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Project Engineer-Development Acceleration Team
Career Insights for Product Development Engineer
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Scorecard
Based on Washington, D.C. (District of Columbia) data
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What they do
A Product Development Engineer develops new products for companies, and participates in all phases of product development including research, design, production and marketing. Uses research on customer demand and industry trends to develop product ideas; builds and tests product prototypes; evaluates production options and costs. May specialize in a particular type of product or in products for a specific industry.
$87,131 / year median in Washington, D.C. (District of Columbia)
-3% projected decline
Job Description
Job Responsibilities and Requirements Key Responsibilities:
- Lead cross-functional efforts to evaluate new products, technologies, and business concepts.
- Establish rapid experimentation plans and validation strategies.
- Coordinate engineering, prototyping, testing, and customer validation activities.
- Drive decision-making through data, testing, and customer feedback.
- Manage project portfolios with varying levels of ambiguity.
- Facilitate executive reviews and investment recommendations.
- Create repeatable frameworks for rapid concept assessment.
- Balance technical feasibility, customer value, and commercial potential.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, or related field.
- 5+ years leading complex technical projects or innovation initiatives.
- Experience working in product development, R D, or new venture environments.
- Strong understanding of engineering development processes.
- Ability to thrive in fast-paced, ambiguous environments.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
- Ability to lift 40 lbs and climb ladders.
- This position is located at our Hanover, MD location and will be in office 5 days a week
- Travel will be required(10-30%) as needed to investigate customer issues that drive ideas or to support on site testing of prototypes.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Startup, incubator, or innovation lab experience.
- PMP, Agile, or Lean Startup certification.
- Experience with physical product development.
Success Metrics:
- Time from idea submission to prototype.
- Number of concepts validated or rejected through testing.
- Quality of investment recommendations.
- Team throughput and learning velocity.
This Role:
- Naturally curious and energized by solving difficult electrical challenges.
- Comfortable moving between CAD software, manufacturing discussions, testing environments, and field applications.
- Able to work independently while collaborating effectively across multiple engineering disciplines.
- Thrives in environments where problems are not always clearly defined and creative thinking is encouraged.
- Excited by the opportunity to see designs move quickly from concept to prototype to customer application.
- Passionate about continuous improvement and motivated by making products better with every iteration.
- Position is required to be in office 5 days a week when not traveling.
- Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to approach issues from both mechanical and controls perspectives.
- Comfort working in an ambiguous development environment where design objectives, equipment concepts, and performance targets may evolve over time.