Director of Hardware Product Development

Director of Hardware Product Development

Location: Vancouver, BC - Hybrid

Type: Full-time

Reports to: Founder & CEO

Role Overview

AromaTech is looking for a senior hardware product-development leader to own the development and execution of our diffuser hardware portfolio.

This person will lead hardware products across the full lifecycle, from product requirements and engineering development through validation, industrialization, mass production, launch, and continuous improvement.

The role sits at the center of our hardware organization and works across external engineering partners, firmware and software teams, manufacturers, suppliers, quality, operations, and fragrance development.

This is not a traditional project-management role. We are looking for someone with strong technical judgment and deep execution experience who can challenge engineering assumptions, identify risks, drive decisions, and hold engineering partners and manufacturers accountable.

You are not expected to personally design every mechanical, electrical, or software system. You are expected to understand the systems well enough to lead the people who do and to take ownership of the final outcome.

What You Will Own

· Lead the development of AromaTech’s diffuser hardware portfolio from engineering through mass production and post-launch improvement

· Own the complete NPI lifecycle, including EVT, DVT, PVT, production qualification, ramp, and launch

· Maintain the master development timeline, critical path, technical dependencies, and launch readiness across multiple programs

· Provide technical leadership across mechanical, electrical, firmware, manufacturing, and fragrance-delivery systems

· Lead and coordinate internal teams, external engineering specialists, contract manufacturers, OEM/ODM partners, and critical suppliers

· Drive DFM/DFA, tooling validation, pilot builds, production readiness, yield improvement, and defect reduction

· Lead manufacturing transfers between factories and manufacturing partners

· Own root-cause analysis and corrective-action processes for technical, quality, and manufacturing issues

· Ensure hardware, firmware, software, connectivity, and production-test requirements remain aligned

· Oversee engineering change control, BOM revisions, specifications, approved components, and production configurations

· Partner with Operations and Finance on BOM targets, sourcing, cost-down initiatives, and supplier strategy

· Drive regulatory certification, reliability validation, and production-quality requirements

· Monitor early field performance and lead continuous product improvement after launch

Fragrance - Hardware System Development

AromaTech’s product performance depends on the interaction between fragrance formulation and hardware.

This role will work closely with engineering and fragrance-development teams to optimize the relationship between:

· Fragrance formulation

· Diffuser core

· Pump

· Airflow

· Atomization

· Cartridge or bottle architecture

· Materials

· Firmware and operating parameters

You will help define validation methods and drive resolution of issues related to scent performance, atomization, leakage, clogging, residue buildup, materials compatibility, and long-term reliability.

The goal is to ensure fragrance and hardware are developed and validated as one integrated system.

Manufacturing & Supplier Leadership

This role will work directly with manufacturing partners and suppliers across Asia.

Responsibilities include:

· Managing OEM/ODM and contract-manufacturing partners

· Leading DFM/DFA and manufacturing-readiness reviews

· Overseeing tooling, first-article approval, pilot builds, and production qualification

· Driving supplier accountability around quality, timing, cost, and corrective actions

· Leading factory and supplier escalations when required

· Supporting manufacturing transitions between China, Malaysia, and other future production locations

· Ensuring production processes, documentation, quality standards, and product performance remain consistent across manufacturing sites

Technical Leadership

The successful candidate must be technically strong enough to challenge experienced mechanical, electrical, firmware, and manufacturing engineers.

You should be comfortable asking:

· What evidence supports this conclusion?

· What is the actual root cause?

· What changed?

· How was the proposed solution validated?

· What risks remain?

· Who owns the next action?

· When will it be closed?

You do not need to be the deepest specialist in every discipline. You do need the judgment to know when the technical work is strong, when it is incomplete, and when additional expertise is required.

Required Experience

· 10+ years of experience in hardware product development, consumer electronics, NPI, manufacturing, or related disciplines

· Proven experience bringing multiple physical consumer products from development through mass production

· Strong experience with EVT, DVT, PVT, industrialization, and production ramp

· Extensive experience working directly with Asian OEM/ODM manufacturers and suppliers

· Strong understanding of mechanical systems, electrical systems, firmware integration, manufacturing, and product validation

· Experience with injection molding, tooling validation, PCBA manufacturing, assembly processes, and production testing

· Experience leading multidisciplinary internal and external engineering teams

· Strong understanding of reliability engineering, root-cause analysis, corrective actions, and product-quality systems

· Experience managing multiple complex hardware programs simultaneously

· Demonstrated ability to challenge engineers, suppliers, and manufacturing partners constructively and effectively

Preferred Experience

Experience in one or more of the following areas is highly desirable:

· Connected or IoT-enabled consumer products

· Premium home electronics or appliance categories

· Pumps, fluidics, atomization, aerosol systems, or dispensing technologies

· Cartridge-based delivery systems

· Motors and airflow systems

· Factory transfers between manufacturing partners or countries

· High-volume consumer-product manufacturing

· Global regulatory certification

· Hardware/software integrated products

What We’re Looking For

We are looking for someone who takes ownership.

Someone who can move comfortably between a product-development meeting, engineering review, factory floor, supplier negotiation, quality investigation, and executive program review.

You should be highly execution-oriented, technically credible, detail-driven, and comfortable operating at both strategic and tactical levels.

You should know when to trust specialists and when to challenge them.

Most importantly, you should be someone who does not simply identify problems, you drive them to resolution.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role means AromaTech consistently develops hardware products that:

· Perform as intended

· Deliver a strong fragrance experience

· Are engineered intelligently

· Can be manufactured reliably at scale

· Meet quality and reliability expectations

· Achieve cost targets

· Launch with speed and discipline

· Improve continuously after launch

This role will play a central part in building AromaTech’s long-term hardware product-development capability.