Director of Product R&D

Director of New Product Research & Development - Lowell, MA - Hybrid

R2 are working with a large consumer manufacturer who are seeking a senior leader to own new product introduction, with increasing focus on connected and data-enabled products. This role leads products from concept through manufacturing scale, integrating firmware, connectivity, and cloud capabilities into hardware-led platforms.

You will build and lead cross-functional product teams and act as the primary link between Engineering, Software, Operations, Supply Chain, and Leadership to ensure delivery against business, quality, and customer objectives.

• Lead and develop multidisciplinary product and engineering teams across mechanical, embedded/firmware, software, and IoT.
• Define and own product development processes across NPI, manufacturing, and software life cycles.
• Drive integrated roadmaps covering hardware, firmware, connectivity, applications, cloud services, and analytics.
• Own mechanical execution.
• Own product specifications and end-to-end design quality.
• Partner with Operations to embed firmware, provisioning, calibration, and configuration into production processes.
• Lead the development of a scalable IoT ecosystem across devices, connectivity, cloud, and data platforms.

• Extensive experience leading NPI and mechanical product development.
• Strong expertise in DFM/DFA, PFMEA, SPC, design transfer, and manufacturing engineering.
• Hands‑on experience with embedded firmware, connectivity, cloud platforms, and application ecosystems.
• Proven track record leading hardware‑centric teams through digital and IoT transformation.