Design Engineering Manager Job Goleta area,California USA,Engineering

Founded in 1978 CMC designs and manufactures professional rescue equipment used by customers around the world. This on-site role is based at our world headquarters in Santa Barbara, California, where close collaboration with product development, engineering, testing, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and end users is essential to moving ideas effectively from concept to production.

We are seeking an experienced Design Engineering Manager to lead the development of innovative professional rescue products from early opportunity definition through commercial launch. This role combines hands-on technical leadership, people management, and cross-functional product development ownership. The manager will guide concept development, engineering analysis, prototyping, verification and validation, and design transfer while ensuring that new products meet customer needs, business objectives, regulatory requirements, and cost, quality, and schedule targets.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership and Development: Recruit, lead, and mentor a growing team of engineers responsible for developing PPE for the rescue and rope access markets, including soft goods, harnesses, and technical hardware. Build team capability in customer-focused product development, engineering design, prototyping, testing, design for manufacture, and disciplined project execution while establishing clear roles, performance expectations, and professional development plans.

Product and Design Strategy: Partner with product management, commercial teams, end users, and engineering leadership to translate market opportunities and customer needs into product requirements, technology roadmaps, development priorities, and clear objectives for the next generation of rescue products.

Product Development Execution: Lead multiple development programs from opportunity definition and concept selection through detailed design, prototyping, verification and validation, design transfer, and commercial launch. Establish development plans, milestones, resources, budgets, risks, and decision points to deliver products on schedule and within approved investment targets.

Design and Technical Leadership: Guide concept generation and selection, resolve technical trade-offs, and lead design reviews throughout development. Review and approve product requirements, risk analyses, 3D models, engineering drawings, prototypes, test methods, verification and validation results, and technical documentation to ensure designs are safe, reliable, manufacturable, and ready for release.

Cross-Functional Product Development: Collaborate with product management, manufacturing engineering, quality, regulatory, supply chain, commercial teams, and end users to define product requirements and deliver solutions that balance customer value, performance, safety, cost, manufacturability, serviceability, and time to market.

Customer and Market Insight: Participate in customer research, field observation, product evaluations, and competitive assessment to identify unmet needs, validate concepts, and ensure development decisions remain grounded in real-world rescue applications.

Design for Manufacture and Launch Readiness: Work closely with manufacturing engineering and supply chain to define production processes, tooling, supplier requirements, quality controls, cost targets, and launch-readiness criteria. Support design transfer, pilot builds, issue resolution, and production ramp-up.

Quality, Risk, and Compliance: Embed applicable quality, safety, regulatory, and risk-management requirements into the product development process from the earliest design stages. Establish engineering standards, maintain disciplined design documentation and change control, support product certification, and continuously improve development workflows using lessons learned and measurable performance indicators.

Requirements and Qualifications

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field; a master’s degree is preferred.

Experience: 7 to 11+ years of progressive mechanical engineering and product development experience, including responsibility for taking physical products from concept through design, prototyping, verification and validation, design transfer, and production launch. At least 2 to 3 years of formal people leadership, engineering management, or significant technical and project leadership experience is required.

Product Development Expertise: Demonstrated success leading cross-functional…