Director, Hardware Engineering

Position Summary

Nova Tech Automation is seeking a seasoned Director of Hardware Engineering to provide strategic and technical leadership across all hardware development disciplines at the company. This role will consolidate hardware engineering, quality assurance, RMA operations, and hardware certification under a single leader. The Director will report directly to the SVP of Engineering and Product Development and will manage teams distributed across Nova Tech's US and international locations.

Nova Tech's hardware portfolio spans substation automation products including RTUs, GNSS clocks, industrial Ethernet switches, power meters, and merging units. Products operate in demanding grid infrastructure environments and must meet rigorous industrial, safety, and EMC standards. The ideal candidate brings deep hands‑on hardware design expertise in embedded industrial platforms alongside the leadership experience to drive engineering excellence across a multi‑site organization.

• Lead all hardware engineering activities across PCB design, embedded platform development, power and analog design, and signal integrity
• Define and enforce hardware architecture standards, design methodologies, and best practices across the organization
• Drive hardware simulation practices using SPICE, LTspice, and related tools to reduce design iterations and improve first-pass success rates
• Provide hands‑on technical guidance on complex design challenges involving Xilinx Zynq‑7000, i.MX, and similar embedded SoC platforms
• Collaborate closely with software, product management, and systems engineering teams to ensure hardware and software co-design alignment
• Evaluate and introduce new tools, technologies, and design automation capabilities to improve team throughput and quality
• Own hardware development schedules, resource allocation, and technical risk management across active programs

• Mechanical Engineering and Hardware
  
  Certifications:
  
  oversee the manager responsible for enclosure and mechanical design, as well as product certification programs covering UL 61010‑1, cUL, FCC, CE, and IEC 61850‑3 environmental requirements
• Quality Assurance and RMA: oversee the QA manager responsible for inspection processes, test coverage, manufacturing quality feedback, root cause analysis, corrective action, and field return reduction
• Provides strategic direction, removes organizational obstacles, ensures cross-team alignment, and holds managers accountable to quality, schedule, and process improvement goals

• Manage and develop a geographically distributed organization across US and international locations, spanning hardware engineering, mechanical and certifications, and QA/RMA functions
• Build a high‑performance culture grounded in engineering rigor, accountability, and continuous learning
• Partner with the SVP and HR to develop workforce plans, succession pipelines, and talent acquisition strategies for hardware disciplines
• Foster strong cross‑functional relationships with software engineering, product management, technical support, and operations

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, or a closely related discipline
• 15 or more years of progressive hardware engineering experience, with at least 8 years in a formal engineering management or director‑level role
• Demonstrated depth in PCB design and layout for high-density, mixed-signal industrial products, with strong preference for Altium Designer experience
• Hands‑on experience with embedded hardware platforms, specifically Xilinx Zynq‑7000 or similar Zynq/SoC families, and NXP i.MX or comparable ARM-based processors
• Proven expertise in analog and power supply design including DC/DC conversion, isolation, and protection circuitry for industrial environments
• Proficiency with SPICE-based simulation tools (Altium, LTspice or equivalent) for circuit analysis and design validation, with experience embedding simulation into formal design review and gate criteria
• Practical experience with FPGA development tool chains
• Experience performing…