Your role

Mission

The Design Manager is responsible for maximizing innovation, engineering productivity, and product quality by developing strong multidisciplinary engineering capabilities across mechanical design, mechatronics, embedded systems, and automation technologies.

As the leader of the design function, you will foster an entrepreneurial culture that encourages innovation, ownership, and continuous improvement while ensuring the successful delivery of both strategic product developments and customer projects. You will transform engineering know-how into reusable platforms, technology bricks, and scalable solutions that accelerate business growth and strengthen the Shanghai Hub's position as a global competence center for fastening automation.

Your day-to-day

Major Responsibilities

Duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Engineering Competence Development:

• Lead, coach and motivate a multidisciplinary team of mechanical, mechatronic and software engineers.
• Build and maintain a strong engineering competence center aligned with the long-term Automation Technology Vision.
• Define engineering competency roadmaps and development plans.
• Develop technical experts, senior engineers and future engineering leaders.
• Establish engineering standards, knowledge management and design best practices.
• Drive recruitment, succession planning and capability growth.

Innovation & Technology Development:

• Build and maintain a strong innovation culture where new concepts, technologies and ideas are actively encouraged.
• Lead technology exploration, proof-of-concept activities and technical feasibility studies.
• Support the development of technology roadmaps, technology bricks and future product concepts.
• Drive creation of reusable modules, platforms and engineering assets.
• Encourage patent generation and intellectual property protection.
• Collaborate closely with customers, marketing and global R&D teams to identify future opportunities and emerging technologies.
• Transform innovative ideas into tangible business value and development opportunities.

Product Development Excellence:

• Lead and coach the design team to successfully develop innovative products according to product roadmaps and development plans.
• Manage the complete design process from concept generation, architecture definition, design realization, prototype validation and industrialization support.
• Ensure products meet quality, reliability, cost, safety, certification and regulatory requirements.
• Promote modularization, platform development and design reuse.
• Drive improvements in product maturity, time-to-market and engineering efficiency.
• Closely collaborate with Solution Owners, PMO, Operations and Marketing throughout the product lifecycle.

Design Excellence & Engineering Productivity:

• Establish and continuously improve design methodologies, standards and review processes.
• Ensure rigorous engineering verification, validation and risk management practices.
• Improve design quality and reduce engineering rework through robust design processes.
• Promote Design for Manufacturing, Design for Assembly and Design for Cost methodologies.
• Drive standardization, automation and engineering tool improvements.
• Improve engineering productivity through reuse, modularity and efficient development practices.

Customer Project Engineering Excellence:

• Lead and coach the design team to successfully engineer customer-specific automation solutions and projects.
• Ensure the best technical solution is proposed balancing customer value, quality, cost and lead time.
• Support application studies, feasibility analysis and technical risk assessments.
• Ensure customer project execution follows established engineering standards and processes.
• Monitor project engineering activities and provide technical guidance on critical issues.
• Support customer technical discussions and site visits when required.

Your skills and experience

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Automation Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related discipline.
• Minimum 8 years of experience in product development and engineering environments.
• Minimum 3 years of leadership experience managing engineering teams.
• Proven experience in mechanical and mechatronic product development.
• Experience in industrial automation, assembly systems, robotics, tooling, or related industries is preferred.
• Demonstrated track record in driving innovation and developing engineering organizations.
• Experience managing complex cross-functional projects in international environments.

Knowledge & Skills

• Strong understanding of mechanical design principles and engineering methodologies.
• Good knowledge of mechatronics, automation systems, sensors, actuators, and embedded technologies.
• Experience with product development processes, design reviews, risk management, and validation methodologies.
• Understanding platform development, modular architecture, and engineering reuse strategies.
• Strong project prioritization and resource management skills.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and influencing abilities.
• Good understanding of customer applications, market dynamics, and competitive technologies.
• Fluent English communication skills.

Personality & Behavior Traits

• Strong entrepreneurial spirit with a passion for building new capabilities and businesses.
• Innovation-driven mindset with curiosity for new technologies and solutions.
• Strategic thinker capable of balancing long-term capability building with short-term business needs.
• Strong leadership and coaching skills with a commitment to developing people.
• Customer-oriented and focused on delivering tangible business value.
• Results-driven, hands-on, and execution-oriented.
• Open-minded, collaborative, and effective in cross-functional environments.
• Courage to challenge the status quo and drive organizational transformation.

Your compensation and benefits

We are committed to fair and equitable compensation. Compensation is determined based on the position and its responsibilities, without regard to gender, race, ethnicity, religion, physical ability, sexual orientation, marital status, or any other protected characteristic. Our compensation offering is designed to be locally relevant, competitive, and aligned with the expectations of current and future talent. 

Your job location

Shanghai

Why it is great to work with us

Your career grows through your skills, your curiosity, and the people you work with. You join a global network where we learn from each other and share knowledge openly. We focus on long‑term development and encourage you to explore new ideas that help us move forward. Innovation is part of how we think and act – we test, improve, and use what we learn to create solutions that matter. You can make a meaningful impact by contributing with your insights and taking ownership of your work, supported by flexible ways of working and leaders who empower you. 

Application process

Our selection process includes interviews and, for some roles, skills assessments that help us gain a deeper understanding of your profile. We look forward to getting to know you, learning about your strengths, and discussing how you can grow with us. If you have questions during the process or need support, please contact us:

Talent Acquisition: Young Zhang