Design Manager
About the role
Job Identification
Job Title: Design Manager
Department and Number: Engineering 121
Employment Status: Full time
Location of Job: Tillsonburg
Supervisor Job Title: Technical Manager
Job Summary
At Systemair, we have a passion for indoor air quality. We are constantly striving to provide ventilation solutions that improve health and productivity in an energy-efficient and sustainable manner. Innovation is in our DNA, and we continue to grow in terms of capabilities, product range, size, sales volume, and market share. We employ and empower people to take initiative and make decisions with the best interests of our customers and team at heart by achieving our goals to be an Employer, Brand, Investment, and Neighbor of Choice. Simply put, we prioritize, simplify, and trust, while committing to accountable behavior and personal responsibility at work and with our neighbors.
The Design Manager will lead and manage the Design Team, overseeing all aspects of mechanical and structural engineering, design for manufacturing, and product lifecycle support. This role ensures that our semi-custom air handling and heat pump units are designed to meet functional requirements, regulatory standards, manufacturing capabilities, and customer expectations.
The Design Manager will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including R&D, Sales Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Procurement, Quality, and After-Sales support, to deliver high-quality, cost-effective solutions for both new product development and the maintenance of current product lines.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
- Lead, mentor, and develop the Design Team, ensuring high performance, engagement, and technical excellence.
- Plan and allocate design resources to meet departmental and project priorities.
- Foster a collaborative, innovative, and quality-driven culture within the team.
- Ensure designs meet functional requirements, regulatory compliance, manufacturability, serviceability, and cost targets.
- Establish and enforce structured design validation and job-release processes ensuring the accuracy of BOMs and also the alignment between the designs and the ERP.
- Define and maintain clear engineering release gates, checklists, and ownership to minimize late changes, rework, and production disruption. This includes approving design outputs and ensure alignment with engineering standards, company policies, and manufacturing capabilities.
- Support product development projects from concept through production release, collaborating closely with R&D, Project Management, and cross-functional stakeholders and providing technical expertise.
- Act as the final engineering authority for production releases, balancing engineering risk against manufacturing and delivery risk. This includes managing Engineering Change Orders (ECOs) and ensure design changes are implemented efficiently, with minimal impact to production schedules and cost.
- Drive root-cause analysis for late ECOs, production issues, or field failures, and implement preventative design or process improvements.
- Work closely with Manufacturing, Operations, and Procurement teams to optimize designs for production efficiency, material utilization, and supply-chain robustness.
- Support Quality and After-Sales teams in resolving product issues, implementing corrective actions, and improving long-term product reliability.
- Continuously improve design workflows, tools, and validation methods to increase repeatability, reduce dependency on individual knowledge, and improve throughput.
- Stay current with industry trends, materials, manufacturing technologies, and regulatory changes relevant to the product portfolio.
Skills, Education, and/or Experience
The following are education and experience criteria used to evaluate the suitability of the Design Manager Profile or candidates for the position:
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, HVAC/Technical degree or related discipline.
- 7+ years of mechanical design experience in a manufacturing/OEM environment.
- Proven leadership experience managing technical teams in an OEM or manufacturing environment.
- Experience in HVAC, air handling units, heat pumps, or related industries preferred.
- Strong knowledge of mechanical and structural design principles.
- Proficient in CAD software (e.g., SolidWorks, AutoCAD) and PLM systems.
- Understanding of design for manufacturing (DFM) and design for assembly (DFA) principles.
- Working knowledge of Bill of Materials and MRP/ERP Systems.
- Familiarity with applicable codes and standards (CSA, UL, AHRI, ASHRAE, etc.).
- Excellent communication, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
Job Conditions
Physical Demands:
- Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and looking at a computer.
- Light physical effort – able to lift up to 20lbs at times.
Work Environment:
- Office, Factory, Warehouse.
- R&D Lab
The job conditions described here and above are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the position. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions of the position. Proper use of PPE such as safety glasses, closed toe shoes, hearing protection, gloves, face shields and other equipment as designated by the job being performed in a production environment is mandatory. Adherence to Systemair’s safety policy is a condition of employment.
AI has been applied to this job posting.
About Systemair Commercial AHU Ltd.
Systemair is a leading ventilation company operating in 51 countries in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and Africa. The company had a turnover of SEK 12.1 billion in the 2022/23 financial year and employs approximately 6,600 employees today. Systemair has reported an operating profit yearly since 1974 when the company was founded. Over the past 10 years, growth has averaged 10.5 percent. Systemair helps to improve the indoor climate with the help of energy-efficient and sustainable products that reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Systemair has a well-established business in growth markets. Systemair shares have been quoted on the Nasdaq OMX Nordic Exchange in Stockholm since October 2007 and are today traded on the Large Cap List. The Group comprises about 90 companies.
Design Manager
About the role
Job Identification
Job Title: Design Manager
Department and Number: Engineering 121
Employment Status: Full time
Location of Job: Tillsonburg
Supervisor Job Title: Technical Manager
Job Summary
At Systemair, we have a passion for indoor air quality. We are constantly striving to provide ventilation solutions that improve health and productivity in an energy-efficient and sustainable manner. Innovation is in our DNA, and we continue to grow in terms of capabilities, product range, size, sales volume, and market share. We employ and empower people to take initiative and make decisions with the best interests of our customers and team at heart by achieving our goals to be an Employer, Brand, Investment, and Neighbor of Choice. Simply put, we prioritize, simplify, and trust, while committing to accountable behavior and personal responsibility at work and with our neighbors.
The Design Manager will lead and manage the Design Team, overseeing all aspects of mechanical and structural engineering, design for manufacturing, and product lifecycle support. This role ensures that our semi-custom air handling and heat pump units are designed to meet functional requirements, regulatory standards, manufacturing capabilities, and customer expectations.
The Design Manager will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including R&D, Sales Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Procurement, Quality, and After-Sales support, to deliver high-quality, cost-effective solutions for both new product development and the maintenance of current product lines.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
- Lead, mentor, and develop the Design Team, ensuring high performance, engagement, and technical excellence.
- Plan and allocate design resources to meet departmental and project priorities.
- Foster a collaborative, innovative, and quality-driven culture within the team.
- Ensure designs meet functional requirements, regulatory compliance, manufacturability, serviceability, and cost targets.
- Establish and enforce structured design validation and job-release processes ensuring the accuracy of BOMs and also the alignment between the designs and the ERP.
- Define and maintain clear engineering release gates, checklists, and ownership to minimize late changes, rework, and production disruption. This includes approving design outputs and ensure alignment with engineering standards, company policies, and manufacturing capabilities.
- Support product development projects from concept through production release, collaborating closely with R&D, Project Management, and cross-functional stakeholders and providing technical expertise.
- Act as the final engineering authority for production releases, balancing engineering risk against manufacturing and delivery risk. This includes managing Engineering Change Orders (ECOs) and ensure design changes are implemented efficiently, with minimal impact to production schedules and cost.
- Drive root-cause analysis for late ECOs, production issues, or field failures, and implement preventative design or process improvements.
- Work closely with Manufacturing, Operations, and Procurement teams to optimize designs for production efficiency, material utilization, and supply-chain robustness.
- Support Quality and After-Sales teams in resolving product issues, implementing corrective actions, and improving long-term product reliability.
- Continuously improve design workflows, tools, and validation methods to increase repeatability, reduce dependency on individual knowledge, and improve throughput.
- Stay current with industry trends, materials, manufacturing technologies, and regulatory changes relevant to the product portfolio.
Skills, Education, and/or Experience
The following are education and experience criteria used to evaluate the suitability of the Design Manager Profile or candidates for the position:
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, HVAC/Technical degree or related discipline.
- 7+ years of mechanical design experience in a manufacturing/OEM environment.
- Proven leadership experience managing technical teams in an OEM or manufacturing environment.
- Experience in HVAC, air handling units, heat pumps, or related industries preferred.
- Strong knowledge of mechanical and structural design principles.
- Proficient in CAD software (e.g., SolidWorks, AutoCAD) and PLM systems.
- Understanding of design for manufacturing (DFM) and design for assembly (DFA) principles.
- Working knowledge of Bill of Materials and MRP/ERP Systems.
- Familiarity with applicable codes and standards (CSA, UL, AHRI, ASHRAE, etc.).
- Excellent communication, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
Job Conditions
Physical Demands:
- Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and looking at a computer.
- Light physical effort – able to lift up to 20lbs at times.
Work Environment:
- Office, Factory, Warehouse.
- R&D Lab
The job conditions described here and above are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the position. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions of the position. Proper use of PPE such as safety glasses, closed toe shoes, hearing protection, gloves, face shields and other equipment as designated by the job being performed in a production environment is mandatory. Adherence to Systemair’s safety policy is a condition of employment.
AI has been applied to this job posting.
About Systemair Commercial AHU Ltd.
Systemair is a leading ventilation company operating in 51 countries in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and Africa. The company had a turnover of SEK 12.1 billion in the 2022/23 financial year and employs approximately 6,600 employees today. Systemair has reported an operating profit yearly since 1974 when the company was founded. Over the past 10 years, growth has averaged 10.5 percent. Systemair helps to improve the indoor climate with the help of energy-efficient and sustainable products that reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Systemair has a well-established business in growth markets. Systemair shares have been quoted on the Nasdaq OMX Nordic Exchange in Stockholm since October 2007 and are today traded on the Large Cap List. The Group comprises about 90 companies.