Product Development Manager

Product Engineering Manager Location : Thanjavur (On-Site) | Full-time

Experience : Minimum 6–10 years in UAV / Aerospace / Hardware product development

Reports To : CTO / CEO

Manages : Product Design & Development, UAV Electronics, Software & Integration teams

Role Overview We are looking for a highly skilled Product Engineering Manager to lead and manage the engineering teams responsible for the end-to-end development of our UAV platforms. The role requires strong technical depth, leadership capability, and proven experience in taking hardware-software integrated aerospace products from concept to production.

You will be responsible for overseeing Product Design (Mechanical & Aerodynamics), Avionics / Electronics Engineering, Software & Integration functions to ensure technical excellence, timely execution, and high-quality deliverables.

Key Responsibilities Engineering Leadership & Team Management Lead, mentor, and manage cross-functional engineering teams (Design, Electronics, Software & Integration).

Allocate tasks, track progress, and ensure timely delivery of engineering milestones.

Set performance expectations, conduct periodic reviews, and drive skill development.

Establish structured engineering processes and documentation standards.

Product Development & Technical Ownership Own the full product lifecycle from concept, prototyping, testing, to production readiness.

Provide technical guidance for aerostructure design, avionics architecture, and embedded software integration.

Review and approve engineering drawings, schematics, FEA / CFD analysis, and test reports.

Work hands-on with teams during design reviews, failure analysis, and root cause resolution.

Testing, Validation & Quality Oversee ground testing, flight validation, reliability testing, and compliance documentation.

Ensure engineering deliverables meet safety, performance, and DGCA / defense requirements.

Identify risks early, derive mitigation strategies, and solve critical technical issues.

Cross-Functional Collaboration Collaborate with production, supply chain, testing, and operations teams for manufacturability and scalability.

Work closely with BD, client demo, and operations teams to translate requirements into technical solutions.

Support prototype builds, field trials, test campaigns, and demonstrations.

Planning & Reporting Build engineering schedules, resource plans, BOM cost controls, and project timelines.

Present engineering status updates, risks, and decisions to leadership.

Ensure clean documentation, configuration management, and version control for all product builds.

Required Skills & Experience 6–10+ years experience in UAV / Aerospace / Robotics / Defense hardware product engineering.

Proven experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams.

Strong understanding of aerostructures, composites, propulsion, avionics, embedded systems & integration.

Familiarity with CAD (SolidWorks / CATIA), PCB design, PX4 / Ardupilot, and systems engineering approaches.

Experience with prototype development, flight testing & troubleshooting.

Excellent communication, decision-making, and problem-solving abilities.