Product Development ManagerJob DescriptionThe experienced Product Development Manager leads all product development activities, including an established systems engineering group, with a dual mandate to refine systems development processes and to build a robust PCB board development organization from the ground up. This role focuses on leadership rather than hands-on layout work, requiring a seasoned engineering leader who has progressed from embedded board design through technical leadership into management and who has successfully delivered high-density, high-speed embedded board products. The position requires a strong blend of technical credibility, organizational design, and vendor management to create a scalable development capability that consistently meets cost, schedule, and quality commitments.Responsibilities
- Own the end-to-end product development function, including oversight of the existing systems engineering group and the newly built PCB board development organization.
- Improve and standardize the systems development process, including requirements definition, architecture, stage gates, design reviews, verification, and release, building on current systems engineering strengths.
- Run stage gates and design reviews with rigor and discipline, ensuring teams and external partners meet agreed cost, schedule, and quality commitments.
- Partner closely with Product Management, Lifecycle Management, Sales, and Operations to align development priorities with customer commitments and business objectives.
- Define the future organization structure for development engineering, including electrical engineering, PCB layout, component engineering, and test development roles.
- Recruit, hire, mentor, and develop engineering talent to build a high-performing electrical engineering and layout team.
- Establish PCB design infrastructure and workflows, including Cadence Allegro environment setup, component library and library management, constraint and stackup standards, design archiving, release processes, and DFM/DFT practices.
- Set and enforce component engineering practices by category (such as power, I/O, RF) to support long-lifecycle products and effective obsolescence management.
- Decide, for each development element, whether to build in-house capability, partner with external providers, or buy solutions, across areas such as schematics, libraries, layout, SI/PI, firmware and BIOS, test development, fixtures, SMT, and NPI.
- Select, contract with, and manage external design houses, ODMs, and manufacturing partners, defining clear scopes of work, milestones, and acceptance criteria.
- Protect intellectual property in all external engagements by ensuring appropriate IP assignment, preventing reuse of designs or derivatives, controlling design environments and file releases, and working with named teams.
- Evaluate when building in-house capability or acquiring design teams is the better long-term solution and provide clear recommendations.
- Provide credible technical judgment on high-density, high-speed embedded boards and on system-level integration across compute, power, thermal, mechanical, and firmware domains.
- Work closely with silicon and platform partners, including major CPU and platform vendors such as Intel, to support new platform introductions and roadmap alignment.
- Operate within the organizations quality system and design controls, including adherence to ISO 9001, ISO standards, and AS9100 as the organization moves toward that certification.
- Ensure new embedded board and system designs progress from concept through production, meeting performance, reliability, and compliance requirements.
- Support test strategy development, including in-circuit, functional, and boundary scan testing, and ensure alignment with DFM, DFT, SMT, and NPI processes.
- Collaborate with lifecycle and component engineering programs to manage product lifecycle, obsolescence, and component availability risks.
Essential Skills
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or equivalent experience.
- At least 12 years of experience in embedded board development, progressing from hands-on individual contributor work (such as schematic capture, component selection, layout or layout review, and board bring-up) through technical lead roles into engineering management.
- Demonstrated technical credibility to evaluate design work firsthand, including the ability to review schematics, stackups, and layouts, challenge design decisions, and identify issues before fabrication.
- A minimum of 5 years leading engineering teams with a proven record of delivering new products to production on time.
- Experience with both board-level and system-level design of embedded or computing products.
- Deep familiarity with high-density interconnect (HDI) and high-speed digital design, including technologies such as DDR5 and PCIe, and strong understanding of signal integrity and power integrity.
- Working knowledge of Cadence Allegro, including processes related to libraries, constraints, and release management.
- Proven experience managing external design houses, original design manufacturers, or contract manufacturers, including defining scope, negotiating contracts, and setting acceptance criteria.
- Experience with test development, including in-circuit testing, functional testing, and boundary scan, as well as design for manufacturability (DFM), design for test (DFT), surface-mount technology (SMT), and new product introduction (NPI) processes.
- Ability to work with export-controlled technical data as required by applicable regulations.
- Strong leadership, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills to align engineering activities with product, sales, operations, and lifecycle teams.
Additional Skills & Qualifications
- Experience with Intel platform technologies, including Core Ultra generations, COM Express, or system-on-module (SoM) based designs, and direct collaboration with Intel on new platform introductions.
- Experienced in regulated or long-lifecycle markets such as medical, defense and aerospace, industrial, or rugged applications.
- Experience building a design organization from a small base or integrating an acquired design team into an existing structure.
- Experience with product lifecycle management, obsolescence planning, and component engineering programs.
- Hands-on experience in PCB development, embedded computing, and hardware design, with familiarity in embedded systems and Cadence-based PCB workflows.
- Ability to balance in-house and outsourced capabilities strategically across design, test, and manufacturing.
- Comfort operating within formal quality systems and design control frameworks, including ISO 9001 and related standards.
Work EnvironmentProduct Development Manager works in an engineering-focused organization of approximately 140150 people, collaborating closely with an established systems engineering group while building out a new PCB board development capability. The environment emphasizes structured development processes, including formal requirements, architecture definition, stage gates, design reviews, verification, and controlled release. You will lead a core in-house electrical engineering and layout team and work extensively with outsourced partners for manufacturing, testing, and design, requiring frequent coordination with external design houses, contract manufacturers, and technology partners. The role involves regular interaction with Product Management, Lifecycle Management, Sales, Operations, and silicon platform partners to ensure that development priorities align with customer commitments and long-term product roadmaps. Engineering work relies heavily on modern PCB design tools and infrastructure, including Cadence Allegro, robust component libraries, constraint and stackup standards, and disciplined DFM/DFT practices. The organization operates under formal quality systems, including ISO 9001 and related design controls, with a trajectory toward AS9100, fostering a culture of disciplined engineering, documentation, and continuous improvement. The position is leadership-focused rather than hands-on layout, with a strong emphasis on technical oversight, process ownership, and strategic use of both internal and external resources. Job Type & LocationThis is a Permanent position based out of Pewaukee, WI. Pay and BenefitsThe pay range for this position is $130000.00 - $205000.00/yr. Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.full company benefits- health, dental, 401K, etc. Job Type & LocationThis is a Permanent position based out of Pewaukee, WI. Application DeadlineThis position is anticipated to close on Nov 19, 2026. Workplace TypeThis is a fully onsite position in Pewaukee,WI.About Actalent
Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® winner for both client and talent service.
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