Head of Product Development (w/m/d)

hitachi; Wien; On-site; EUR 95,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Hitachi Rail Austria GmbH in Vienna, Austria, seeks a Head of Product Development to lead a multidisciplinary engineering organization across Austria, Hungary, and the Balkans. You will manage 100+ engineers, drive safety-critical and cloud-native railway tech, and shape the future of signaling and digital rail solutions.

The role requires strategic leadership, deep technical credibility across software, hardware, and cybersecurity, and a strong track record in regulated industries.

Qualifications

• Proven leadership in a large engineering organization.
• Experience leading leaders and diverse teams in international settings.
• Strong people leadership with coaching and talent development.
• Experience managing organizational change and growth.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the regional product development and engineering strategy.
• Lead, inspire, and develop a multicultural organization.
• Establish a high-performance engineering culture focused on innovation, quality, accountability and collaboration.
• Balance long-term product evolution with operational delivery commitments.
• Drive modernization across legacy and cloud-native architectures and software practices.
• Ensure compliance with railway standards, safety regulations and cybersecurity requirements.
• Oversee budgeting, resource planning, and talent management.
• Foster collaboration with product management, operations, certification bodies, customers, and international teams.
• Maintain and improve a mature product portfolio including long-established systems.

Skills

Leadership

People management

Strategic thinking

Communication

Stakeholder management

Cross-cultural collaboration

Execution

Tools

Cloud platforms

Cybersecurity

System integration

Job description

Location: Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Job ID: R0146598

Date Posted: 2026-10-15

Company Name: Hitachi Rail Austria GmbH

Profession (Job Category): Engineering & Science

Job Schedule: Full time

Remote: No

About Us

A career at Hitachi Rail will help create a legacy. With operations in every corner of the world, our work goes to the cutting-edge of digital transformation and technology. From the multi-cultural strength of our global organisation to the sustainable and innovative ways we work to bring people together, there's something for everyone to get stuck into. And that's where you come in.

HEAD OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT - RAILWAY TECHNOLOGY (F/M/D)

Hitachi in Austria is a full system provider and global supplier of train control technology and traffic management systems (e.g. European Train Control System (ETCS), Electronic interlockings, Operation Control Centers and dispatching systems, field elements).

Shape the Future of Railway Signaling and Digital Rail Solutions

We are looking for an experienced and inspiring Head of Product Development to lead our multidisciplinary engineering organization across Austria, Hungary, and the Balkan region. In this key leadership role, you will be responsible for more than 100 highly skilled engineers and experts , driving the development, maintenance, and evolution of safety-critical railway technologies ranging from established signaling systems to modern cloud-native platforms. You will lead a diverse organization that combines deep railway domain expertise, software, hardware, cybersecurity and systems engineering to deliver innovative and reliable solutions for rail operators.

YOUR RESONSIBILITIES

As Head of Product Development, you will have end to end leadership responsibility for the following departments:

• Product Design and Requirements Management
• SW Development (safety critical and non-safety critical)
• Cloud Platform Developmentli>
• Engineering Tools & Toolchain Development
• Hardware Development
• Solution Integration & End-to-End System Integration
• Cybersecurity Engineering

YOU WILL

• Define and execute the product development and engineering strategy for the region
• Lead, inspire, and develop a multicultural organization
• Establish a high-performance engineering culture focused on innovation, quality, accountability, and collaboration
• Balance long-term product evolution with operational delivery commitments
• Drive modernization initiatives across a broad technology landscape, from legacy railway interfaces and long-life-cycle systems to cloud-native architectures, and modern software engineering practices
• Ensure compliance with railway industry standards, safety regulations, and cybersecurity requirements
• Oversee resource planning, organizational development, budgeting, and talent management
• Foster close collaboration with product management, operations, certification bodies, customers, and international engineering teams
• Lead the maintenance and continuous improvement of a mature product portfolio, including systems built upon a 30-year engineering heritage

WHAT YOU BRING

• Leadership:
  • Several years of successful leadership experience in a large engineering organization.
  • Proven ability to lead leaders, managers, and multidisciplinary teams within an international environment.
  • Strong people leadership skills with a passion for coaching, mentoring, and developing talent.
  • Experience managing organizational change, transformation, and growth.
• Technical Expertise:
  • You combine leadership excellence with strong technical credibility.
  • Broad engineering background covering software, hardware, systems engineering, or safety-critical product development.
  • Experience working with complex product ecosystems spanning both legacy and modern technologies.
  • Understanding of safety-critical development environments, ideally within railway, aerospace, automotive, industrial automation, or similar regulated industries.
  • Knowledge of cloud technologies, modern software architectures, cybersecurity principles, and large-scale system integration.
• Personal Skills:
  • Exceptional communication and stakeholder management capabilities.
  • Ability to build trust across cultures, disciplines, and organizational boundaries.
  • Strategic thinker with strong execution capabilities.
  • High degree of ownership, resilience, and decision-making ability.
  • Comfortable navigating both executive-level discussions and deep technical challenges

The ideal candidate is not only an outstanding engineering leader but also an exceptional people leader who can unite diverse teams, modernize technology landscapes, and drive innovation while maintaining the highest levels of safety, quality, and customer focus.

WE OFFER

• The salary for this position starts at € 95.000 gross p.a. Actual compensation is based on experience and qualification.
• Very good accessibility by public transport (Vienna Handelskai) & subsidies for p