Design Manager, Engineering - Home Environment

Design Manager, Engineering - Home Environment

Shark Ninja is a global product design and technology company, with a diversified portfolio of 5-star rated lifestyle solutions that positively impact people’s lives in homes around the world. Powered by two trusted, global brands, Shark and Ninja, the company has a proven track record of bringing disruptive innovation to market and developing one consumer product after another has allowed Shark Ninja to enter multiple product categories, driving significant growth and market share gains.

Headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts with more than 4,100 associates, the company’s products are sold at key retailers, online and offline, and through distributors around the world.

At Shark Ninja, we’re building an AI-native culture. We’re not waiting for the future; we’re creating it. Our people are expected to experiment boldly, adopt new tools, and continuously raise what’s possible to create meaningful impact for our consumers. If you believe the best way to do your job hasn’t been invented yet, you’ll fit right in.

Home Environment NPD | Needham, MA | Shark Brand

We're looking for a Design Manager to lead the mechanical engineering team behind a new generation of Shark home environment products. This is a hands‑on leadership role. You’ll own technical direction across your programs from early concept through mass production, manage and develop a team of engineers, and work across a global product development organization spanning Boston, China, and Europe.

The right candidate builds things. They come in with an appliance design mindset, understand how mechanisms work, and want to figure out problems that don’t have obvious answers. They’re equally comfortable sketching on a whiteboard and running a DFM review with a tooling supplier. They manage multiple programs simultaneously without losing track of any of them. And they lead people well: honestly, with high standards, and a bias toward getting things done.

• Own design execution from concept through production: CAD, prototyping, DFMEA, tolerance analysis, tooling design, DFM reviews, and validation testing.
• Design and develop mechanisms. Think through how something moves, where it wears, how it fails, and how to design around it.
• Build and test prototypes in the lab. Break them, learn from them, iterate. Bring the same expectation to your team.
• Translate requirements and customer feedback into engineering solutions. When a requirement lands without a clear path forward, figure out the path.
• Lead DFM and DFA reviews with manufacturing partners, primarily in China. Flag risk early. Drive decisions.
• Run DFMEA and tolerance stack‑up analyses to identify failure modes and design margin before they become production problems.
• Manage 2‑4 direct reports. Set high expectations, develop their skills, give real feedback. This includes hiring as the team and category grow.
• Manage multiple concurrent programs at different stages of development. Keep priorities clear when timelines compress.
• Lead engineering communication to executive leadership: progress, risk, and decisions, not just status.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional partners including Product Management, Industrial Design, Operations, Sourcing, and Quality.
• Travel internationally to manufacturing and development partners in Asia and Europe (approximately 4‑8 trips per year).

• 7‑10 years of mechanical or product design engineering experience, with a track record of taking products to mass production.
• Appliance design background strongly preferred. The systems‑thinking and mechanical intuition from AD experience translates directly into how we work.
• 2+ years managing engineers. You know how to hire, develop, and hold people to a high standard without losing them.
• Hands‑on CAD in Solid Works or Creo at a high level. You lead CAD reviews, not just attend them.
• Real experience with DFMEA, tolerance analysis, and DFM. Not theoretical. You've used them to make decisions on live programs.
• Injection‑molded plastic part design and tooling experience.
• Consumer goods or household appliance…