Senior Manager, Systems Design

Hitachi Automotive Systems Americas, Inc.; Toronto; On-site; CAD 211,000 - 235,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, Dental and Vision plans

Retirement Savings Plan with company 5

3 weeks of vacation

Life and accident Insurance

Job summary

Hitachi Rail Canada Inc. in Toronto seeks a Senior Manager, Systems Design to lead a design team through bids and projects. You’ll oversee system design, signaling analysis, and modeling to meet customer requirements while ensuring safety, quality, and schedules.

You will mentor WPMs, manage staffing plans, and coordinate with software, hardware and safety groups to deliver high-quality rail signaling solutions. Extensive URS knowledge and leadership experience are required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or related field and 10–20 years in software-based system applications.
• Strong knowledge of URS/Urban Rail Signaling or equivalent domain experience.
• Excellent writing, communication and planning skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead a design team to meet project, bid and product objectives.
• Mentor staff, manage workloads, and ensure timely, high-quality design delivery.
• Oversee budgets, schedules and change management for the discipline.
• Collaborate with software, hardware, safety and ITV groups to align strategy.
• Ensure safety and process compliance across development activities.

Skills

System design leadership

People management

Signaling systems

URS knowledge

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or related field

Tools

DOORS

Polarion

Melody

Job description

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Job ID: R1012663 Date Posted: 2026-07-07 Company Name: Hitachi Rail Canada Inc. 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.

Job Description

We are looking for a Senior Manager, Systems Design to join our team in our Toronto office. As the Senior Manager of System Design, you are responsible for performing all people-management activities to meet the demands of the projects, bids and products assigned to your team. The system design team is responsible for performing system design, signaling design, analysis, modelling, and simulation to specify communication-based train control systems. This includes analyzing and evaluating customer requirements, developing and defining system features to meet customer requirements, and verifying compliance with our product system technical requirements. The Senior System Design Manager is responsible for ensuring the team meets the objectives of the department, which includes meeting quality, budget, and schedule targets. This role will contribute to strategic decision making for the department, builds and maintains strong relationships across the organization, and ensures effective coordination between functions.

Key Responsibilities

• Reviews estimates for bids and proposals prepared by team members
• Monitors system and signaling design progress on projects/product and takes actions when required to ensure the team has the resources needed to be successful
• Mentors and guides the team to ensure there is a clear plan and strategy to deliver a high-quality design
• Proactively monitors the team’s progress and takes actions to ensure issues are resolved in a timely manner
• Has ability to identify development risks and create/implement a plan to mitigate these risks
• Has strong working relationships with other managers in Software, Hardware, Safety and ITV groups.
• Evaluates workload to ensure that the team has the resources and skills to complete the development and will escal... (any Corrective Actions and Observations related to the systems engineering delivery and solutions are closed in a timely and complete manner)
• Ensures that Hitachi Rail development processes are being followed and supports the delivery of safe and high-quality systems
• Promotes a safety culture where product safety is paramount
• Ensures that safety is built into the design by early identification and resolution of safety related defects.
• Assignment of the team members to projects, product and other tasks to ensure the system design resource needs are met for all projects and products
• Develops team members by assignment of training, coaching and mentoring as required
• Develops and executes change management for discipline improvements
• Performs regular performance/objective reviews and yearly salary reviews with all team members
• Provides coaching and mentoring, to team members as necessary with direct responsibility to mentor work package managers (WPMs)
• Mentor WPMs to plan, organize and execute activities to ensure that all project deliverables are completed in a timely manner
• Responsible for staff planning, hiring and training plans to ensure that staff has the skills to meet current and future departmental commitments
• Manages activities required to develop proposals and to estimate costs, deadlines and risks for bids
• Is responsible for the professional development of his/her teams (organization, competences / skills, careers)
• Ensures the deployment of processes, methods, tools, technical / product / engineering policies while respecting Entity / Business Organization / Thales policies
• Supervises contractors and other systems specialists, by defining their work, coaching them on how and what to prepare, monitoring their progress and directing them on priorities.
• Identifies and implements process improvement initiatives.
• Engages other leaders in the organization to ensure the strategy for design on the project/product is consistent with other initiatives in the organization and is capitalizing on other project/product designs.
• Maximizes product re-use and ensures correct design re-use
• Ensures a maximum consistency of process across all projects and products
• Provides a professional, dynamic, cooperative and high-achieving work environment for the staff

Required Skills and Experience

• You have a technical background in system engineering and overall development of safety critical systems
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering (Systems, Electrical, Computer), Computer Science, or a closely related field 10-20 years of experience in development of software-based System applications
• Knowledge of modern software engineering practices, methods, and tools
• Knowledge of systems development life cycle
• Expertise in URS (Urban Rail Signaling) Systems or in an equivalent industry-Minimum 2 years
• Strong planning and organizational skills
• Excellent technical writing, communication, and presentation skills
• Experience in the preparation of KPIs to track progress of development
• Experience in the preparation of development schedules and budgets
• Experience in Change Management Leadership to drive a team through change
• Experience in process analysis to drive quality and efficiency improvements

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Minimum of 5 year experience in managing a group of technical resources
• Experience in using DOORS, Polarion, Melody advance, or other system design and requirement management tools
• Strong application (automated train control systems) domain knowledge & knowledge of systems engineering principles and practices
• Knowledge of Rail Signaling

Salary Range: $148,000 - $165,000

Benefits

• Health, Dental and Vision plans - 100% of premiums are company-paid
• Retirement Savings Plan with a company match
• Company paid holidays - 3 weeks of vacation
• Company provided Life and accident Insurance, LTD Worklife programs such as Flextime and a variety of Development and Training opportunities

This posting relates to an existing vacancy

We welcome and value differences in background, age, gender, sexuality, family status, disability, race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, and world view. It is our commitment to create an inclusive environment - we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We would be delighted if you would be one of our followers at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hitachirail

Hitachi brings together the world’s greatest minds to help breathe life into new possibilities – and drive innovation for a better future. That’s why we look for individuals who share our pioneering spirit, have imaginative ideas and are fearless when it comes to tackling the world’s biggest challenges. Our people love technology – and they love making a difference. They have a passion for finding new solutions and working with brilliant colleagues. Every day they dedicate themselves to a huge range of exciting projects, contributing to the Hitachi vision around the globe. From engineering new sustainability solutions that conserve water and energy to creating the infrastructure for the smart cities of tomorrow, there’s no challenge too great for our pioneers. And there’s no shortage of opportunities for you to make a difference. Come and experience the dynamic, collaborative and creative environments where your ideas are welcome and new discoveries are waiting. To help you grow to your full potential, we strive to support our employees in their career aspirations and promote the freedom to explore new horizons.

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