Design Manager

Rowden; West of England; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Rowden is seeking a Design Manager to lead the end-to-end hardware product lifecycle, from concept through production, balancing user needs, technical constraints and commercial considerations. The role requires on-site Bristol HQ presence at least three days a week and eligibility for SC clearance.

You will own the product roadmap, translate user needs into actionable requirements, and align engineering, manufacturing, and delivery teams to meet ambitious performance and cost targets.

Qualifications

• Experience delivering hardware products from concept to production.
• Leading cross-functional teams through complex delivery.
• Ability to prioritise and trade off in constrained environments.
• Understanding of supply chain, manufacturing and production logistics.
• Translating customer needs into delivery requirements.

Responsibilities

• Own and develop the product roadmap aligned with market need and business strategy.
• Define a clear product vision, translating customer problems into actionable requirements.
• Prioritise features and capabilities across multiple platforms and constraints.
• Communicate vision clearly to cross-functional teams, customers, and stakeholders.
• Manage hardware product delivery across the full lifecycle; concept, design, prototyping, production.
• Own schedule, quality, cost and technical risk across product lines.
• Make trade-off decisions between performance, cost, timeline and capability in ambiguous environments.
• Drive integration and manufacturing readiness; understand supply chain constraints and logistics.
• Ensure products meet specification, reliability, cost targets and customer expectations.
• Build and lead a small team (design, engineering, and operations as needed).
• Support your team through technical decisions, problem-solving and career development.
• Work cross-functionally with engineering, manufacturing, supply chain and customer teams.
• Mentor engineers and establish a culture of accountability and pragmatism.
• Maintain direct relationships with customers; understand their operational needs and constraints.
• Respond quickly to market feedback and customer requests.
• Contribute to go-to-market strategy, pricing, business cases and bid development.
• Ensure customer and end-user needs are reflected in product priorities and decision-making.
• Identify and escape technical, schedule and supply chain risks early.
• Manage design and delivery risks proactively; tolerate ambiguity while driving clarity.
• Ensure quality and reliability standards are met; own test and validation strategy.
• Make pragmatic decisions when data is incomplete or timelines are tight.

Skills

Product management

Cross-functional leadership

Roadmap prioritization

Hardware product delivery

Manufacturing logistics

Job description

Design Manager

Department: Product

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: Bristol, UK

Reporting To: Jake Reynolds

Compensation: £70,000 - £90,000 / year

Description

We’re building the UK's next generation engineering powerhouse, providing critical technology that strengthens national security and resilience.

We specialise in turning advances in sensing, AI, and communications into operational capability for the edge, where connectivity may be degraded or denied. Our work focuses on accelerating the deployment of technology, improving decision-making for frontline teams, and protecting people and critical assets in demanding environments.

Headquartered in Bristol, Rowden employs around 200 people and operates over 20,000 square feet of engineering and manufacturing facilities. We have a growing international footprint and are one of Europe’s fastest-growing engineering businesses.

The Role

We are looking for a Product Manager to lead the development and delivery of products from concept through to deployment. Working closely with customers, engineers and delivery teams, this role is responsible for defining product direction, setting priorities and ensuring successful delivery against business and user objectives.

You will own the product roadmap, translate user needs into actionable requirements, and make informed trade‑off decisions across scope, schedule, cost and technical complexity. Success in this role comes from identifying the right problems to solve, aligning teams behind a clear direction, and delivering products that solve real operational challenges.

Reporting to the VP of Product, the Product Manager works alongside a Technical Lead who is responsible for technical implementation and engineering leadership. Together, they are accountable for delivering products that meet user needs, achieve business goals and create meaningful operational impact.

This role would suit someone with experience taking hardware‑enabled products from concept to production, who is comfortable balancing user needs, technical constraints and commercial considerations in a fast‑moving environment.

This role requires a minimum of 3 days per week on‑site at our Bristol HQ.

Candidates must be eligible for SC clearance.

More information about security clearance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels

Key areas of responsibility

Product Leadership & Roadmap

• Own and develop the product roadmap aligned with market need and business strategy.
• Define a clear product vision, translating customer problems into actionable requirements.
• Prioritise features and capabilities across multiple platforms and constraints.
• Communicate vision clearly to cross‑functional teams, customers, and stakeholders.

Delivery & Execution

• Manage hardware product delivery across the full lifecycle; concept, design, prototyping, production.
• Own schedule, quality, cost and technical risk across product lines.
• Make trade‐off decisions between performance, cost, timeline and capability in ambiguous environments.
• Drive integration and manufacturing readiness; understand supply chain constraints and logistics.
• Ensure products meet specification, reliability, cost targets and customer expectations.

Team Leadership

• Build and lead a small team (design, engineering, and operations as needed).
• Support your team through technical decisions, problem‑solving and career development.
• Work cross‑functionally with engineering, manufacturing, supply chain and customer teams.
• Mentor engineers and establish a culture of accountability and pragmatism.

Customer & Market Engagement

• Maintain direct relationships with customers; understand their operational needs and constraints.
• Respond quickly to market feedback and customer requests.
• Contribute to go‑to‑market strategy, pricing, business cases and bid development.
• Ensure customer and end‑user needs are reflected in product priorities and decision‑making.

Risk & Quality Management

• Identify and escape technical, schedule and supply chain risks early.
• Manage design and delivery risks proactively; tolerate ambiguity while driving clarity.
• Ensure quality and reliability standards are met; own test and validation strategy.
• Make pragmatic decisions when data is incomplete or timelines are tight.

What success looks like

Within the first 12–18 months, you will have:

• Delivered a product or product increment on time, to specification, within cost and quality targets.
• Established clear ownership of the roadmap and demonstrated responsiveness to customer/market feedback.
• Built a capable, engaged team with clear accountability and technical capability.
• Navigated supply chain complexity and cost optimisation without compromising quality.
• Made multiple trade‑off decisions that balanced competing priorities (performance vs. cost, speed vs. quality, scope vs. timeline).
• Earned trust from engineering, manufacturing, senior stakeholders and customer teams through pragmatic, honest delivery.

Key skills, experience and behaviours

Essential

• Experience delivering hardware products from concept to production, with experience managing end‑to‑end product lifecycle.
• Track record of leading cross‑functional teams through complex, multi‑disciplinary delivery.
• Proven ability to prioritise, make trade‑off decisions, and execute in resource‑constrained or ambiguous environments.
• Strong understanding of supply chain, manufacturing, cost management and production logistics.
• Experience defining product requirements, managing roadmaps and translating customer needs into delivery.

Desirable

• Software product development or supporting software‑hardware integration.
• RF, electronics or communications domain knowledge.
• Defence, aerospace or mission‑critical systems background (familiar with compliance and demanding customers).
• Familiarity with agile delivery, rapid prototyping and iterative development.

Technical Capability

• You do not need to be an RF engineer or electronics expert, but you need to understand technical tradeoffs and be able to speak credibly with engineers about design decisions.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and incomplete information; able to drive decisions forward despite uncertainty.
• Pragmatic problem‑solver who prioritises getting to a working solution over perfect planning.

About you

• You care about solving real customer and end‑user problems and can translate those needs into product direction.
• You are comfortable making decisions, setting priorities and being accountable for outcomes.
• You can balance user needs, technical constraints and commercial considerations when making trade‑offs.
• You are willing to get stuck in, support your team directly, and push delivery forward yourself.
• You communicate clearly, build trust quickly and work effectively across engineering, delivery and commercial teams.
• You thrive in ambiguous, fast‑moving environments and are comfortable creating clarity where it doesn't yet exist.

Working at Rowden

We are committed to building a flexible, inclusive, and enabling company. Our aim is to create a diverse team of talented people with unique skills, experience, and backgrounds,

We also recognise the importance of flexible working and support this wherever we can. We typically operate a flexible, hybrid‑working model, with an average 3 days in the office each week (dependent on the role). We welcome the opportunity to discuss flexibility, part‑time working requirements and/or workplace adjustments with all our applicants.

Rowden is a Disability Confident Committed company, and we actively encourage people with disabilities and health conditions to apply for our roles. Please let us know your requirements early on so that we can make sure you have everything you need up front to help make the recruitment process and experience as easy as possible.