Job Title: Head Of Product Development

Experience: 10-15 Years

Location: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Notice Period: Immediate to 30 days

Academic Qualifications: Bachelor's or Master's degree in marketing, Business Administration, or related field

About company: It is a deep-tech startup born out of IIT Madras. We are on a mission to address critical issues related to manual scavenging, water accessibility, and preventing floods and sewer overflows.

We have made a substantial impact, reaching over 15+ states and 30+ cities in just two years. The newly launched products, have been deployed in 18 cities in less than six months

Role Overview

We are looking for a hands-on, visionary Head of Product Development to lead the end-to-end lifecycle of our robotic product lines. This role will own the journey from R&D, prototyping to testing, validation, and final product release. The ideal candidate should have a strong mechanical or industrial design background and proven experience managing cross-functional product development involving electronics, firmware, and mechanical systems.

This is a leadership role with deep technical involvement, requiring a balance of strategic thinking and hands-on execution. You will work closely with the design, engineering, testing, and manufacturing teams to turn ideas into reality

Key Responsibilities:

Product Lifecycle Ownership:

- Lead the full lifecycle of hardware product development - from ideation, R&D, and prototyping to field testing, iteration, and commercial release.

- Define and drive the product development roadmap for inspection and cleaning robots in collaboration with leadership and field teams.

Cross-Functional Coordination:

- Act as the primary liaison between mechanical design, electronics, firmware, and software teams to ensure seamless integration of subsystems.

- Collaborate with field deployment, sales, and service teams to gather feedback for continuous product improvement.

Design & Engineering Leadership:

- Oversee mechanical and industrial design with a focus on reliability, manufacturability, cost-efficiency, and user-centric product development.

- Guide and mentor, the engineering team in rigorous design practices, CAD modeling, prototyping, and design validation.

Testing & Reliability:

- Define testing protocols and validation criteria for prototypes and final products to meet performance, durability, and safety standards.

- Lead root cause analysis and corrective action processes to resolve design or field issues.

Requirements:

Experience: 10-12 years of experience in hardware product development, preferably in robotics, automation, or industrial systems.

Leadership: At least 4 years in a leadership or team management role within product development or R&D.

Education: Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design, Mechatronics, or a related discipline.

Technical Skills:

- Strong foundation in mechanical or industrial design

- Exposure to firmware/electronics integration

- Proficiency in CAD tools (SolidWorks, CATIA, etc.)