VP of Engineering

The VP of Engineering owns the Sennos product engineering group — hardware, mechanical, and R&D engineering; application software (API, database, web, and mobile); software infrastructure; and program management — and is accountable for its structure, health, performance, and delivery. Reporting to the CTO, this role combines people leadership, technical strategy, and cross-functional execution to take Sennos sensing products from early research through validated design and into reliable, scalable production, and to deliver the software customers use to see and act on their data.

The VPE establishes operating rhythms, removes blockers, and creates an environment where teams can innovate and execute against aggressive quality and business targets.

The VPE leads the Principal Engineer, the Application Engineering Manager, the Program Manager, and the Production Manager. This is a leadership role that stays close to the work — the VPE is involved in design reviews, test results, build issues, and field returns, and makes sound technical calls quickly.

• Own the structure, health, and performance of the product engineering group across engineering, software, and program management
• Directly lead and coach each direct report; set clear goals, expectations, and development plans for each
• Coach and develop managers in the group as people leaders
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, psychological safety, and continuous improvement
• Build and lead the engineering bench — own hiring plans across hardware, mechanical, R&D, product engineering, application software, Python, Dev Ops, and program management; maintain a high bar for talent at every level
• Drive team development and retention — identify skill gaps, invest in training and internal growth, and own performance management and promotion decisions
• Own org design as the group scales — define when new leadership layers are needed, develop internal candidates, and build a bench that grows with the business

• Partner with the CTO and hardware product owner on hardware technology strategy — provide engineering perspective on sensing feasibility, technical risk, and development cost as the roadmap is set
• Hold the Hardware Engineering Manager accountable for R&D exploration, NPI execution, and stage-gate exit criteria; stay close enough to the work to make sound calls on scope, schedule, and technical risk
• Ensure prototype learnings, failure modes, and test data are documented and carried into production-ready designs and processes — this is an engineering discipline the VPE enforces, not delegates away

• Align with Product on design, systems architecture, and hardware, firmware, and software integration
• Ensure the test, calibration, and characterization strategy for the full sensor suite is owned and executed by the right people — standards set by the Principal Engineer, execution owned by the Hardware Engineering Manager — and hold both accountable for rigor and outcomes
• Manage trade-offs between performance, cost, manufacturability, and schedule to deliver systems that are robust, safe, reliable, and scalable at volume
• Establish and own the processes that drive delivery — design phases, prototyping, testing, manufacturing readiness, and schedule confidence
• Own the engineering response to field performance data — direct the Principal Engineer to triage field returns and re-characterization findings, and hold the team accountable for closing design and process improvements

• Own delivery of the Sennos application — API, database, front-end web application, and mobile app — through the Application Engineering Manager
• Pa…