R&D Engineer

Our client, a leading manufacturer of industrial cooling solutions, is seeking an experienced Product Engineer to join their growing team. This role will provide technical leadership across assigned product lines, supporting customer applications, product development, manufacturing readiness, and cross-functional product release activities. The ideal candidate will combine strong thermal engineering expertise with product lifecycle experience in a manufacturing environment.

• Serve as a technical expert for air‑cooled heat exchangers, dry coolers, CRAHs, and related cooling systems across key market sectors.

• Support Sales and Business Development teams with product selection, sizing, customization, and proposal development.

• Develop and maintain application tools, selection software, and technical documentation.

• Act as a technical liaison with customers, consultants, and contractors to ensure solutions meet project requirements.

• Lead application engineering activities for assigned product lines, including system selection, configuration support, and technical guidance.

• Own assigned product lines throughout the product lifecycle, from concept and development through launch, market support, and continuous improvement.

• Gather and prioritize product requirements through customer feedback, market research, competitive analysis, and internal stakeholder input.

• Define product specifications, performance targets, and feature enhancements aligned with business objectives.

• Partner with Sales and leadership teams to support pricing strategies, value propositions, and product positioning.

• Drive product roadmap priorities and facilitate cross‑functional decision‑making to ensure successful product execution.

• Serve as the primary interface between Product Management, Engineering, and R&D teams for assigned products.

• Translate customer and market requirements into clear engineering specifications and development objectives.

• Collaborate with Engineering teams to define validation plans, performance criteria, and release requirements for new products and enhancements.

• Review development progress to ensure alignment with application requirements, manufacturability, cost targets, and overall product strategy.

• Coordinate engineering approvals and cross‑functional readiness activities prior to product release.

• Support product change management and continuous improvement initiatives by incorporating customer, field, and manufacturing feedback into development priorities.

• Partner with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Quality teams to ensure products are designed for manufacturability, repeatability, and cost‑effective production.

• Evaluate product designs and engineering changes for manufacturing feasibility and operational readiness.

• Support the transition from development to production by proactively identifying and mitigating product readiness risks.

• Balance customization, standardization, cost, and delivery objectives across assigned product lines.

• Drive continuous improvement efforts based on manufacturing feedback, field performance, and customer application experience.

• Coordinate product certifications and approvals, including UL, CE, EMC, and other applicable industry standards.

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Engineering, or a related discipline required; advanced degree preferred.

• Minimum of 5 years of experience with HVAC, heat exchangers, mission‑critical cooling systems, or related thermal equipment.

• Strong understanding of thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and thermal system design.

• Experience supporting product development and cross‑functional product releases within a manufacturing environment.

• Solid understanding of design for manufacturability (DFM), production readiness, and engineering trade‑offs.

• Experience with product lifecycle management, product strategy, or product ownership is highly preferred.

• Proficiency with thermal modeling tools, product selection software, and CAD platforms.

• Excellent communication and leadership skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, Sales, and customer organizations.