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

• 6–10 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

• Bachelor's 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