Director, Engineering - Product Development - Engineering

Job Summary

The Director of Engineering & Quality is responsible for leading engineering and quality strategy across the Electrical Products portfolio, ensuring alignment between product innovation, operational execution, supplier quality, and customer expectations. This role oversees and coordinates activities across engineering and quality functions, managing multiple disciplines and providing broad functional leadership across operations, sourcing, manufacturing, and new product development.

The position develops and implements strategies that drive efficient, effective, and scalable solutions in support of organizational goals across all engineering activities. Serving as a key strategic leader, this role partners cross-functionally with Engineering, Product Management, Operations, Supply Chain, and Commercial teams to advance continuous improvement initiatives, strengthen quality systems, support new product introduction (NPI), and enhance overall product reliability, operational excellence, and customer satisfaction within a complex manufacturing environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead multidisciplinary Engineering & Quality teams, driving execution against departmental objectives while ensuring alignment with broader business priorities and organizational strategy. Provide leadership, direction, and support to managers, supervisors, and technical teams across the function.
• Partner with senior leadership to shape and execute the strategic direction of the Engineering & Quality organization, aligning initiatives with business goals, customer expectations, and long‑term growth priorities.
• Develop and implement tactical and operational strategies that enhance engineering performance, product quality, process efficiency, and service delivery while supporting enterprise objectives and scalable business growth.
• Direct resource planning and prioritization across engineering and quality initiatives, ensuring effective allocation of personnel, capital, equipment, and budget resources to optimize execution, efficiency, and business impact.
• Ensure compliance with applicable industry standards, regulatory requirements, safety protocols, and quality systems across all engineering and manufacturing activities, promoting operational integrity and risk mitigation.
• Champion continuous improvement efforts focused on engineering effectiveness, operational optimization, cost reduction, product reliability, and overall quality performance across the Electrical Products portfolio.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Product Management, Sales, Operations, Supply Chain, and Sourcing teams to support the successful design, development, commercialization, and delivery of products and solutions aligned with customer needs and market opportunities.
• Establish and maintain engineering and quality governance standards through design reviews, audits, process controls, establishing guidelines, and continuous improvement methodologies to ensure consistency, reliability, and high-performance outcomes.
• Build and strengthen organizational capability by attracting, developing, and mentoring high-performing engineering and quality talent while fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, collaboration, and continuous learning.
• Drive performance management and employee development initiatives across the Engineering & Quality organization, coaching leaders and team members to support succession planning, capability growth, and overall organizational effectiveness.

Required Education & Experience

Minimum Education Level:    Bachelor's Degree
Specialized Degree:    Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Engineering Technology, or related technical field
Years of Experience:    8-11 years of progressive experience in engineering, quality, manufacturing, or product leadership rolesField of Expertise:    Electrical products, manufacturing operations, quality systems, product development, engineering leadership, and cross-functional operational support

Preferred Education & Experience

Minimum Education Level:    Master’s degree
Specialized Degree:    Engineering, Engineering Management, Business Administration (MBA), Quality Management, or related field
Licenses/Certificates:    PMP (Project Management Professional), Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt, ASQ certifications, or other quality/process improvement certifications 
Years of Experience:    12-14 Years of experience leading engineering and/or quality functions within manufacturing or industrial environments
Field of Expertise:    Electrical products, contractor/commercial markets, quality management systems, continuous improvement, product commercialization, regulatory compliance, and strategic engineering leadership
A combination of education and experience may be considered for certain roles.

Spans of Control

Spans of Control
(Reporting relationships and geographical scope)
Does this role Manage Southwire Team Members:    Yes
Number of Direct Reports:    5-10

Travel

Travel:    Domestic, occasionally international
% of Time:    Up to 25%

Physical Requirements

Working Conditions

Equipment

Computer/Keyboard

Safety Glasses

Hard Hat

Steel toe shoes

High Visibility Vest

Competencies

Skills