Director of Engineering, NPD & VAVE

At Pentair, you will work alongside passionate problem-solvers who are committed to the future of our planet. We put our mission into practice, helping the world sustainably move, improve, and enjoy water, life's most essential resource. From our residential water filtration to industrial water management to pool products and more, our 9,000 global employees serve customers in more than 150 countries, working to help create a better world for people and the planet through smart, sustainable water solutions.

We have an opportunity for a Director of Engineering, NPD & VAVE, to join our Apex, NC team. You will lead Pentair Pool’s Mechanical, Electrical, and Value Analysis / Value Engineering (VAVE) NPD teams in Apex, NC, and is the single accountable engineering owner for design decision rights and on-time technical delivery across the new product portfolio. This is a newly created Director-level role reporting to the Sr. Director, Hardware Engineering & Engineering Services, established to close two persistent gaps — unclear ownership between Product Management and Engineering at the team level, and insufficient front-end specification rigor — while operating as a peer function to Product Management under Pentair’s functional (non-matrix) NPD structure.

You will:

Specification & Program Ownership

• Own engineering’s accountability for specification quality at program kickoff, resolving requirements ambiguity with Product Management/PLLs and the embedded Product Engineer organization before detailed design begins.
• Serve as the single accountable engineering owner for technical delivery across all active NPD programs, resolving cross-team (Mechanical/Electrical/VAVE) trade-offs without escalation.
• Drive stage-gate discipline with PMO and track a shared spec-quality metric (post-launch ECO volume) jointly with Product Management.

Decision Rights & Cross-Functional Coordination

• Hold clear design-authority decision rights within NPD engineering, eliminating team-level ownership ambiguity with Product Management.
• Partner with the Product Management organization, which now owns the embedded Product Engineer function, to maintain clean specification hand-off at program kickoff and throughout the design cycle.
• Represent NPD Engineering in stage-gate reviews and design reviews alongside PMO, NPI, SQA, Reliability, and Field Test; close cross-functional silo gaps that delay launch readiness.

Value Analysis / Value Engineering (VAVE)

• Lead Value Engineering activity inside the NPD design cycle, embedding cost-avoidance and design-for-cost discipline into concept and detailed design rather than post-launch.
• Partner with Sustaining Engineering and Operations on VA/VE continuity across the product lifecycle and report design-phase (OCOGS) cost improvements delivered through active programs.

Team Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead 3 Engineering Managers (Mechanical NPD, Electrical NPD, VAVE Engineering) across ~25–28 engineers, designers, and product engineers in Apex, NC.
• Build engineering leadership bench strength across all four teams; develop a proven successor candidate for the Sr. Director role.
• Champion consistent NPD standard work (specification templates, design review templates, change control) to reduce variability and rework across teams.

Key Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, Electrical, or related Engineering discipline; Master’s or MBA preferred.
• 12+ years of engineering experience in new product development, including 5+ years leading multiple engineering disciplines (Mechanical, Electrical, and/or VAVE).
• Demonstrated success leading front-end specification definition and stage-gate NPD processes in a hardware/electromechanical product environment.
• Experience leading or partnering closely with Value Analysis / Value Engineering activity, with an understanding of VE-in-design vs. VA-post-launch distinctions.
• Proven ability to manage cross-functional decision rights and RACI-based governance with Product Management peers in a functional (non-matrix) organization, including partnering effectively with a Product Management-owned Product Engineer function.
• Strong program management acumen, including stage-gate/PMBOK-aligned governance and multi-team resource and priority trade-offs.
• Consumer/durable-goods or industrial hardware product experience preferred; pool, water technology, or connected-product experience a plus.

Compensation:

For this full-time position working at this location, the anticipated annualized base pay range will be from $149000- $276700 / year. At Pentair, it is not typical for an individual to be hired near the bottom or top of the pay range. Pentair considers various factors in determining actual compensation for this position at the expected location. Actual compensation will be commensurate with demonstrable level of experience and training, pertinent education including licensure and certifications, work location, and other relevant business or organizational needs. This position may be eligible for other forms of compensation such as, annual incentive bonus and/or long-term incentives.

Benefits:

As a Pentair employee, you would enjoy a wide array of benefit options to help keep you and your family healthy and protected, health benefits, a generous 401(k), employee stock purchase program, disability benefits, life insurance, critical illness insurance, accident insurance, parental leave, caregiver leave, tuition reimbursement, plus paid time off and wellness programs to encourage a healthy work/life balance.

Pentair is an Equal Opportunity Employer. With our expanding global presence, cross-cultural insight and competence are essential for our ongoing success. We believe that a diverse workforce contributes different perspectives and creative ideas that enable us to continue to improve every day.