Lead Design Engineer - Accessories

Tait International Limited; Christchurch; On-site; NZD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Annual flu vaccinations

Extra sick leave in your first year

Free onsite parking

Gym access

Café

Long service benefits

Active social club

Job summary

Tait Communications is seeking an Engineering Lead for Accessories (Lead Design Engineer) to own the accessories portfolio, translating architecture and requirements into practical engineering plans and delivered products. You’ll guide development across local and remote teams through design, validation, release, and support while balancing quality, reliability, manufacturability and compliance.

You will lead across hardware, electrical, mechanical, audio, and regulatory considerations, ensuring

Qualifications

• Proven hardware product lifecycle experience from design to manufacturing.
• Experience with audio, mechanical, environmental, or regulatory requirements.
• Broad hardware development expertise with some software/embedded familiarity.
• Ability to translate requirements into practical engineering solutions and drive delivery with teams.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical direction and performance of the accessories portfolio.
• Translate product architecture and requirements into practical engineering solutions.
• Lead development, validation, and delivery of accessory products.
• Act as the technical authority for accessory design and engineering decisions.
• Manage product lifecycle, compliance, and continuous improvement.
• Identify and mitigate risks while building engineering capability.

Skills

Hardware development leadership

Cross-functional leadership

Technical judgement

Project management

Embedded systems familiarity

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering

Tools

Embedded systems

Regulatory compliance knowledge

Job description

We Go Beyond for A Safer World Te Tūranga - The Role As Engineering Lead for Accessories (Lead Design Engineer) you’ll take ownership of Tait's accessories portfolio, shaping the products that enable customers to get the best performance from their Tait solutions. From audio accessories and chargers to docks, carry solutions, and future innovations, you'll play a key role in delivering products that are trusted in demanding real-world environments. Working closely with the Accessories Architect, you'll be responsible for translating product architecture, technical requirements, and design direction into practical engineering plans and delivered products. You'll coordinate development across local and remote teams, guiding products through design, validation, release, and ongoing support while ensuring they meet Tait's standards for quality, reliability, manufacturability, and compliance. This is a broad and influential leadership role that combines technical depth with product ownership. You'll guide design decisions, solve complex engineering challenges, and provide technical leadership across mechanical, electrical, audio, manufacturing, and compliance considerations. Beyond new product development, you'll also oversee the long-term health of the portfolio, driving continuous improvement, managing technical risk, and ensuring products remain supportable and fit for purpose throughout their lifecycle. If you enjoy taking ownership, leading cross-functional teams, and bringing high-quality products to market, this is an opportunity to make a significant impact on both our products and our customers.

Key responsibilities include:

• Own the technical direction and performance of Tait's accessories portfolio.
• Translate product architecture and requirements into practical engineering solutions.
• Lead the development, validation, and delivery of accessory products.
• Act as the technical authority for accessory design and engineering decisions.
• Manage product lifecycle, compliance, and continuous improvement activities.
• Identify and mitigate risks while building engineering capability and knowledge.

To view the position description click here.

About You

You are an outstanding senior engineer and technical leader with broad engineering judgement and the ability to operate across hardware, electrical, mechanical, audio, compliance, and delivery environments. You are comfortable taking technical direction from architecture, turning it into practical engineering delivery, and guiding teams through the trade-offs required to get robust accessory products to market. You are a jack of all trades engineering leader with enough depth to make sound technical decisions, ask the right questions, and bring the right specialists together. You are comfortable owning difficult delivery and lifecycle decisions, especially where product performance, compliance, manufacturability, cost, and long-term supportability must be balanced.

You bring:

• Proven experience developing and supporting hardware products through the full product lifecycle, from design and validation through to manufacturing and ongoing product care.
• Experience working with products that have demanding audio, mechanical, environmental, or regulatory requirements.
• Broad engineering capability across hardware development, with sufficient familiarity with software and embedded systems to work effectively across multidisciplinary teams.
• The ability to translate technical requirements into practical engineering solutions and drive delivery through internal teams, suppliers, contractors, and development partners.
• Experience supporting products in market, including component obsolescence, supply chain challenges, compliance obligations, and field issues.
• Strong technical judgement, communication, and leadership skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders, mentor engineers, and make sound engineering trade-offs.

Ngā painga - What's in it for you?

We are an employer that is committed to making a difference for families and communities and supporting people to build rewarding careers. We achieve this through employing people who connect with our Values (Commitment to listen. Courage to Act and Integrity to Deliver) that underpin our way of working together. We are committed to investing in our people, developing both individuals and teams to support a high-performance culture. We prioritise your wellbeing through health insurance, annual flu vaccinations and extra sick leave in your first year. We provide a comfortable work environment through modern office facilities with free onsite parking, gym, and café. We recognise your commitment through long service benefits. We balance work with fun through our active social club!

• Health insurance
• Annual flu vaccinations
• Extra sick leave in your first year
• Free onsite parking
• Gym access
• Café
• Long service benefits
• Active social club

About Us

For more than 50 years, Tait Communications has been designing, delivering, and supporting critical communications networks for public safety, transportation and utility customers around the world. Founded in Christchurch by Sir Angus Tait, we now have a network of customers and offices that spans the globe. Our employees value being part of a creative team committed to providing technological solutions that make a real difference to the communities we support. By joining Tait, you'll be joining a community of people with a wealth of knowledge and expertise, who care deeply about their work and the genuine impact it has for our customers, and who support each other to grow and develop.

Diversity & Inclusion Statement

Tait Communications is committed to fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued, respected and empowered to succeed. We are encourage applications from all backgrounds to apply.