Director, New Product Development - Hybrid

Fieldpiece is hiring a Product Category Director - an R&D Product Innovator that will lead the strategy, development, and launch of new products.  The ideal candidate is a hands-on, high impact leader who thrives on creating products that delight customers. You have a deep background in mechanical engineering, product management, customer research and requirements, innovation, and P&L management.  The Director owns the end-to-end product lifecycle: opportunity identification to ideation to product development to global market launch to periodic refreshes that sustains product leadership. You will work cross-functionally with engineering, global marketing, design, sales, ODM supply partners, and other key stakeholders to define product features, prove out suitable technologies, build roadmaps, and bring innovative solutions to market. 

The ideal candidate brings a unique combination of strategic vision, deep technical skills in mechanical engineering, business acumen, and executional excellence. You’ll drive critical business decisions, influence senior leadership, solve ambiguous challenges, manage matrixed teams, and maximize the customer product experience.  The position requires up to 30% travel. 

Fieldpiece is a thriving team of innovators - committed to pushing boundaries and celebrating curiosity.  We’ve been providing HVACR professionals with rugged, feature-rich tools like meters, manifolds, leak detectors, and more since 1990.  Fieldpiece leads the industry in the way we think, work, collaborate, and remain laser-focused on creating products that empower HVACR professionals – today and tomorrow.  If you thrive in an environment where challenges are embraced, ambiguity fuels innovation, and relationships are built on trust and transparency—this is your opportunity.

As one of the Best Places to Work in SoCal (2023 & 2024), we’re proud of our people-first culture and Hire to Retire philosophy.  We offer a hybrid (3 days onsite), flexible work schedule, a kitchen full of snacks to keep you charged throughout the day and a unique, onsite music room with complimentary guitar and piano lessons.

What You’ll Do

• Define product vision and strategy to ideate, innovate and deliver best-in-class product solutions using data-driven insights.
• Be the product and application expert with strong technical know-how to understand, weigh, and improve the product’s technology, working principles, construction, features, and benefits against customer needs.
• Develop, prioritize, and manage the technology and product roadmaps by reimagining product lines to unlock new value.
• Influence, align, and work through cross-functional global teams and ODM partners to drive results.
• Analyze industry trends, customer feedback, usability studies, competitive environment, and business insights to inform product decisions.
• Advocate for customers by ensuring an intuitive, ease-of-use, engaging user experience.
• Enhance existing ODM supply partners and identify/vet new ODMs to expand capabilities for developing innovative products faster and better.

What You Bring

• Bachelor’s degree in STEM field; MBA preferred.
• 10+ years of experience in mechanical engineering, product management, and/or program management in an R&D environment delivering new products.
• Proven business acumen to add customer value, build and prioritize roadmaps, justify and budget projects.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a data-driven approach.
• Experience influencing cross-functional teams and leadership in a fast-paced environment; resolves conflicts gracefully.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, facilitation, and presentation skills.
• Technical fluency in engaging with engineering teams and discussing design and features.
• Ability to synthesize complex problems into simple, elegant solutions.
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