R&D Senior Manager, Engineering, China

AVEVA; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough; On-site; GBP 53,000 - 79,000; Full time

Job summary

AVEVA, a global leader in industrial software, seeks an R&D Senior Manager, China, to build and lead a local R&D organization in Beijing for AVEVA Unified Engineering. You will guide compliance exploration and pilot delivery while shaping the China strategy within the global product map.

This role requires proven leadership in a B2B software environment, fluency in business English, and strong experience with AI/LLM in industrial contexts.

Qualifications

• Proven leadership within a B2B enterprise software organization, leading R&D or engineering teams through full product lifecycle.
• Strong understanding of Xinchuang compliance technologies and adapting software to localized environments.
• Practical experience with AI/LLM applications in industrial or engineering contexts.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow the China R&D organization.
• Strategy and direction setting to align China with global product roadmap.
• R&D delivery leadership from exploration to production readiness.
• Support customer engagement and market insight through technical interviews and on-site deployments.

Skills

Leadership in B2B software

Xinchuang compliance

AI/LLM in industry

China tech leadership

Business English

Education

Bachelor's degree or above

Tools

AVEVA E3D/UE

LLM integration

Process industry exp

Job description

AVEVA is a global leader in industrial software. Our cutting-edge solutions are used by thousands of enterprises to deliver the essentials of life – such as energy, infrastructure, chemicals and minerals – safely, efficiently and more sustainably.

We’re the first software business in the world to have our sustainability targets validated by the SBTi, and we’ve been recognized for the transparency and ambition of our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We’ve also recently been named as one of the world’s most innovative companies.

If you’re a curious and collaborative person who wants to make a big impact through technology, then we want to hear from you! Find out more at AVEVA Careers.

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Job Title: R&D Senior Manager, Engineering, China

Location: Beijing, Shanghai

Employment Type: full-time

About AVEVA

AVEVA is a global leader in industrial software, headquartered in Cambridge, UK, and part of the Schneider Electric group. More than 20,000 industrial enterprises across over 100 countries use AVEVA’s technology to engineer, operate, and optimize their assets more safely, efficiently, and sustainably. This role sits within AVEVA’s Engineering business, home to the Unified Engineering platform and a wider portfolio of design and engineering software used by owner-operators and EPCs worldwide.

Role Purpose

This role is primarily accountable for building and leading a local R&D organization in China for delivering AVEVA Unified Engineering’s China strategy through that organization — beginning with compliance exploration and pilot delivery and continuing through its ongoing evolution beyond that initial delivery.

Customer discovery, requirements definition, technical and solution architecture, and the exploration of AI capabilities in China engineering scenarios remain part of the role but are not its primary accountability: you will build a team around you to lead these activities day to day, while you set direction and make the final calls.

A defining element of the role is finding pragmatic intersections between global architectural constraints and China market realities: representing China’s voice within the global product organization, translating local customer requirements into executable R&D pathways, and maximizing local technical innovation within defined authorization boundaries.

This is a role for someone who combines strong organizational leadership with technical judgement and business acumen — able to build and lead a local team that collaborates closely with Engineering teams around the world on an ongoing basis.

What You’ll Do

Lead and Grow the China R&D Organization

• Build, develop, and lead a high-performing local R&D team in China.
• Recruit, develop, and manage the performance of the local R&D team.
• Coordinate resources effectively within a global matrix organization and drive cross-time-zone, cross-cultural technical collaboration.
• Provide regular updates to the China leadership on R&D progress, technical risks, and resource requirements.

Strategy and direction setting

• Represent China in global R&D strategy discussions and ensure China strategy engineering requirements are given appropriate priority in the global product roadmap.
• Define the technical boundaries and feasible delivery scope for the China version of UE and establish a practical path that balances Xinchuang requirements with global architectural constraints.
• Direct your team’s ongoing evaluation of the domestic LLM and AI technology ecosystem for potential integration into engineering design scenarios.

R&D delivery leadership

• Lead technical decision-making and milestone management from compliance exploration and pilot release through to production readiness and beyond, as the China version of UE continues to evolve.
• Lead the local team in completing customization content adaptation, extension development, customized packaging, and validation in localized and Xinchuang environments.
• Direct your team’s exploration of AI agents and copilots to enhance the efficiency of local engineering workflows, building differentiated capabilities that leverage domestic AI models.

Support Customer Engagement and Market Insight

• Guide your team in conducting in-depth technical interviews with strategic customers, translating real engineering execution scenarios from owner-operators and EPCs into product requirements.
• Oversee technical solution design and on-site deployment for pilot projects, with your team leading day-to-day delivery and ensuring priority workflows run reliably in compliant environments.
• Build technical trust with customers and provide credible technical endorsement for the commercial team.

Who You’ll Work With

• The local China R&D team you build and lead
• The UK global R&D organization
• The Portfolio Lead, on scope, priorities, and delivery sequencing
• The China leadership team
• Global product management and the global product roadmap community
• Strategic customers and pilot accounts — owner-operators, EPCs, and their engineering teams

What We’re Looking For

Above all else, we are looking for the right person, not the perfect CV. We value clear thinking, strong judgement, and the ability to make pragmatic technical decisions under real constraints, not just familiarity with tools or terminology. We are prioritizing proven leadership experience within B2B enterprise software organizations over deep domain-specific engineering knowledge, although the latter would also be advantageous.

Core Skills (Required)

• Proven leadership experience within a B2B enterprise software organization, ideally leading R&D or engineering teams through the full product lifecycle.
• Strong understanding of Xinchuang compliance technologies, with hands‑on experience adapting software to localized environments.
• Practical experience with, or strong interest in, AI and LLM applications in industrial or engineering scenarios.
• Experience serving as the China technical leader within a global matrix organization.
• Fluent business English, with the ability to lead technical and strategic discussions with global headquarters.

Core Skills (Beneficial)

• Deep understanding of the digital engineering design stack: 1D data (P&ID tags and attributes), 2D drawings (process flow and layout drawings), and 3D models (piping, structures, equipment).
• Deep user or development experience with AVEVA E3D, Unified Engineering, or similar engineering software platforms.
• Experience integrating domestic LLMs into engineering-scenario AI applications.
• First‑hand engineering project experience in process industries such as power, oil and gas, chemicals, and green energy.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or above in engineering or a related discipline (Master’s preferred) — for example Computer Science, Automation, Chemical Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering.
• 10+ years of experience in engineering software R&D, product technology, or technical management, including 4+ years of team management experience.

Location and Travel

This role is based in Beijing, China, and is delivered jointly with colleagues in the UK and across AVEVA’s global R&D organization, so you will collaborate across multiple time zones daily, and some travel should be expected for customer engagement and knowledge transfer. Strong remote collaboration skills are essential.

R&D at AVEVA

Our global team of 2000+ developers work on an incredibly diverse portfolio of over 75 industrial automation and engineering products, which cover everything from data management to 3D design. AI and cloud are at the centre of our strategy, and we have over 150 patents to our name.

Our track record of innovation is no fluke – it’s the result of a structured and deliberate focus on learning, collaboration and inclusivity. If you want to build applications that solve big problems, join us.

AVEVA requires all successful applicants to undergo and pass a comprehensive background check before they start employment. Background checks will be conducted in accordance with local laws and may, subject to those laws, include proof of educational attainment, employment history verification, proof of work authorization, criminal records, identity verification, credit check. Certain positions dealing with sensitive and/or third party personal data may involve additional background check criteria.

AVEVA is an Equal Opportunity Employer

We are committed to being an exemplary employer with an inclusive culture, developing a workplace environment where all our employees are treated with dignity and respect. We value diversity and the expertise that people from different backgrounds bring to our business.

Come and join AVEVA to create the transformative technology that enables our customers to engineer a better world.