Product Development Manager

At Seed Master, our purpose is rooted in helping farmers succeed - not just for one season, but for the future of their operations. Our vision is to inspire farmers to grow with confidence, pride, and curiosity by delivering equipment that performs where it matters most: in the field.

Driven by our values of integrity, innovation, precision, and dependability, we design and manufacture precision seeding equipment that helps maximize our customers' farm potential for a more profitable future. From concept to field performance, every product we build is shaped by practical farming insight, strong engineering discipline, and a commitment to continuous improvement.

As we continue to expand our product portfolio and partnerships, we are looking for an experienced engineering leader to help drive the next generation of seeding technology. This is an opportunity to lead a team focused on solving real agricultural challenges and develop equipment that farmers rely on season after season.

As Engineering Manager of Product Development, you will lead Seed Master's product development team with responsibility for new product development, validation, continuous improvement, and lifecycle engineering across our equipment platforms. Overseeing both Seedmaster-branded product lines and a dedicated John Deere OEM product development team, ensuring alignment with customer expectations, regulatory requirements, and OEM specifications.

As a core member of the Operations & Engineering Leadership Team, this role translates market and field needs into engineered solutions, drives structured product development processes, and ensures seamless integration between design, manufacturing, supply chain, and field performance.

• Lead, mentor, and develop Product Engineers, Design Engineers, and Test/Validation teams, including a dedicated John Deere OEM engineering group.
• Build a team culture that combines strong engineering discipline with practical understanding of agricultural equipment performance and customer needs.
• Establish priorities, resource allocation, and performance expectations across all product programs.
• Own product requirements, specifications, drawings, BOMs, and engineering documentation.
• Ensure all products meet customer expectations, safety and regulatory standards, and operational requirements specific to agricultural environments (dust, vibration, weather, field variability).
• Maintain strong engineering governance, including configuration control and documentation discipline.

• Develop and maintain deep knowledge of seeding equipment, agronomic practices, and field operations.
• Translate farmer, dealer, and service feedback into clear product requirements and design improvements.
• Ensure products are designed for durability in harsh field conditions, ease of service and maintenance, operator usability and efficiency, and performance across varying soil, crop, and climate conditions
• Engage directly with customers, dealers, and field service teams to validate product performance and identify improvement opportunities.

• Act as the primary engineering interface with John Deere for OEM programs.
• Lead design approvals, engineering change alignment, and compliance with OEM standards.
• Ensure OEM products meet quality, validation, and lifecycle expectations.
• Drive issue resolution, warranty analysis, and continuous improvement for OEM platforms.

• Partner with Production Engineering to ensure Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA) are embedded early.
• Collaborate with Operations to ensure designs align with production capability and quality systems.
• Work with Supply Chain to align supplier capabilities with design intent, cost, and availability.
• Engage Sales and Service teams to incorporate real-world usage, serviceability, and customer expectations into development.
• Define and manage project timelines, milestones, and engineering deliverables.
• Allocate resources across programs to balance capacity and strategic priorities.
• Develop and manage the product development budget, including staffing, tools, and validation costs.
• Build business cases for new products and major design initiatives.

• Own Engineering Change Order (ECO) processes and product lifecycle management.
• Drive root cause analysis and corrective actions based on field failures and warranty trends.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives to enhance product performance, reliability, and cost.

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field
• 8+ years of product development experience in agricultural equipment, heavy equipment, or off-road machinery
• 3+ years of leading engineering teams and cross-functional development programs
• Strong understanding of mechanical systems, hydraulics, structural design, and field…