About the Company

Our client is a privately owned global technology company known for engineering-led, category-defining consumer products. Its products combine advanced hardware, embedded software, power systems and connected intelligence, and ship to customers around the world.

The company is reorganising its hardware and software engineering around platforms. The goal is to grow from a handful of product launches a year to a much higher cadence by building modular, reusable architectures that support entry, mid-tier and premium variants.

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The Role

As Director of Systems & Platform Architecture, you will define the hardware/software architecture, core technologies and reusable platforms that the product delivery organisation turns into shipped products. You own the “what and how it’s built”: the building blocks, the standards and the long-horizon technology bets.

Your platforms must stay tied to real launch windows rather than drifting into pure R&D. You will bring urgency to a “definer” organisation that serves delivery deadlines it does not directly own.

This is one of a small number of director-level pillars in a newly structured engineering organisation. The role sits alongside Product Delivery and Test & Quality.

Location: Singapore. Fully on-site, with relocation support for international candidates.
Reports to: Senior Vice President, Engineering

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Key Responsibilities

Systems Architecture & Standards

Own end-to-end system architecture across hardware, software, electromechanical and power subsystems.
Set interface contracts, non-negotiable standards and system budgets (power, thermal, performance, safety).
Run architecture readiness gates and a joint SW/HW architecture review with Delivery.

Technology Platforms

Build reusable horizontal platforms in wireless connectivity, vision and actuation/drive electronics.
Own battery architecture, power electronics, and platform firmware (HAL, RTOS, security root of trust, OTA), delivered to a versioned SDK/HAL contract.
Own component engineering and supply resilience.

Electromechanical & Power Platforms

Lead core electromechanical and power platforms and reference families.
Own the related IP, simulation methods, manufacturability and cost-down roadmaps.

Product Platforms

Define platforms across multiple consumer product categories, with reference designs, reuse rules and conformance tests that hand off cleanly into Delivery.

Technology Strategy & Partnering

Own the multi-year technology roadmap and IP strategy.
Run advanced R&D for pre-product bets.
Manage external scouting and university and supplier partnerships.
Select and govern JDM partners.

AI/ML Enablement

Bring AI/ML into the architecture stack.
Use AI/ML as a tool to raise engineering productivity.

Organisation & Talent

Build a principal-engineer-heavy organisation, with technical skills ladders for architecture and core engineering disciplines.
Run a senior-engineer rotation programme with Delivery.

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How Success Is Measured (First 12 Months)

Platform reuse rate across product categories
Time-to-integration for Delivery teams
Roadmap milestones hit across core technology, power and architecture
R&D graduation rate: the share of technology bets that become adopted platforms

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Qualifications

Must-Have

15+ years in hardware/software architecture or product engineering.
5+ years leading multidisciplinary R&D or platform organisations at scale.
Deep expertise in one or more of: power electronics, electromechanical systems, embedded systems, software platforms or systems architecture, plus the breadth to arbitrate across all of them.
A proven record of building reusable platforms and setting standards across a product portfolio.
Credibility with principal engineers.
The commercial judgement to ring-fence R&D funding and choose the right partners.
A track record of driving transformation and influencing long-tenured technical teams.
Hands-on and data-driven, and comfortable “rolling up sleeves” when needed.

Technical Depth Expected

Edge-AI-ready platforms: heterogeneous compute, NPUs/MCUs, memory hierarchy, sensor pipelines.
Embedded firmware: HAL, RTOS, bootloaders, secure OTA, diagnostics, telemetry, device lifecycle management.
Power electronics and battery systems: power conversion, BMS, charging architecture, protection, thermal limits, EMC, system-level power budgeting.
Electromechanical systems and controls: drive electronics, actuation, control algorithms, vibration and acoustics, simulation, manufacturability.
Systems integration: interface contracts, system budgets, architecture gates, trade-off decisions.
Cybersecurity and hardware trust: secure boot, root of trust, device identity, SBOM, vulnerability management.
Semiconductor strategy: SoC/MCU/NPU selection, RISC-V, supplier roadmaps, second sourcing, AVL and lifecycle risk.
Simulation and verification: model-based design, HIL, tolerance analysis, FMEA, AI-assisted engineering workflows.

Strongly Preferred

A hardware-centric background with genuine fluency in embedded software, app/cloud and sensors.
Experience in high-volume consumer electronics, automotive or similar product environments.
Experience leading through complex, multi-layer executive governance.

Educational Background

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science or a related discipline. A Master’s or PhD is preferred.

Why This Role

Build the foundation: you define the platforms every future product is built on.
Real hardware: electromechanical systems, power, batteries, sensors and connected devices that ship to millions of homes.
A new seat in a new structure: a chance to shape the organisation, its standards and its talent from the start.
Privately owned: long-horizon technology investment without quarterly earnings pressure.

Compensation & Benefits

Competitive executive package: SGD $400,000 base salary + 40% bonus + allowances + benefits
Full international relocation support for the employee and family

Director of Engineering