Description
VPG is seeking a Field Design Engineering Manager to lead and develop our North American team of Field Design Engineers supporting industry-leading foil resistors, capacitors, current sensing, and precision measurement technologies. This is a highly visible leadership role responsible for driving Design-Win growth, customer engagement, technical sales execution, and team development across North America. The successful candidate will partner closely with Sales, Product Management, and key customers while leading a distributed team supporting OEMs in aerospace, defense, semiconductor, medical, industrial automation, and instrumentation markets.
Key Responsibilities
Leadership & Team Development
- Lead, coach, and develop a team of Field Design Engineers across North America.
- Drive performance, accountability, employee engagement, and career development.
- Recruit, onboard, and develop top engineering talent.
- Establish best practices, succession plans, and technical-commercial excellence across the organization.
Sales & Growth Execution
- Drive Design-Win strategies, opportunity development, and territory growth initiatives.
- Review pipeline health, opportunity progression, and customer engagement activities.
- Support complex customer opportunities and accelerate design adoption.
- Ensure consistent execution of opportunity management processes from identification through revenue conversion.
Commercial Leadership
- Partner with Account Managers to align technical activities with strategic account objectives.
- Ensure effective coverage of key customers, distributors, and target markets.
- Promote collaboration between FDEs, Sales, Field Application Engineers, Customer Support, and Product Management.
- Participate in business reviews, forecasting, and growth planning activities.
Operational Excellence
- Drive CRM discipline, forecast accuracy, and opportunity visibility.
- Optimize resource allocation across territories based on business priorities.
- Monitor performance metrics, pipeline quality, and Design-Win conversion rates.
- Remove execution barriers and share best practices across the team.
- standards across the organization.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Physics, Business, or a related discipline.
- 8+ years of experience in technical sales, field applications, design engineering, account management, or business development.
- 5+ years of leadership experience managing customer-facing technical teams.
- Experience supporting OEM customers and complex Design-Win sales cycles.
- Strong understanding of technical selling, opportunity management, forecasting, and CRM processes.
- Experience leading geographically dispersed teams.
- Excellent leadership, communication, coaching, and decision-making skills.
Preferred Experience
- Foil resistors, precision resistors, capacitors, current sensing, passive components, or related technologies.
- Aerospace, defense, semiconductor, industrial automation, medical, test & measurement, or instrumentation markets.
- Technical engagement with engineering, design, and R&D teams during product development cycles.
What Success Looks Like
- Increased Design Wins, bookings, and pipeline growth across North America.
- High-performing, engaged, and well-developed Field Design Engineering team.
- Strong forecast accuracy and opportunity visibility.
- Consistent execution of territory growth plans and customer engagement strategies.
- Effective collaboration across Sales, Engineering, Product Management, and Customer Support.
- Successful recruitment, onboarding, and retention of top talent.
Benefits
Company sponsored benefits that include medical, dental, vision, life, AD&D insurance, disability and flexible spending account (FSA) Voluntary Critical Illness & Accidental Injury Insurance Company 401(k) Plan with 4% employer match (Employee/Employer Contributions 100% vested upon hire) Paid vacation and holidays Position is bonus eligible