Head of Design & R&D - Fitness Hardware

cult fit; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 4,500,000 - 6,500,000; Full time

Job summary

CultSport is building an in-house hardware design and R&D capability in Bengaluru. We are hiring a senior leader to own our fitness equipment portfolio end to end—from product architecture to volume manufacturing with production partners.

This is a hands-on, build-from-scratch mandate. You will define how our products are engineered, set technical standards, and build the team that delivers them on time and at scale.

Qualifications

• 10–15 years in consumer hardware, including 3–5 years leading a design or NPD function.
• Deep mechanical design strength: high-volume part design, sheet metal, tubular structures, mechanisms, DFM/DFA, GD&T.
• Fluent in SolidWorks, Creo or NX with simulation to guide design decisions.
• Genuine tooling experience: specify tools, run trials, engage with suppliers.
• Experience with BLDC motors, drives, gearing and battery systems.
• Strong cost engineering instincts and judgment on impactful engineering choices.
• Experience collaborating with global design and supply partners.

Responsibilities

• Define a scalable engineering platform architecture across categories.
• Own core mechanical design from concept to validated prototype and design freeze.
• Drive tooling design, first-off-tool and embed manufacturability from day one.
• Specify and integrate motors, drives, battery systems, controls and displays.
• Lead testing, validation, certification and reliability targets.
• Collaborate with production partners on process definition, fixtures and yield ramp.
• Own cost, BOM, should-costing, teardowns and value engineering.
• Hire, mentor and lead a compact senior engineering team and establish standards.

Skills

Leadership

CAD design

DFM/DFA

GD&T

Cost engineering

Team building

System integration

Motor and battery know-how

Simulation

Tools

SolidWorks

Creo

NX

Job description

CultSport is building an in-house hardware design and R&D capability. We are hiring a senior leader to own

our fitness equipment portfolio end to end from product architecture and design through to volume

manufacturing with our production partners.

This is a hands‑on, build‑it‑from‑scratch mandate. You will define how our products are engineered, set the

technical standards, and build the team that delivers them.

What you will own

• Product architecture. Define a small number of scalable engineering platforms across our categories, so that new models launch faster and at better cost without proliferating complexity.
• Mechanical design. Own the core of the product structures, mechanisms, enclosures and ergonomics from concept and CAD through detailed design, prototyping and design freeze.
• Tooling and DFM. Drive tool design intent, tool development and validation through to first‑off‑tool, and embed manufacturability into the design from day one.
• System integration. Specify, evaluate and integrate motors, drives, battery systems, controls and displays into reliable finished products, and hold partners to spec.
• Testing and compliance. Build our validation regimen structural and fatigue testing, drop and vibration, thermal, electrical safety and EMC — and own certification and reliability targets.
• Manufacturing readiness. Work alongside our production partners on process definition, fixtures, first article approval, yield and quality ramp. Expect real time on the shop floor.
• Cost ownership. Carry the BOM. Drive should‑costing, teardowns and value engineering as a continuous discipline, not an annual exercise.
• Team building. Hire, mentor and lead a compact senior engineering team, and establish the design and documentation standards it works to.

What you bring

• 10–15 years in consumer hardware, consumer durables or electro‑mechanical product development, including 3–5 years leading a design or NPD function.
• A track record of taking multiple products from concept to mass production. Deep mechanical design strength: part design for high‑volume moulding, sheet metal and tubular structures, mechanism design, DFM/DFA, GD&T and tolerance stack‑up. Fluent in SolidWorks, Creo or NX, and comfortable using simulation to make design calls.
• Genuine tooling experience — you have specified tools, run trials and lived with the consequences. Working knowledge of BLDC motors, drives, gearboxes and battery systems: enough to specify, qualify and challenge a supplier's numbers.
• Strong cost engineering instincts and the judgement to know which engineering decisions actually move the number.
• Experience working across global design and supply partners, and the ability to bring that capability in- House.

Backgrounds that fit well

Design and NPD leadership from consumer electronics, appliances, power tools, personal care devices, mobility or original design manufacturing environments.