Sr. Engineer – System Engineer, Heat Pump Water Heater

Sr. System Engineer

Independently owns system engineering scope for heat pump water heater products. This role maintains the system lifecycle by optimizing performance, safety, quality, material cost, interface integrity, and modularity/reuse while solving technical risks and mentoring lower-level engineers through requirements, DVP&R, integration, and design review work.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Own heat pump water heater system families by managing architecture, requirements, interfaces, integration, performance, safety, quality, cost, reliability, and serviceability.
• Translate product roadmap needs into system requirements, technology gaps, design risks, validation actions, and new/unique/difficult elements requiring development.
• Maintain system boundary definitions and interface integrity across refrigeration, tank, controls, water path, electrical, enclosure, user interface, service, and manufacturing domains.
• Develop and maintain DVP&R strategy, risk assessments, test plans, design review packages, and system validation evidence for assigned product scope.
• Analyze system performance including heating capacity, recovery, efficiency, noise, operating envelope, defrost behavior, condensate management, water delivery, and safety constraints.
• Lead technical reviews and coach lower-level engineers on requirements quality, risk mitigation, test interpretation, tradeoff decisions, and controlled documentation.
• Coordinate subsystem engineers, lab teams, certification, quality, manufacturing, suppliers, service, and Rinnai Japan to resolve integration issues and deliver program commitments.
• Identify and mitigate complex technical risks through structured analysis, modeling, test-to-learn plans, supplier evaluation, and cross-functional countermeasures.
• Support regulatory, certification, ENERGY STAR, DOE, AHRI, UL, CSA, and safety readiness by ensuring complete system-level evidence and design rationale.
• Drive modularity, reuse, cost, quality, and platform learning across heat pump water heater systems.

Job Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or a related technical discipline; master's degree is a plus where aligned to the role.
• 8+ years of related engineering experience with demonstrated independent ownership of complex systems, subsystems, or technical risks.
• Strong experience with heat pump water heaters, refrigeration systems, HVAC, thermal-fluid systems, water heating products, or complex appliance system development.
• Demonstrated ability to independently own and mitigate technical risks on complex systems using DVP&R, FMEA, design reviews, modeling, testing, and structured problem solving.
• Knowledge of system architecture, system boundaries, requirements management, interface definition, product validation, and cross-subsystem integration.
• Working knowledge of UL, ASHRAE, and other safety standards.
• Ability to interpret performance, reliability, certification, quality, safety, material cost, and serviceability tradeoffs and recommend balanced technical decisions.
• Strong coaching, communication, and technical reporting skills with the ability to review lower-level engineering work and influence cross-functional teams.
• Ability to participate in relevant industry group standards committee and clearly report committee activities to the department.
• Nice to have: model-based systems engineering, refrigerant conversion, ENERGY STAR/DOE/AHRI/UL/CSA/ASHRAE experience, controls integration, or advanced thermal modeling experience.

Skills & Abilities:

• Heat pump water heater system requirements, interfaces, risks, and validation evidence are complete, current, and traceable.
• System performance, efficiency, safety, quality, material cost, reliability, and serviceability targets are achieved or managed through documented tradeoffs.
• DVP&R execution, design reviews, and risk mitigation actions are completed with high-quality evidence and timely closure.
• Integration issues are identified early, technically resolved, and prevented from recurring across related platforms.
• Through mentoring, lower-level engineers improve through coaching and structured technical decision-making.

Working Conditions &

Physical Requirements:

Physical Activities

• Remaining in a stationary position, often standing, or sitting for prolonged periods.
• Communicating with others to exchange information.
• Accessing the accuracy, neatness, and thoroughness of the work assigned

Physical Demands

• Sedentary work that primarily involves sitting or standing.

Environmental Conditions

• No adverse environmental conditions expected.
• Modularity, reuse, platform learning, and technology roadmap inputs support future product development.

Benefits

• Health Benefit Programs
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Floating Holidays (FH)
• Paid Holidays
• Retirement Plan
• Company Paid Life Insurance
• Voluntary Life Insurance
• Professional Development
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Annual Incentive Plan (AIP)
• Referral Bonuses
• Paid Volunteer Community Service Day
• Tobacco and Drug-Free Campuses
• Employee, family, and friend's discount

Rinnai America…