Director of Product Engineering

About Camco Manufacturing:

Camco Manufacturing, founded in 1966, has evolved from a humble beginning with one employee and a single product to become a powerhouse in the outdoor recreation market. With a rich history spanning over 50 years, Camco has grown exponentially, boasting a workforce of over 1,000 employees, 140+ patents, and an extensive product line exceeding 5,600 offerings. The company's commitment to innovation is evident through its best-in-class, in-house development team, specializing in creating cutting-edge products for the RV, marine, ATV, and other outdoor recreation industries.

Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, Camco operates eight separate manufacturing and warehousing facilities encompassing one million square feet. This extensive infrastructure allows Camco to efficiently meet the diverse needs of its customers, solidifying its position as a leading aftermarket parts and accessories manufacturer in the fast-growing outdoor recreation market. Focused on the RV, Marine, and Camping sectors, Camco's influence in these industries is significant, as it continues to lead the charge with a relentless pursuit of excellence and a commitment to delivering top-notch products and services.

Job Title: Director of Product Engineering

Reports To: SVP of Engineering & Product Development

Overview:

The Director of Product Engineering leads the engineering team responsible for bringing Camco's new product pipeline from validated brief through to production-ready launch. This is a hands-on leadership role — equal parts organizational structure builder, project execution driver, and technical integrator.

The Director of Product Engineering reports directly to the SVP of Engineering & Product Development and works in close partnership with the Director of Product Management (PM is upstream — discovery and brief) and Director of Product Implementation (downstream — launch execution and post-launch support).

Key Responsibilities:

Engineering Leadership & Team Development

- Lead, mentor, and develop a team of product engineers — currently spanning design engineers, product engineers, product integrity manager, and compliance manager

- Conduct regular one-on-ones, performance reviews, and structured development conversations with each team member

- Build and maintain a clear understanding of each engineer's capability profile and career trajectory; align project assignments accordingly

- Identify talent gaps and make the organizational case for resources as needed

- Foster a collaborative, execution-focused team culture grounded in accountability, technical rigor, and continuous improvement

NPD Process & Stage-Gate Execution

- Implement workflows to align with the structured stage-gate product development process across the full engineering portfolio

- Ensure PM discovery and product brief completion precede engineering engagement on every project — no design cycles begin without a validated brief

- Own engineering milestone tracking across the active portfolio: design completion, prototype availability, first article validation, tooling release, and production readiness

- Establish and maintain engineering standards, design guidelines, and best practices across the team

- Implement and continuously improve technical documentation processes — work instructions, design history files, and production specifications

Project Execution & Risk Management

- Build realistic, detailed project timelines for every active engineering project, with clear milestones and owner accountability at each stage

- Proactively surface risks — design feasibility, tooling complexity, supplier readiness, regulatory requirements — and drive resolution before they impact timelines

- Manage the engineering portfolio with visibility: regular portfolio reviews, milestone tracking, and escalation of blockers to leadership with solution options, not status reports

- Coordinate engineering resources across simultaneous projects in different development stages, balancing team capacity against pipeline demands

- Maintain first-article validation discipline: no product advances to commercial commitment without engineering-validated first articles in hand

- Build robust testing protocols & methodologies to validate designs for both production implementation and consumer experience.

Cross-Functional Partnership

- Partner with the Director of Product Management to receive and refine product briefs, negotiate requirements, and maintain commercial alignment throughout the engineering cycle

- Collaborate with the Director of Product Implementation and the Product Integrity Manager to ensure post-launch consumer feedback, field quality issues, and engineering change requests are actioned through the ECR/ECO/ECN process

- Partner with Operations, Purchasing, and QA on supplier qualification, incoming quality control (IQC), DFM/DFA review, and production readiness

- Support Sales and Marketing with technical product expertise for customer presentations, trade shows, and dealer/OEM engagement

- Serve as the engineering representative in cross-functional leadership discussions on pipeline prioritization, resource allocation, and capacity planning

Manufacturing, Quality & Supplier Integration

- Lead Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA) reviews for all new product designs, with active participation from Operations and Purchasing

- Manage engineering relationships with overseas and domestic manufacturing partners — including tooling development, production trials, and quality validation

- Establish and oversee product testing protocols and quality standards; ensure each product meets performance, durability, and safety specifications before production release

- Drive cost reduction and value engineering initiatives across the existing portfolio without compromising product quality or consumer experience

- Ensure engineering specifications, production documentation, and supplier quality requirements are complete and accurate before production release

Compliance & Regulatory Oversight

- Own engineering compliance as a proactive, forward-looking discipline — not a reactive response to regulatory requirements

- Build or strengthen a compliance function that operates with enterprise-integrated, systems-based regulatory awareness across all applicable product categories (RVIA, CSA, UL, CARB, and relevant international standards)

- Ensure all new and modified products meet applicable regulatory requirements before production release

- Monitor the regulatory landscape across Camco's product categories and proactively identify requirements that will affect future product development

- Partner with the IP Manager on product IP strategy and ensure engineering outputs support Camco's IP portfolio development

Performance Tracking & Reporting

- Define and track engineering KPIs: on-time milestone delivery, stage-gate progression rate, first-article cycle time, defect rates, and cost-to-target performance

- Report portfolio status, risks, and resource needs to the SVP of Engineering & Product Development on a regular cadence

- Support the NPD pipeline planning process with engineering capacity data, project complexity assessments, and realistic timeline inputs

Required Qualifications

- 10+ years of engineering or product development experience, including at least 5 years in a people leadership role managing a team of engineers

- Demonstrated track record of executing engineered solutions to meet commercial & manufacturing objectives.

- Experience bringing physical consumer products from engineering concept through production release, including tooling, first-article validation, and production launch

- Proven ability to manage a portfolio of simultaneous projects at different development stages without losing discipline on any of them

- Strong cross-functional leadership skills: able to work effectively with Product Management, Operations, QA, Purchasing, Sales, and Marketing

- Experience managing overseas and domestic manufacturing partners on tooling, production processes, component validation, and quality control

- Analytical and data-driven: comfortable with KPI development, milestone tracking, and portfolio-level reporting

- Excellent communication and presentation skills — able to translate technical complexity for commercial audiences and vice versa

- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Product Design, or related engineering field

- Experience with DFM/DFA methodologies and production cost optimization

Preferred Qualifications

- Experience in RV, marine, automotive, or adjacent outdoor recreation product categories

- Familiarity with relevant industry standards and certifications: RVIA, CSA, UL, CARB, and related international standards

- Experience managing engineering compliance as a proactive, systems-based discipline across multiple product categories

- Familiarity with PLM systems and structured technical documentation frameworks

- Experience working with a dedicated product management function — receiving product briefs, negotiating requirements, and maintaining PM/engineering alignment throughout the development cycle

- Track record of building or significantly improving an engineering team's capability profile through hiring, development, and culture change

- MBA or advanced degree in a relevant field

- Experience with IP portfolio development in partnership with legal or IP management functions

Compensation and Benefits:
We offer a wide range of career opportunities with excellent benefits. Above all, we are looking for passionate, talented, hard-working, nice people with great taste to help us build this brand we love.

- Competitive salary

- 401k with company match

- Participation in company health (medical, dental) insurance plans. Supplemental insurance offered

- Promote work/life balance including paid time off and paid holidays

Camco is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law and are committed to maintaining a workplace free from discrimination and harassment.