Senior Manager (HoD)

MetAntz

Kochi, Kerala, India

MetAntz is recruitment marketplace, connecting top talents with high paying global opportunities. Our vision is to enable single click hiring. Top talents register on our platform, take automated AI video assessment and will get automatically matched with suitable opportunities. We help companies hire the top talents best suited for their job roles, as employee or as contractor, in budget and quickly. We can also support with Employer of Record or Contractor of Record services whenever needed.

Location: Kochi, Kerala, India

Department: Research & Development

Industry: Robotics, Underwater Systems & Deep-Tech Engineering

Experience: 10+ Years

Role Type: Senior Leadership

About The Role

We are looking for an experienced Sr Manager of R&D to lead the end-to-end technology and product development function for a deep-tech engineering organization specializing in underwater robotics and integrated hardware-software systems.

The role will be responsible for translating business and customer requirements into reliable, scalable, and production-ready products. The ideal candidate will bring strong systems-engineering expertise, product development experience, and proven leadership capabilities to build a high-performing R&D organization.

The position requires a combination of technical judgment, strategic thinking, execution discipline, and cross-functional leadership to drive product innovation and business growth.

Key Responsibilities

R&D Strategy & Technology Roadmap
Define and execute a 2–3-year R&D and technology roadmap aligned with business objectives and customer requirements.
Identify emerging technologies, innovation opportunities, and platform development priorities.
Establish technology-readiness milestones and product development priorities.
Product Development & Engineering Delivery
Lead the complete product development lifecycle, from requirements and architecture through prototyping, integration, validation, field trials, and production handover.
Ensure engineering programs meet agreed timelines, budgets, quality standards, and performance objectives.
Drive structured program governance, milestone tracking, risk management, and corrective actions.
Systems Engineering & Technical Excellence
Oversee multidisciplinary engineering across mechanical systems, electronics, embedded systems, software, controls, sensors, communications, and system integration.
Establish strong engineering practices covering requirements management, design reviews, configuration control, and verification and validation.
Drive structured problem-solving, reliability engineering, root-cause analysis, and continuous improvement.
Testing, Validation & Product Reliability
Establish validation strategies covering laboratory testing, environmental testing, integration, endurance, and field trials.
Ensure products meet defined reliability, performance, safety, and acceptance criteria before release.
Monitor field failures and recurring defects and drive corrective and preventive actions.
Production Readiness & Industrialization
Ensure smooth transition of products from R&D to manufacturing and operations.
Establish complete handover processes covering engineering drawings, bills of materials (BOMs), specifications, firmware, software versions, test procedures, and acceptance criteria.
Improve design-for-manufacturing, assembly, serviceability, and production readiness.
Customer & Cross-Functional Collaboration
Work closely with business leadership, Sales, Operations, Production, and project teams to evaluate technical feasibility and customer requirements.
Support technical discussions, solution estimation, field trials, and customer escalations.
Ensure delivery commitments are realistic, risks are identified early, and dependencies are resolved effectively.
Team Leadership & Organization Development
Lead and develop multidisciplinary R&D teams and engineering leaders.
Establish clear responsibilities, accountability, performance expectations, and succession plans.
Identify capability gaps and develop hiring and team-strengthening strategies.
Build a culture of technical excellence, transparency, innovation, and continuous learning.
Budget, Partnerships & Risk Management
Own R&D budgeting, resource planning, laboratory infrastructure, prototyping, tools, and external development requirements.
Evaluate technology vendors, development partners, and make-versus-buy decisions.
Protect intellectual property, technical documentation, source code, and confidential engineering knowledge.
Manage technical, supply-chain, component obsolescence, compliance, and program risks.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Performance Will Be Measured Against The Following Areas

Program Delivery: Milestone adherence, schedule variance, and delivery against committed plans.
Product Quality & Reliability: Validation pass rates, field failures, defect recurrence, and endurance performance.
Engineering Excellence: Design-review compliance, documentation quality, requirements traceability, and engineering-change closure.
Production Readiness: Handover completeness, production rework, and manufacturing-related engineering issues.
Innovation & Technology Roadmap: Roadmap achievement, technology maturity, platform reuse, and meaningful IP development.
Customer Responsiveness: Technical issue resolution, trial readiness, and estimation accuracy.
People Leadership: Retention of key talent, leadership development, succession planning, and team effectiveness.
Cost & Resource Management: Budget adherence, resource utilization, prototyping costs, and development efficiency.
Risk Management: Early identification, mitigation, and closure of critical technical and program risks.

Candidate Requirements

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electronics, Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronics, Robotics, Computer Science, Embedded Systems, or a related engineering discipline.
A postgraduate qualification in engineering, technology management, or business is an advantage.

Experience

15+ years of progressive experience in engineering, R&D, or complex product development.
At least 5 years in a senior R&D or engineering leadership role, managing multidisciplinary teams and complex technology programs.
Proven experience taking integrated hardware-software products from concept and prototyping through validation, industrialization, and field deployment.
Experience in robotics, autonomous systems, marine technology, defence, aerospace, industrial electronics, embedded systems, or similar deep-tech environments is strongly preferred.
Exposure to high-reliability, mission-critical, government, or defence customer requirements is an advantage.

Technical & Functional Skills

Strong understanding of systems engineering and multidisciplinary product architecture.
Expertise in new product development (NPD), stage-gate processes, requirements management, and verification and validation.
Experience in engineering program management, estimation, resource planning, and risk mitigation.
Familiarity with design reviews, configuration management, engineering change control, and technical documentation.
Knowledge of reliability engineering, FMEA, root-cause analysis, and structured problem-solving techniques.
Understanding of design for manufacturing, assembly, serviceability, and production handover.
Experience in technology evaluation, vendor management, and make-versus-buy decisions.
Awareness of IP protection, product compliance, cybersecurity considerations, and component lifecycle management.
Ability to translate customer requirements into feasible technical solutions and credible delivery commitments.

Leadership Competencies

Strategic Thinking: Develops long-term technology and product strategies aligned with business priorities.
Execution Excellence: Converts complex objectives into clear milestones, ownership, and measurable outcomes.
Technical Judgment: Makes sound engineering decisions across multiple disciplines and evaluates trade-offs effectively.
People Leadership: Develops future leaders, sets clear standards, and builds a culture of accountability.
Stakeholder Management: Resolves cross-functional conflicts and aligns engineering, commercial, and operational priorities.
Communication: Explains complex technical matters clearly to leadership, customers, and engineering teams.
Decision-Making: Makes timely, evidence-based decisions and adapts when new information becomes available.
Innovation & Learning: Encourages experimentation while maintaining engineering rigor and product quality.
Integrity & Transparency: Communicates risks and delays early and maintains credibility around commitments.
Composure Under Pressure: Provides direction during customer escalations, failed trials, and competing delivery priorities.

First 180-Day Expectations

Assess the existing R&D organization, active programs, technical debt, capability gaps, and delivery risks.
Establish a consolidated R&D portfolio with clear priorities, ownership, milestones, and escalation mechanisms.
Strengthen product development processes, design reviews, documentation, configuration control, validation, and production handover.
Develop an agreed technology roadmap and capacity plan in alignment with senior leadership, Sales, and Operations.
Review the organization structure, leadership responsibilities, succession priorities, and critical hiring requirements.
Identify recurring field and production issues and implement measurable corrective actions.
Establish a predictable weekly and monthly R&D governance and reporting cadence.
Improve engineering ownership, cross-functional collaboration, delivery predictability, and closure discipline.

Definition of Success

Success in this role means building a technically strong and operationally dependable R&D organization with a clear technology roadmap, reliable product releases, disciplined engineering processes, effective production handovers, and strong cross-functional collaboration.

The Head of R&D will be expected to develop engineering leaders, institutionalize technical knowledge, improve product reliability, and position R&D as a scalable driver of innovation and business growth.

Role Expectations

This is a strategic and execution-oriented engineering leadership position. It is not limited to research, individual technical contribution, or project coordination.

The successful candidate must be comfortable owning business outcomes, making cross-functional decisions, balancing immediate delivery requirements with long-term product maturity, and building an R&D function that can scale with the organization.

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