Sr. Mechanical Engineer

Hayward Holdings Inc. (NYSE "HAYW") is the largest manufacturer of residential swimming pool equipment in the world, with a significant presence in the commercial pool market that is continuously growing. Hayward designs, manufactures, and markets a full line of residential and commercial pool and spa equipment including pumps, filters, heating, cleaners, salt chlorinators, automation, lighting, safety, flow control and energy solutions at our company owned facilities.

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Hayward also has facilities in Tennessee, Arizona, and Rhode Island as well as Canada, Spain, France, Australia, and China.

Hayward Holdings Inc. (NYSE "HAYW") is the largest manufacturer of residential swimming pool equipment in the world, with a significant presence in the commercial pool market that is continuously growing. Hayward designs, manufactures, and markets a full line of residential and commercial pool and spa equipment including pumps, filters, heating, cleaners, salt chlorinators, automation, lighting, safety, flow control, and energy solutions at our company-owned facilities.

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Hayward also has facilities in Tennessee, Arizona, and Rhode Island as well as Canada, Spain, France, Australia, and China.

Based in North Kingstown, RI, the Senior Mechanical Engineer, Advanced Engineering turns ambiguous, high-potential ideas and technologies into real, testable electro-mechanical prototypes, systems, Proof of Concepts, and Proof of Technologies. This role bridges early-stage innovation and standard NPD by rapidly advancing concepts from approximately TRL2 to TRL6, de-risking the critical unknowns needed for credible Phase 0 business case inclusion and decisions.

Role archetype:
Creative Innovation Engineer / “Mac Gyver-minded” mechanical engineer. A practical inventor who combines CAD, bench tools, cannibalized product hardware, quick-turn fabrication, AI-enabled workflows, and cross-functional collaboration to make ideas “real… real fast.”Major Tasks and Responsibilities:
• Translate opportunity spaces, user insights, technical hypotheses, and early concepts into tangible models, rigs, breadboards, subsystems, and functional prototypes that accelerate speed to learning.
• Develop mechanical concepts for electro-mechanical and IoT-enabled pool equipment, including enclosures, mechanisms, fluid paths, sensors, actuators, thermal strategies, connectivity elements, cable routing, and manufacturable architectures.
• Choose the fastest credible prototyping method for the learning objective, including CAD, 3D printing, bench fabrication, machining, quick-turn suppliers, off-the-shelf components, test fixtures, and harvesting or cannibalizing parts from existing products.
• Use CAD appropriately for the phase of work: fast, fit-for-purpose early models when learning is the goal; robust parametric models, drawings, tolerance strategies, BOM inputs, and production documentation when concepts mature.
• Collaborate shoulder-to-shoulder with EE, firmware/software, IoT, test, industrial design, UX, product, manufacturing, sourcing, quality, and external partners to integrate mechanical, electrical, sensing, connectivity, and control elements into working systems.
• Define and run practical experiments to evaluate feasibility, usability, performance, reliability, serviceability, cost, and user experience; summarize learnings, risks, and recommendations so teams can make clear decisions quickly.
• Observe users, installers, service technicians, manufacturing partners, and field environments to identify unmet needs, human factors considerations, usability friction, and real-world constraints.
• Support transition from advanced engineering to NPD by converting validated prototypes into scalable product architectures, requirements, specifications, supplier direction, and development plans.

Requirements:
• 8+ years of mechanical engineering experience developing medium- to high-volume consumer, commercial, industrial, connected, or electro-mechanical products; pool, water treatment, automation, sensing, fluid handling, or outdoor equipment experience preferred.
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