Deputy Director of Advanced Product Development.

Overview

About Modular Mission Critical

ModularMission Critical™ is the manufacturing campus for M.C. Dean’s complex, modular product line for datacenters and critical infrastructure. Located just north of Richmond, VA, this site is growing fast serving customers worldwide. Important openings include assemblers for our production lines and engineers and designers for products and continuous improvement. Join M.C. Dean’s more than 9,000 employees around the world making an impact through innovations in power and technology.

Why Join Us?

Our people are passionate about innovation that improves lives and drives impactful change. Guided by our core values—agility, expertise, and trust—we foster a collaborative and forward-thinking work environment for employees to build long-term careers.

We are seeking an accomplished and forward-thinking Deputy Director of Advanced Product Development to drive innovation, engineering excellence, and product realization across our advanced industrial portfolio. This senior leader will partner closely with executive leadership to shape strategy, oversee multi-disciplinary development programs, and ensure seamless execution from concept through commercialization. The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise with strategic leadership, guiding teams to deliver differentiated, high-performance products that set new industry standards.

Responsibilities

Product and Technology Strategy

• Develop and execute a comprehensive product development strategy that aligns with the company’s long-term vision and growth objectives.

• Drive technology innovation, R&D initiatives, and platform development to create sustainable competitive advantage.

• Evaluate emerging technologies and trends to identify opportunities for integration into new or existing product lines.

Product Development Leadership

• Oversee the full lifecycle of advanced product development—concept design, prototyping, validation, launch, and sustainment.

• Lead cross-functional engineering programs involving mechanical, electrical, controls, and software systems.

• Champion design for manufacturability (DFM), modular architectures, and common platform strategies to optimize scalability and cost efficiency.

Operational and Engineering Excellence

• Establish and maintain best-in-class engineering processes and standards, including DFMEA, Six Sigma, Lean Product Development, and Stage-Gate or Agile governance.

• Ensure all product designs meet or exceed requirements for performance, safety, compliance, reliability, and cost.

• Collaborate with Manufacturing, Quality, and Supply Chain to enable efficient transfer from development to production.

Team Leadership and Development

• Build, mentor, and develop a high-performing engineering organization with strong technical depth and leadership capability.

• Promote a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement.

• Support succession planning and career development for technical and managerial talent across the team.

Cross-Functional and Executive Collaboration

• Partner with Product Management, Marketing, Sales, and Operations to align technical execution with market and customer needs.

• Represent the Advanced Product Development function in strategic reviews, executive meetings, and cross-organizational initiatives.

• Engage with external partners, suppliers, and regulatory bodies to advance product and technology goals.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or Industrial Engineering required; Master’s or MBA preferred.

• 12+ years of engineering and product development experience in complex manufacturing

• 8+ years of executive or senior leadership experience managing cross-functional engineering

• Demonstrated success developing and launching products in sectors such as HVAC, heavy machinery, power systems, or industrial

• Expertise in tools such as CAD (Creo, SolidWorks), PLM systems (Teamcenter, Windchill), and simulation (ANSYS, MATLAB).

• Strong understanding of global compliance and regulatory standards (UL, CE, RoHS, ISO, etc.).

• Experience with Stage-Gate, Agile, or hybrid development

• Proven ability to lead technical strategy, build teams, and collaborate across functions in global organizations.

We offer an excellent benefits package including:

• A competitive salary

• Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance

• Paid time off

• Tuition reimbursement

• 401k Retirement Plan

• Military Reserve pay offset

• Paid maternity leave

Abilities:

• Exposure to computer screens for an extended period of time.

• Sitting for extended periods of time. Reach by extending hands or arms in any direction.

• Have finger dexterity in order to manipulate objects with fingers rather than whole hands or arms, for example, using a keyboard.

• Listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

• Communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

• Read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

• Apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

• Identify and understand the speech of another person.