Director of Software and Electronics Engineering

Director

of Software and Electronics Engineering

Location: Coventry, United Kingdom
Employment: Permanent, full-time
Working model: Primarily office-based, with reasonable flexibility
Reporting to: Chief Product Officer, currently the CEO acting
Travel: Approximately quarterly travel to India, with occasional travel
to other company locations

Role Overview

The Director of Software
and Electronics Engineering will lead the organisation responsible for power
electronics, electronic systems, embedded firmware, cloud and server software,
web applications, platform engineering, development infrastructure and automated
testing.

The Director will turn
product strategy into practical engineering plans, production-ready designs and
dependable product releases. The role is accountable for engineering
leadership, technical quality, delivery schedules, design reviews and the
successful introduction of new products into manufacturing.

This is primarily a
leadership and management role. The Director must have sufficient technical
breadth to assess risks, challenge assumptions and make informed decisions, but
is not expected routinely to act as the principal architect, electronics designer
or software developer.

Key Responsibilities

Engineering Leadership

Lead Engineering Managers and senior technical leaders.

Establish clear accountability for delivery, technical quality,
people management and risk.

Build an effective engineering organisation across the United
Kingdom and India.

Develop the management structure, specialist leadership and
technical capabilities required for growth.

Recruit, develop and retain strong engineering talent.

Reduce dependence on individual employees and improve succession
planning.

Integrated Engineering

Lead the development of power electronics, electronic hardware,
embedded firmware, connectivity, cloud services, web applications and platforms
infrastructure.

Ensure that electronics, firmware and software are developed as
parts of one integrated product system.

Manage dependencies between electronic design, firmware,
communications, software services, manufacturing and field support.

Ensure designs address performance, reliability, safety,
cybersecurity, component availability, configuration control, manufacturability
and testability.

Delivery and Time to Market

Establish realistic engineering plans covering requirements,
architecture, design, prototyping, verification, release and introduction to
manufacturing.

Meet agreed product-development and new-product-introduction
schedules.

Ensure that resources, dependencies, validation activities and
manufacturing readiness are included in delivery plans.

Identify risks early and establish clear recovery plans.

Provide accurate and transparent reporting of progress, risks and
forecast completion dates.

Coordinate hardware, firmware and software releases for major
product launches.

Establish and continuously improve design and development processes
that support efficient, high-quality product delivery.

Design Review Process

Own a formal design-review process covering software, electronics
and power electronics.

Design reviews will involve the relevant representatives from:

· Product Management;

· Programme Management;

· Advanced Manufacturing;

· Quality Assurance;

· Systems, Mechanical and other
engineering disciplines;

· Supply Chain and Operations,
where appropriate.

Reviews will take place at defined stages, including:

· Requirements and Concept
Review;

· Architecture Review;

· Detailed Design Review;

· Prototype and Design
Verification Review;

· Production Readiness Review;

· Final Release Review.

Each review must evaluate requirements, interfaces, technical risks,
verification plans, component selection, manufacturability, testability,
configuration control and release evidence.

Decisions, actions, owners and deadlines must be documented.
Material actions must be closed before the product proceeds to the next
approval stage. Unresolved product, schedule, quality or technical issues will
be escalated to the Chief Product Officer.

Product

Introduction and Manufacturing

Ensure products move efficiently from design through verification
and into production.

Work closely with Advanced Manufacturing to establish
design-for-manufacture and design-for-test requirements.

Confirm that manufacturing documentation, test equipment, production
software, configuration baselines and engineering evidence are complete before
production release.

Support prototype and production bring-up.

Manage engineering changes, component lifecycle risks and product
obsolescence.

Use manufacturing and field feedback to improve future designs.

Engineering

Quality and Release Readiness

Ensure Engineering produces complete, tested and documented release
candidates.

Build quality into the engineering process rather than relying on
Quality Assurance to identify incomplete work.

Maintain appropriate requirements, testing, design-verification,
documentation and configuration-control practices.

Provide traceable evidence for independent Quality Assurance review.

Apply controls appropriate to each product. Physical products
require controlled design baselines and production readiness, while cloud
services may use automated deployment and progressive release.

Maintain suitable security practices across hardware, firmware,
software and development infrastructure.

People and Resource

Management

Manage Engineering Managers and senior engineering leaders.

Set objectives and conduct regular performance reviews.

Develop future leaders and address capability gaps or sustained
underperformance.

Allocate engineering resources according to agreed product and
programme priorities.

Prevent conflicting priorities or informal reassignment of
engineering resources.

Plan headcount, recruitment, tools, licences, cloud services,
prototypes, training and specialist suppliers within agreed budgets.

Relationship

with the Chief Technology Officers

The
Director will work closely with the CTO of Engineering and the CTO of Software
& Intelligence.

The
CTOs provide technical strategy, policies, standards, engineering governance,
specialist advice and technical coaching across their respective domains.

The
Director remains accountable to the Chief Product Officer for the organisation,
resourcing and delivery of the Software and Electronics Engineering function.
Where CTO-led technical work requires engineering effort, the Director will
ensure that it is appropriately planned, prioritised and resourced alongside
direct product work.

The
Director and CTOs will collaborate on significant technical decisions,
capability development and cross-product engineering issues. Material
disagreements on technical direction, standards, risk or priority will be
escalated through the Chief Product Officer where required.

Working Relationships

The Director will
work closely with the Chief Product Officer, Product Management, Programme
Management, Advanced Manufacturing, Quality Assurance, Operations, Supply
Chain, Security, the CTO of Engineering, the CTO of Software & Intelligence
and other engineering leaders.

Product Management
defines customer needs, product priorities and requirements.

Programme
Management owns the integrated programme plan and milestones.

Engineering owns
the technical solution, development work, verification evidence and engineering
readiness.

Quality Assurance
provides independent review and confirms whether agreed assurance criteria have
been met.

The CTOs provide
technical direction and governance; the Director ensures that required
engineering work is incorporated into plans and delivered.

The Director will
also work closely with the Director of Electrical Machines as an equal partner
in the development and application of coherent engineering processes across
Product Engineering.

Decision Authority

Within agreed company
plans, budgets, technical policies and engineering standards, the Director will
have authority to:

· lead and organise the Software
and Electronics Engineering function;

· allocate engineering resources;

· establish engineering and
new-product-introduction practices;

· approve routine technical and
delivery decisions;

· recruit within approved plans;

· manage performance and
recommend promotions;

· establish teams and specialist
leadership roles;

· select appropriate engineering
methods and development tools.

Long-term product
direction, company technology strategy and material departures from established
technical policies or standards require appropriate executive approval.

Measures of Success

Success in the role
will include:

· Engineering Managers operating
with clear authority and accountability;

· UK and India teams functioning
as one engineering organisation;

· regular direct engagement with
the India-based Electronics Engineering and Computer Science teams;

· effective collaboration with
Product Management in reviewing Market Requirements and Product Requirements;

· power electronics, electronics,
firmware and software teams delivering integrated products to agreed schedules;

· formal cross-functional design
reviews operating consistently;

· improved schedule forecasting,
risk visibility and on-time delivery;

· faster and more dependable
introduction of new products into Manufacturing, Customer Support and Quality
Assurance;

· products reaching Quality
Assurance complete, documented and ready for independent review;

· appropriate reliability and
MTBF goals being established with Product Management;

· a scalable organisation with
clear leadership, responsibilities and career development;

· reduced dependence on executive
intervention in routine engineering decisions.

Candidate Profile

The successful
candidate will have:

· significant engineering and
engineering-leadership experience, with a record of dependable delivery;

· experience managing Engineering
Managers or senior technical leaders;

· a record of scaling or
restructuring a multi-team engineering organisation;

· leadership experience covering
physical products, electronics and software;

· practical knowledge of power
electronics, PCB development, hardware and firmware integration, prototyping,
verification, EMC and EMI, manufacturing release and configuration control;

· strong technical judgement and
the ability to assess evidence, challenge assumptions and involve specialists
when required;

· experience leading
geographically distributed teams;

· the willingness and ability to
travel regularly to India.

Experience with
connected devices, embedded-to-cloud products, motor control, propulsion
systems, telemetry, cloud platforms, automated testing, aerospace, defence,
automotive, robotics or industrial systems would be valuable.

PLease mail your updated resume to recruitmentuk@epropelled.com