Senior Manager Design Engineering

Job Summary

Nightingale is seeking a highly influential and inspiring Senior Manager of Design Engineering, New Product Innovation to lead the development of the next generation of healthcare lighting solutions. This is not a traditional engineering management role. We are looking for a leader who can create an environment where innovation thrives, teams are energized, and new ideas move rapidly from concept to reality.

The ideal candidate combines the entrepreneurial spirit of a startup with the ability to leverage the scale, resources, and capabilities of a global enterprise. They must be equally comfortable leading structured product development programs and facilitating creative exploration that challenges conventional thinking.

This leader will inspire and develop a team of seasoned engineers while serving as a catalyst across Product Management, Marketing, Manufacturing, Sales, Sourcing, Operations, and Design. Success requires balancing speed with rigor, vision with execution, and disruptive innovation with core portfolio growth.

The role will be central to Nightingale's mission of delivering purposeful innovation that improves patient and caregiver experiences while strengthening Nightingale's position as the category leader in healthcare lighting.

Key Tasks & Responsibilities (Essential Functions)

Inspire and Grow a High-Performance Team

• Lead through vision, coaching, and empowerment, creating a culture of curiosity, ownership, accountability, and calculated risk-taking.
• Develop seasoned engineers, build future leaders, and grow the team as the innovation roadmap expands.

Accelerate a Balanced Innovation Roadmap

• Lead rapid concept development, iterative prototyping, validation, and commercialization across disruptive innovations, platform developments, and core portfolio priorities.
• Enable fast, clear decisions while maintaining quality, reliability, manufacturability, profitability, and customer value.

Connect Acuity Innovation and Design Capabilities

• Partner with Nexus, Acuity's Innovation Engine, to explore emerging technologies, evaluate breakthrough opportunities, and accelerate commercialization.
• Collaborate with the Design Hub to deliver world-class industrial design, human-centered user experiences, and a cohesive Nightingale design language.
• Integrate Engineering, Industrial Design, Product Management, and Marketing from early discovery through launch.

Lead Connected Healthcare Lighting and Controls

• Apply strong knowledge of Acuity's nLight lighting controls platform to product architecture, system integration, application requirements, and roadmap decisions.
• Bring working knowledge of low-voltage controls used in medical environments and patient rooms, including interfaces and workflows relevant to patient, caregiver, and facility needs.
• Partner with controls, electrical, software, compliance, and application experts to create integrated solutions that are intuitive, reliable, scalable, and appropriate for healthcare environments.

Influence and Execute Across the Business

• Inspire alignment across Marketing, Sales, Manufacturing, Sourcing, Quality, Operations, and executive partners by translating technical possibilities into clear customer and business value.
• Leverage Acuity's scale, resources, systems, and expertise without losing Nightingale's entrepreneurial speed and willingness to iterate.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead Nightingale New Product Innovation engineering from concept through commercialization.
• Own engineering execution and resource priorities across multiple fast-paced product programs.
• Build and mentor a growing team of experienced Design Engineering professionals.
• Drive product architecture, mechanical and electrical design integration, prototyping, validation, and launch readiness.
• Ensure effective integration of lighting and control solutions, including nLight and relevant low-voltage patient-room control systems.
• Partner with Nexus, the Design Hub, Product Management, and Marketing to translate insights and technologies into differentiated products.
• Engage Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Sourcing, and Quality early to deliver scalable, reliable, and profitable solutions.
• Establish practical engineering standards and operating mechanisms that support both creative exploration and disciplined execution.

Skills and Minimum Experience Required

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Product Design, Industrial Design, Engineering Technology, or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience in engineering, product development, design engineering, or innovation, including leadership of experienced technical teams.
• Demonstrated success delivering new products from concept through commercialization in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong cross-functional leadership, communication, and organizational influence skills.
• Knowledge of Acuity's nLight controls platform, or directly comparable networked lighting controls experience with the ability to become proficient in nLight.
• Working knowledge of low-voltage control systems relevant to healthcare and patient-room applications, including coordination of lighting with patient, caregiver, and facility interfaces.
• Experience balancing breakthrough innovation, core roadmap execution, technical risk, and commercial commitments.
• Lighting, healthcare, medical device, architectural products, controls, or related industry experience preferred.

Travel Requirements