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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Electrical Engineering Manager

💰 $ - $

EngineeringElectrical EngineeringManagementHardware Development

🎯 Role Definition

The Electrical Engineering Manager leads cross-functional teams to deliver innovative, safe, and manufacturable electrical products. This role manages the full hardware development lifecycle — from requirements and architecture through PCB design, embedded firmware integration, verification & validation, regulatory compliance, and manufacturing transfer — while owning team performance, budget, schedule, technical quality, and supplier relationships.

Key keywords: Electrical Engineering Manager, hardware development lifecycle, PCB design, analog/digital systems, power electronics, embedded firmware, EMC/EMI mitigation, regulatory compliance (UL, IEC, FCC), DFM/DFMEA, manufacturing transfer, test & validation, design reviews.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Senior Electrical Engineer
  • Principal Hardware Engineer
  • Embedded Systems Lead

Advancement To:

  • Director of Engineering (Hardware)
  • Head of Electrical Engineering / VP of Engineering
  • Product or Program Director for Complex Systems

Lateral Moves:

  • Systems Engineering Manager
  • Product Management (hardware products)
  • Manufacturing/Operations Engineering Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Lead and grow a multi-disciplinary electrical engineering team (analog, digital, power, RF, embedded firmware) by hiring, coaching, mentoring, conducting performance reviews, and driving career development plans to achieve technical and organizational objectives.
  • Own the electrical engineering roadmap and deliverables for assigned products: define scope, prioritize features, allocate resources, and ensure on-time delivery aligned with product strategy and business goals.
  • Drive architecture and system-level design decisions for electrical systems, balancing performance, cost, reliability, manufacturability, and regulatory constraints.
  • Manage the full product lifecycle for electrical subsystems: requirements capture, schematics, component selection, PCB layout oversight, signal/power integrity analysis, BOM optimization, prototype builds, and production release.
  • Establish and enforce engineering standards, best practices, and design controls (schematic conventions, PCB stackups, layout rules, version control, review checklists) to improve design quality and reduce rework.
  • Lead electrical design reviews (preliminary design reviews, critical design reviews, design for manufacturability reviews) and own action items to closure with clear metrics and timelines.
  • Collaborate closely with firmware, mechanical, systems, manufacturing, procurement, and quality teams to de-risk designs and enable smooth handoffs into manufacturing and sustainment.
  • Develop and manage project schedules, resource plans, and milestone reporting; proactively identify and mitigate technical, schedule, and cost risks.
  • Maintain responsibility for product compliance and certification planning: coordinate EMC/EMI testing, safety (IEC, UL), RF/telecom (FCC), and environmental regulations (RoHS, REACH) as applicable.
  • Drive verification and validation strategy, including test plan development, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), automated test development, environmental qualification, stress testing, and reliability analysis (MTBF, HALT/HASS).
  • Oversee lab infrastructure, test equipment procurement, calibration, and safety procedures to support prototyping and qualification activities.
  • Manage supplier engagement and component qualification processes: vendor selection, technical audits, component lifecycle management, obsolescence mitigation, and alternate sourcing strategies.
  • Own electrical design risk management processes: conduct DFMEA, fault tree analysis, root cause analysis for failures, and corrective action planning.
  • Optimize product cost through component-level cost engineering, design-to-cost exercises, and collaboration with procurement to meet target margins.
  • Implement and continuously improve engineering processes (Agile/Scrum or stage-gate) and KPIs (cycle time, defect density, on-time delivery, first-pass yield) to increase delivery predictability and product quality.
  • Facilitate knowledge transfer and documentation: BOMs, electrical schematics, PCB fabrication files, test procedures, validation reports, and design history files for audits and regulatory submissions.
  • Make hiring and budget recommendations, track departmental spend, and manage capital equipment requests to support lab and prototyping needs.
  • Lead cross-functional troubleshooting and expedite activities during prototype and production phases, partnering with manufacturing and quality to resolve field issues and warranty items.
  • Champion continuous learning on emerging technologies (power conversion topologies, battery management, high-speed interfaces, signal integrity tools) and integrate relevant advances into product roadmaps.
  • Represent the electrical engineering function to senior leadership and stakeholders, presenting technical trade-offs, schedule impacts, risk mitigation plans, and status updates.
  • Ensure cybersecurity considerations are embedded in hardware and embedded firmware designs (secure boot, hardware root of trust, tamper detection, secure interfaces) when applicable.
  • Coordinate international design and compliance requirements for global product launches and maintenance of regulatory approvals in multiple regions.
  • Drive sustainability and environmental impact considerations into design choices, including material selection, power efficiency, and end-of-life planning for electronic components.

Secondary Functions

  • Maintain a prioritized backlog of technical debt and non-functional improvements; schedule refactors and reliability projects to reduce future maintenance cost.
  • Support cross-functional product discovery and customer engagements to translate market needs into measurable electrical requirements.
  • Provide technical mentorship and hands-on troubleshooting during critical prototype phases or escalations.
  • Contribute to recruiting activities: job descriptions, interview loops, technical assessments, and hiring decisions.
  • Coordinate with operations for pilot builds, NPI (new product introduction) runs, and transfer-to-manufacturing activities.
  • Generate and review supplier technical proposals, quotes, and quality agreements to support strategic sourcing decisions.
  • Participate in post-mortem reviews and continuous improvement initiatives to drive lessons learned into process changes.
  • Maintain design archives and IP documentation, support patent disclosures and technical publications where appropriate.
  • Support sales and customer engineering teams for technical questions, custom orders, or field support requests.
  • Monitor component obsolescence and maintain a parts risk database to minimize program impact.
  • Lead safety incident investigations related to electrical systems and execute corrective action plans.
  • Coordinate training sessions on design tools, test equipment, and safety procedures for the engineering organization.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Proven expertise in analog and digital circuit design, including power supply design (buck/boost converters, LDOs), signal conditioning, and mixed-signal interfaces.
  • Strong background in PCB design and review: schematic capture, layout rules, multi-layer stackups, impedance control, and manufacturability considerations.
  • Experience with high-speed digital interfaces (PCIe, USB, MIPI, SERDES) and signal integrity analysis (SI/PI tools, simulation).
  • Hands-on experience with embedded systems and firmware integration: MCU/SoC selection, BSP, device drivers, peripheral interfaces (I2C, SPI, UART), and hardware-software co-debugging.
  • Knowledge of EMC/EMI mitigation techniques, shielding, filtering, and pre-compliance/testing workflows.
  • Familiarity with reliability engineering methods (DFMEA, HALT, life testing, MTBF calculations) and qualification standards.
  • Experience guiding regulatory compliance and certification processes (UL, IEC 60950/62368, IEC 60601 for medical, FCC part 15) depending on industry.
  • Expertise with CAD and design toolchains (Altium, Cadence Allegro/OrCAD, Mentor PADS), version control (Git, SVN), and PLM/PDM systems.
  • Competence in BOM management, component selection, lifecycle and obsolescence planning, and cost optimization strategies.
  • Strong test and validation skills, including automated test development, production test strategy, and use of lab measurement equipment (oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, network analyzers).
  • Experience with manufacturing transfer, DFM/DFM reviews, supplier quality agreements, and supporting contract manufacturers (CMs).
  • Familiarity with industry standards and quality systems (ISO 9001, AS9100, ISO 13485) and experience supporting audits.

Soft Skills

  • Leadership and people management: ability to recruit, coach, mentor, and retain top engineering talent.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to present complex technical trade-offs to executives and cross-functional teams.
  • Proven project management and organizational skills: prioritization, delegation, and multi-project delivery in fast-paced environments.
  • Problem-solving and analytical mindset: data-driven decision making and root cause analysis under pressure.
  • Cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder management: build rapport with product, firmware, mechanical, supply chain, and quality partners.
  • Customer-focused orientation with an ability to translate market/customer needs into technical requirements.
  • Adaptability and resilience to lead through ambiguity and changing priorities.
  • Strategic thinking and business acumen: align technical decisions with product economics and company objectives.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, or related engineering discipline.

Preferred Education:

  • Master of Science (M.S.) in Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or MBA for technical leadership roles.
  • Professional certifications such as PE (Professional Engineer), PMP, or relevant safety/regulatory training are a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Electrical Engineering
  • Electronics / Power Electronics
  • Embedded Systems / Computer Engineering
  • Systems Engineering
  • Applied Physics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 7–15 years of progressive electrical/hardware engineering experience, including at least 3–5 years of people management or technical team lead experience.

Preferred:

  • 10+ years of hardware product development experience with 3+ years managing engineering teams delivering commercial or regulated products.
  • Demonstrated track record of shipping complex hardware products through NPI to volume manufacturing, successful certifications, and supplier ramp-up.
  • Industry domain experience (consumer electronics, medical devices, industrial controls, aerospace/defense, automotive, renewable energy) preferred based on hiring company needs.
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