Experience Inc. Jobs

Overview

At REI, we believe time outside is fundamental to a life well lived. Our mission is to connect every person to the power of the​ outdoors and engage them in the fight to protect it. At Co-op Brands, the product we make is a physical manifestation of REI’s beliefs and values. We are experts in outdoor and have a long history of success creating expert, intuitive, and innovative products that are designed with and trusted by our members and community and reduce impact on the planet.

REI’s Co-op Brands is seeking a Director of Engineering and Development for Outdoor Gear and Cycle to join our incredible team. This role brings a high level of technical knowledge leading a team of engineers and developers who collaborate with partners across internal and external teams to engineer and refine product construction for product performance, manufacturability and repairability, analyze materials, and drive product innovation. We look to this leader to leverage their professional network and beyond to fuel innovation and new opportunities through new product technology platforms and differentiated solutions for outdoor gear and cycle. This role is a key member of the Co-op Brands leadership team, reports to the DVP of Product Operations and will participate in defining and driving the direction of the business.

Responsibilities and Qualifications

Leadership and Team Management:

• Create a motivating team environment (challenge, mentor, coach and train) that fosters a culture of innovation, performance excellence and personal growth to attract and retain top talent. Set clear performance objectives, provide regular feedback, drive accountability, and conduct performance evaluations to support professional growth within the team. Build plan for cross training to proactively manage organizational exposure and enable workload flexibility within team.

Strategic Planning:

• Develop and implement strategic plans for the department in alignment with the company's overall vision and objectives. Set clear annual goals and objectives for the team. Work closely with leadership to ensure department goals, projects and customer support is well aligned with the company’s sales. Active engagement with Product Strategy and Design on 3-year roadmap considering new product opportunities and balancing product lifecycle management for workload.

Budgeting and Resource Allocation:

• Prepare and manage operating budget for the department. Optimize expenditure to maximize output and operational effectiveness. Identify strategic areas of investment to advance the sophistication and agility of the operations considering industry trends, new technology that can advance sophistication in operations and reduce time to market.

Workload Management:

• Ensure achievement of goals and objectives set by Product Strategy are supported with the capabilities and resource constraints of the engineering and development team. Manage the workflow and workload of the team seasonally, allocating resources that best support the line architecture.

Operational Excellence:

• Ensure compliance to seasonal timeline milestones. Prioritize as needed to ensure accountability to deliver on-time in full for all dependent teams and production readiness. Proactively communicate across teams regarding progress/status of in season product development and bring transparency to any risk areas for speed in addressing across relevant teams. . Provide technical design engineering knowledge and experience to best lead the teams through difficult and challenging situations.

• Champion a focus on processes, tools, systems, and training that optimize impact, strengthen the expertise, and minimize not value add activities. Participate in technical decision making and takes a hands-on approach to understanding technical and design issues when necessary. Track/monitor department metrics and goals. Provide proactive transparency on risk areas, along with updates as addressed.

Research and Innovation:

• Stay up to date with industry advancements, market trends and technologies across outdoor and other relevant industries. Leverage your own professional network and beyond to explore, introduce and test possible new product technology platforms and differentiated solutions for application in outdoor gear and/or cycle. Explore partnership opportunities leveraging advanced body mechanics to drive innovation and differentiated performance opportunities. Partner closely with Materials team to research opportunities to integrate alternative materials which reduce carbon emissions. Lead the development of innovations that are appropriate for the brand and support the division strategies as defined by product strategy.

Education and Experience

• BS+ in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent

• 10+ years’ experience in product engineering & development; 8+ years leading a team.

• Extensive AutoCAD experience (ie Solidworks) with best practices for part design, advanced assemblies, and integrating FEA feedback. Experience in 3D and PLM a plus.

• Proven technical leader with success in experience leading an engineering team developing innovative, high-performance products from design to commercialization.

• Demonstrated self-starter that possesses organizational skills to motivate and develop a diverse set of technical individuals to act as a well-aligned team to achieve best in class capabilities, processes, and performance.

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, enabling effective collaboration and building trust with and across internal teams and external partners.

• Proven capability to work collaboratively with multiple groups in matrix organization to promote, drive and successfully execute the team’s objectives.

• Innovative mindset, constantly seeking new ideas and pushing boundaries to drive product excellence.

• Ability to anticipate and define problems, synthesize complex data and successfully develop and execute strategies.

• Experience developing external and or supplier based R&D operating models to inspire and facilitate innovation and technical considerations (ie biomechanical) in product development.

Closing

At REI, we believe the outdoors is for all. We are committed to becoming a fully inclusive, anti-racist, multicultural organization (https://www.rei.com/newsroom/article/rei-antiracist-multicultural-fully-inclusive-commitment) . We know that there's strength in our diversity – that each employee brings unique skills, experiences, and perspectives. Every day you are driving change, fostering a culture of respect, and knowing you're backed by benefits that support your whole life. To work towards this commitment and fulfill our brand promise of inspiring and enabling a life outside for everyone, we seek employees who demonstrate different ways of working, create a sense of belonging, and actively listen and learn.

Pay Transparency

We are committed to practices that promote pay equity and transparency. As required by applicable Pay Transparency laws, REI provides a range of compensation for roles that may be hired in locations under these requirements. Factors that may be used to determine your actual salary may include a wide array of factors, including: your specific skills and experience, geographic location or other relevant factors.

REI offers all regular employees a generous employee discount, access to health benefits, a retirement savings plan and accrued time off. Click here (https://foryourbenefit-rei.com/) for a detailed overview of benefits plans by employee profile.

Pay Range

$137,500.00 - $233,900.00 per year