alternate part strategy.

Ensure no part or BOM is released without validation approval.

Validation & Pro-Validation

Own part-level and assembly-level validation before release.

Ensure completion and approval of functional, fit, form, reliability, and environmental validations as applicable.

Review and approve validation reports with CFT alignment.

Ensure validation results are documented and linked to part release.

Factory Handover & Production Readiness

Lead engineering-to-factory handover.

Ensure assembly processes, tooling, jigs, fixtures, and CTQs are defined and validated.

Support pilot builds, first article inspections, and early production runs.

Resolve manufacturing and assembly issues during ramp-up.

Vendor & Supplier Validation

Work with sourcing and quality teams to validate vendor capabilities.

Ensure supplier process readiness and part repeatability.

Review and approve vendor samples and technical submissions.

Address vendor-related design and quality issues.

Engineering Change Management

Own engineering change requests (ECR/ECO).

Perform impact analysis on cost, quality, inventory, and timelines.

Ensure cross-functional approvals and controlled implementation.

Prevent uncontrolled changes to released products.

Cross-Functional Coordination

Act as the single mechanical engineering interface across design, electronics, manufacturing, quality, and supply chain.

Drive alignment on release timing, validation status, and production readiness.

Enable timely decision-making and issue resolution.

Key Deliverables

Production-ready mechanical design packages

Validated and repeatable mechanical BOM

Approved part and assembly validation reports

Factory handover documentation

Controlled change release records

Required Skills

Technical Skills

Strong experience in mechanical hardware product engineering.

Deep understanding of DFM/DFA, tolerance analysis, materials, and manufacturing processes.

Hands-on experience with prototype, pilot, and mass production stages.

Strong BOM and configuration management capability.

Process & Leadership

Strong ownership mindset with release and change control discipline.

Experience working with cross-functional and external teams.

Ability to drive decisions and block release when validation is incomplete.

Strong documentation and communication skills.

Work Experience

610 years of experience in mechanical or product engineering.

Proven experience in factory handover and vendor coordination.

Prior ownership of production-grade hardware release is mandatory.

Qualification

• Bachelors degree in Mechanical preferred
• Any links to your prior work (interfaces/websites/code) are welcome.

Success Metrics

• Zero unvalidated parts released to production
• First-time-right factory handover
• Minimal post-release engineering changes
• Stable BOM and consistent manufacturing quality