Director of Product Development

Gunwerks; Cody (WY); On-site; USD 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) with company match

Relocation assistance

Paid time off 25 days

Job summary

Gunwerks is seeking a Director of Product Development to own the entire product roadmap and lead engineering and product management teams in Cody, Wyoming. This on-site, full-time role requires a hands-on leader capable of delivering rapid prototypes and launches for a complete long-range shooting system.

You will work closely with manufacturing, marketing, and sales to ensure products meet customer needs and business goals. Relentless focus on speed, cost, and quality is essential.

Qualifications

• Evidence of exceptional ability. Show us what you built, shipped, or improved.
• You are hands-on and will own CAD release and engineering calls from day one.
• 10+ years of hardware product development with at least 5 years leading teams.

Responsibilities

• Own the Gunwerks product roadmap end-to-end with major platform launches and drops.
• Define what we build by fielding customer input and market knowledge.
• Own the business case, price, forecast, margin, and decisions to keep/update/retire products.
• Lead a small elite team across design engineers, rapid prototyping, test, PMs, and a PM. Hire and raise the bar.
• Drive hardware-rich development: build, test, and iterate quickly.
• Attack cost and complexity; design to cost.

Skills

Roadmap ownership

Hands-on engineering

Hardware product development

Team leadership

Customer field research

Education

Engineering degree preferred

Tools

CAD

Job description

Job Solicitation

Director of Product Development

Gunwerks | Cody, Wyoming | Full-Time | On-Site

What to Expect

Gunwerks exists to inspire and deliver the perfect shot. For nearly two decades we have built the complete long-range shooting system: rifle, optic, ammunition, ballistics, and training, engineered as one system and proven in the field. We are a fast growing, vertically integrated company, and we are going to $100M. Product is how we get there.

We are looking for the person who will own our entire product roadmap and lead our product engineering and product management teams. You will decide what we build, what we kill, and how fast we ship it. Then you will make it happen.

This is not a normal job. The pace is intense, the standard is extremely high, and the problems are hard. We move from idea to prototype to the range in days, not quarters. We delete more than we add. We test to failure on purpose. We hold our dates. If that sounds exhausting, this is not the role for you. If it sounds like the job you have been waiting for, keep reading.

What You'll Do

• Own the Gunwerks product roadmap and portfolio end to end: 1 to 3 major platform launches and 6 to 8 limited drops every year, on the date.
• Define what we build. Spend time in the field with our customers, know the market and the competition cold, and turn what you learn into products serious hunters cannot wait to own.
• Own the business of every product: the business case, the price, the forecast, the margin, and the decision to keep, update, or retire it.
• Lead a small, elite team: design engineers, rapid prototype team, a test technician, product managers, and a project manager. You are also the engineering lead. Hire the best. Raise the bar every quarter.
• Drive hardware-rich development: build it, shoot it, break it, fix it, and do it again this week.
• Attack cost and complexity in every design. The best part is no part.
• Work hand in hand with Manufacturing so that every design is easy to build right the first time.
• Spend your time where the work is: the bench, the shop floor, and the range. Not a conference room.
• Own positioning, naming, packaging, and launch with Marketing and Sales. Launch products that sell out.

What You'll Bring

• Evidence of exceptional ability. Show us what you built, what you shipped, and what you made faster, cheaper, or better than anyone thought possible.
• You are hands-on. You will personally own CAD release and the engineering calls on day one. This role is not for someone who stopped engineering years ago.
• 10+ years of hardware product development, with at least 5 years leading teams. You have taken multiple physical products from concept to production.
• Real product management depth: you have built roadmaps, written business cases and requirements, set prices, forecast demand, and launched premium consumer products that sold.
• Deep mechanical engineering fluency: CAD, drawings, GD&T, tolerance analysis, materials, and manufacturing processes such as CNC machining, composites, and finishing.
• A track record of shipping on aggressive schedules and cutting cycle time.
• Command of cost: you know what a part should cost from its raw material and its process steps, and you design to that number.
• A bias to action. You decide with incomplete data, own the result, and correct fast.
• The ability to attract, lead, and keep exceptional people, and the courage to address underperformance.
• Firearms, optics, aerospace, defense, automotive, or other precision hardware experience is a strong plus. A degree in engineering is preferred; exceptional ability counts more than credentials.
• A passion for hunting and long-range shooting helps you understand our customer. It is not required.

Why Gunwerks

We are not a typical gun company. We are a small team building the most capable long-range hunting systems in the world, from our own facility in Cody, Wyoming. The products you lead here will be used on once-in-a-lifetime hunts all over the world. Your work will be visible to our customers, our industry, and our audience on our YouTube channel, Instagram, and Facebook. To see who we are, watch the Gunwerks story.

Compensation And Benefits

• Base salary: $150,000 to $200,000 per year, based on ability and experience.
• Performance bonus: 15% to 35%, tied to launches delivered on date and on margin.
• Company profit incentive program from day one.
• Comprehensive health insurance with a generous employer contribution, starting the first day of the month after your hire date, with options to add dependents.
• Access to dental, vision, accident, life, critical illness, and short-term disability insurance.
• 25 days of paid time off, including 10 company and U.S. holidays.
• 401(k) with Roth options and company match, with automatic enrollment after 6 months.
• Employee discounts on everything Gunwerks, plus industry and local partner discounts.
• Relocation support to Cody, Wyoming.

Job Details

• Location: Cody, Wyoming. On-site, full time. Relocation required. The work is here, and so is the team.
• Reports to: CEO
• Export control: This role requires access to technical data controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Applicants must be U.S. persons (U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, or protected individuals as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)).

Gunwerks is an equal opportunity employer.