Engineering Manager - New Product Introduction

Donaldson is committed to solving the world’s most complex filtration challenges. Together, we make cool things. As an established technology and innovation leader, we are continuously evolving to meet the filtration needs of our changing world. Join a culture of collaboration and innovation that matters and a chance to learn, effect change, and make meaningful contributions at work and in communities. ​   An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Manager Engineering (New Product Introduction) to join the Industrial Fume Extraction team based in Poole.   The purpose of this role is to drive the development and delivery of innovative products that meet evolving customer and market needs.   The successful candidate will lead a multidisciplinary engineering team, overseeing product definition, design, validation, and industrialisation while ensuring projects are delivered safely, efficiently, and to the highest quality standards. This role will play a key part in shaping engineering strategy, developing organisational capability, and fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement Role Responsibilities: Recruit, develop, engage, and lead a high-performing team of project managers and engineering professionals. Oversee workload capacity to ensure that we have a forward-looking organization plan that is positioned to scale with growth & maximize talent utilization. Coordinate with the broader functional leadership in the organization (sales, manufacturing operations, procurement, marketing, quality) to drive alignment & results Coordinate closely with the sales teams, directly with our customers, and with other sources to define the roadmap of future product development in alignment with market needs and technology trends Develop critically justified business cases for new product development Translate strategic business objectives and customer insights into clear product requirements and engineering deliverables Articulate and document product value proposition with heavy emphasis on quantitative rationale Translate product definitions into clear, executable engineering and project plans, with defined scope, timelines, resource requirements, and success criteria. This includes formal review of customer specifications via requirements compliance matrix. Execute robust technical design, verification, and validation practices, including well documented traceability and substantiation of design and release decisions Act as the senior technical leader for product development activities, providing guidance and expertise across the business Coordinate closely with procurement, product compliance, and manufacturing operations to ensure that designs are optimized for production, and seamlessly transitioned to production upon release Maintain clear ownership and accountability for on-time, on-cost, and on-spec delivery of all NPI programs, driving business growth through the delivery of commercially competitive and market-leading products End-to-end ownership of the stage-gate process that governs high quality & efficient new product introduction including gate requirements and comprehensive RACI definition IP strategy and associated process (ROI submission, portfolio review, etc.) Engineering risk & validation frameworks (DFMEA, Design for Manufacturability, etc.) Product technical definition systems & standards (PLM system, drawing standards, configuration control, etc.) Develop and maintain KPIs and performance metrics to measure team effectiveness, delivery performance, and business impact Minimum Qualifications: Degree in a technical discipline (or equivalent qualification) Significant experience in engineering leadership, including the successful development and management of high-performing teams. Willingness to undertake occasional domestic and international travel as required Demonstrated experience ‘bridging the communications gap’ between commercial and technical Prior experience