Midea America Corp., is one of the world's largest home appliance brands, offering the most comprehensive selection of products in the world to fully serve the needs of day-to-day living at home, at work, or anywhere else you go. In North America we strive to aim high, put the customer first, transform and innovate the marketplace, utilizing our commitment, dedication, inclusion, and partnership with our teams. Midea America is a subsidiary of the Midea Group, a global company with over 150,000 employees and operations in more than 195 countries. As a publicly listed company, we are ranked #245 as a Fortune Global 500 company and offer one of the most comprehensive product portfolios in the industry.
The Director of Engineering is responsible for the direction of design, optimization, innovation and other related R&D activities of laundry systems and related components. The Director must maintain communication and collaboration with the North American R&D team and the Chinese overseas R&D team. The Director must have strong mechanical system/subsystem-level design technical knowledge. The Director must also possess innovative thinking and innovative methods. Proficiency in using design software such is a plus.
The Director will oversee the Research and Development of the following laundry platforms:
Clothes Washer (Front Loading and Top Loading)
Clothes Dryer (Electric and Gas)
Portable Washer/Dryer
Combination Washer/Dryer
Hybrid Heat Pump Dryer
Essential Job Responsibilities
Drive innovation and development of market leading residential Clothes Washer and Dryers for the North American market.
Identify and develop new technologies, features and products to enable laundry business to grow.
Lead cross functional Research and Development team focusing on customer behavior and develop technology to meet or exceed consumers expectations.
Must have strong mechanical component and structural design experience, knowledge of washer and dryer performance, innovation processes, a solid collaborator, leader and mentor for engineers.
Responsible for performance improvements for NA market, exceeding consumer expectations for washing and drying clothes.
Will monitor and track the development of new laundry products in the North American market and develop a technical product plan roadmap to exceed consumer expectation.
Must facilitate the work in support of Industrial Design projects and tie in consumer research/insights.
Will manage and add to the development of intellectual property portfolio for laundry products.
Will manage test lab improvements and guide team on improved processes to ensure test lab reproducibility and repeatability.
Research the field of mechanical technology, responsible for organizing technical research on key core technologies focusing on structural design and mechanics.
Lead team in research on related innovation projects and innovation methods.
Actively participate in technical project reviews and innovation research projects.
Cross-functional cooperation with various internal and external engineering teams to jointly carry out project work.
Collaborate with project managers and Laundry R&D team on multi-generational product plan and technical roadmaps.
Manage team with detailed root cause analysis and develop both design and quality improvement projects-based on field returns and field tests.
Manage MARC Laundry budget, development of resources, drive team building, support future lab development and recruit to approved headcount.
Lead Projects working with universities on advanced development projects.
Implement projects and special tasks as needed.
Qualifications
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.
Required/Preferred Education and Experience
Required Education: Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering; Masters preferred
Preferred Experience:
10+ years' experience working as a R&D engineer.
Previous experience managing at least 2 direct reports.
Strong Leadership experience.
Previous experience building a new team.
Experience with UG, Creo, Solidworks, AutoCAD or other similar software.
Job Skills:
Hands on ability to prototype.
Familiar with injection molding and metal fabrication.
Good Communication skills both written and verbal.
Strong problem solving and analytical skills.
Strong organizational skill and ability to prioritize tasks appropriately.
A self-starter and self-disciplined in accomplishing tasks.
Strong desire to learn with ability to be self-taught.