Sr Director of Engineering (EE, Firmware, Software & Cloud)

Role Overview

Willow is seeking a Senior Director of Engineering to lead, scale, and architect our multi-disciplinary engineering organization spanning Electrical Engineering (EE), Embedded Firmware, Cloud Infrastructure, and Mobile/Software Applications.

In this role, you will be the primary technical bridge connecting physical hardware to our cloud and mobile ecosystem. You will balance strategic leadership with hands-on technical execution, diving deep into system architecture, design reviews, and technical problem-solving alongside your teams. You will manage a hybrid delivery model—leading in-house engineering leads while orchestrating external design houses, contract manufacturers (CMs), and outsourced software teams to bring high-reliability, connected healthcare products to market.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Hands-On Engineering

• Act as the chief technical authority across Willow’s end-to-end stack: Electrical Engineering (PCBA design, power management, sensors), Firmware (RTOS, low-power BLE), Software (iOS/Android), and Cloud (AWS/GCP, APIs, analytics).
• Remain actively engaged in technical execution: drive system-level architecture, lead design reviews (schematics, layout, firmware architecture, API design), and jump in to troubleshoot complex technical bottlenecks.
• Define and enforce technical standards, code quality metrics, hardware test procedures, and secure software development lifecycles (SDLC).

Team Management & Organizational Growth

• Manage, recruit, and mentor a high-performing, multi-disciplinary engineering team across EE, firmware, cloud, and mobile disciplines.
• Build a culture of accountability, innovation, technical rigor, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Establish career paths, performance management, and continuous learning programs for engineering staff.

External Vendor & Partner Orchestration

• Direct and manage external development partners, offshore software agencies, specialized design houses, and hardware manufacturing partners (JDM/ODM/CM).
• Negotiate statements of work (SOWs), manage vendor budgets, track technical deliverables, and ensure external code/hardware designs meet internal standards.
• Establish clear handoff protocols between external development partners and internal sustaining/operations teams.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Execution

• Partner closely with Product Management, Quality Assurance, Regulatory Affairs, and Operations to translate product requirements into executable technical roadmaps and project timelines.
• Ensure engineering practices comply with relevant regulatory requirements (e.g., FDA medical device software controls, ISO 13485, IEC 60601, HIPAA, and data privacy standards).
• Balance technical debt, performance, cost of goods sold (COGS), feature velocity, and product reliability.

Qualifications

Required Experience & Technical Depth

• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.

• Experience: 12+ years of progressive engineering experience in connected consumer hardware, IoT, or medical devices, with at least 5+ years in engineering leadership (Director level or above).

• Multi-Domain Mastery: Demonstrated technical depth across all four required core domains:

• Electrical Engineering: Mixed-signal PCB design, low-power battery management, sensor integration, BLE design, and RF compliance.

• Firmware: Embedded C/C++, RTOS, microcontroller architectures (e.g., Nordic, STM32), and low-level communication protocols (I2C, SPI, UART).

• Software & Cloud: Mobile application architecture (iOS/Android), cloud platforms (AWS/GCP), microservices, RESTful APIs, and IoT device management.

• Hands-On Capability: Proven ability to remain technical—able to read schematics, evaluate codebases, review system interfaces, and guide architectural decisions without relying solely on delegated oversight.

• Vendor Management: Deep experience managing third-party engineering vendors, offshore development teams, and contract manufacturers through full product lifecycles (NPI through mass production).

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in regulated medical devices (FDA 510(k), IEC 62304 software lifecycle) or high-reliability consumer health technologies.
• Proven track record of delivering successful, high-volume consumer IoT products from concept through mass manufacturing.
• Familiarity with data security, encryption standards for connected hardware, and healthcare privacy compliance (HIPAA/GDPR).