Vice President of Engineering

Job description

Saminco Solutions LLC and American Traction Solutions Inc. are sister companies that design, manufacture, and support advanced electric propulsion, power electronics, motor control, and industrial power technologies for mining, rail, transportation, heavy-duty hybrid/electric vehicles, and industrial equipment applications. We are currently seeking a visionary, results-oriented Vice President of Engineering to lead the technical direction, engineering execution, and product development strategy for advanced electric propulsion systems. This position works in a collaborative, hands-on engineering environment at the Fort Myers, Florida headquarters. This is an on-site position and is not remote. This position reports to the President and serves as the strategic bridge between technical execution, customer needs, product roadmap priorities, and business growth. Duties and Responsibilities Strategic Leadership & Technical Roadmap Lead the engineering organizations for Saminco Solutions LLC and American Traction Solutions Inc., providing clear technical direction, operational leadership, and accountability. Translate company vision, customer requirements, and market opportunities into a practical technical roadmap for AC/DC inverters, choppers, permanent magnet drives, and related power electronics technologies, including systems up to 10MW. Direct engineering priorities for high-power motor drives, variable frequency drives, inverters, battery management systems, firmware, embedded controls, power conversion technologies, and advanced propulsion platforms. Establish engineering priorities, project schedules, product release dates, department deliverables, and technical decision-making processes. Communicate engineering progress, risks, resource needs, roadmap status, and technical tradeoffs to senior leadership. Research, Development & Innovation Spearhead research and development initiatives related to variable switching frequencies, rotor temperature compensation, advanced control algorithms, motor control strategies, firmware development, system efficiency, and performance optimization. Evaluate new technologies, design approaches, and control solutions that improve product performance, reliability, efficiency, serviceability, and manufacturability. Support feasibility calculations, concept development, rapid prototyping, technical reviews, design validation, and release-readiness activities for new and improved products. Product Development, Validation & Quality Drive the full product lifecycle from concept, feasibility, and design through prototyping, testing, validation, production release, field deployment, and product improvement. Lead New Product Introduction activities to ensure engineering deliverables align with customer requirements, manufacturing readiness, quality expectations, release schedules, and business objectives. Oversee design reviews, product validation, engineering change control, release-readiness, and compliance with organizational, customer, safety, and industry standards. Lead root-cause analysis and corrective actions for product, field, warranty, manufacturing, and quality issues. Create and manage KPIs to measure engineering performance, support responsiveness, product quality, validation effectiveness, and project execution. Customer, Field & Cross-Functional Support Work directly with customers to understand technical requirements, field issues, application needs, and product opportunities. Partner closely with sales, service, manufacturing, technicians, forward-deployed technical teams, and senior leadership to ensure engineering solutions support customer satisfaction and business performance. Provide engineering leadership for customer-facing technical discussions, product reviews, field concerns, and complex issue resolution. Support manufacturing, service, and sales teams with timely technical guidance, troubleshooting support, and practical engineering solutions. Team Leadership & Organizational Development Build, mentor, and lead a multidisciplinary engineering team that may include electrical, firmware, software, mechanical, controls, systems, validation, and technical support engineers. Establish clear management structures, roles, expectations, and accountability within the engineering department. Develop engineering leaders and team members through coaching, performance management, technical guidance, and leadership development. Foster a culture of cross-functional collaboration, disciplined execution, continuous improvement, accountability, customer focus, and innovation. Manage engineering department staffing, operating budget, resource allocation, and project timelines. Qualifications & Competencies Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Controls Engineering, Power Systems Engineering, or a related technical field required; Master’s degree, Ph.D., MBA, or advanced degree preferred. Minimum of 12 years of progressive engineering experience, including senior engineering leadership experience at the director, senior manager, or executive level. Experience leading engineering teams responsible for product design, manufacturing support, service support, testing, validation, customer support, product improvement, and new product development. Deep hands-on technical understanding of high-power motor drives, VFDs, AC/DC drives, inverters, choppers, DSP/microprocessor design, firmware, embedded controls, power electronics, or related industrial systems. Demonstrated ability to translate customer requirements into practical engineered products, product enhancements, and product roadmap priorities. Experience setting project milestones, product release dates, engineering KPIs, department performance expectations, and technical priorities. Proven ability to manage multiple projects, allocate resources, lead teams, make sound technical decisions, and drive disciplined execution. Strong communication skills with customers, engineers, technicians, manufacturing teams, sales teams, service teams, and senior leadership. Exceptional leadership skills with a proven ability to align engineering outputs with commercial, customer, and market demands. Preferred Experience Experience with industrial equipment, mining equipment, above-ground or below-ground mining applications, traction systems, rail or transportation systems, motor controls, automation, electrical distribution, heavy machinery, or heavy industrial products. Experience with high-power permanent magnet drives, AC/DC inverters, choppers, and propulsion systems up to 10MW. Experience in a custom-engineered product environment, including engineering change control, formal design reviews, product validation, manufacturing release processes, and field support. Familiarity with the operational, safety, reliability, and performance demands of mining equipment, rail systems, transportation platforms, or heavy-duty hybrid/electric vehicle applications. Professional Engineer license or relevant technical certification preferred. Employment Eligibility & Verification All applicants must be able to provide proof of eligibility to work in the United States. Employment is contingent upon the successful completion of the I-9 form, as required by federal law. Additionally, candidates will be required to undergo an employment verification process before beginning work. Please note that we do not offer sponsorship for work authorization (e.g., H-1B, TN, or other visas) at this time. Working Conditions This role is based on-site at the Fort Myers, Florida headquarters in a collaborative, hands-on engineering environment. The position will require regular interaction with engineering, manufacturing, service, sales, customers, vendors, and senior leadership. Domestic travel to customer, vendor, or company sites may be required based on business needs. International travel may be required approximately 2 to 3 times per year to support international customers, projects, product reviews, or field support activities. Physical Requirements The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk and stoop, or crouch. The employee may need to lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus. Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. #LI-Onsite