HVAC R&D Director: Innovation & Product Strategy

Midea America; Plano (TX); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Midea America Corp. is seeking an Engineering Director to lead Residential HVAC R&D for unitary and ductless products, overseeing design, regulatory compliance, and advanced research.

The role requires coordinating teams in Louisville and Plano, driving technology roadmaps and early-stage concept validation to position the portfolio for future growth. Travel is required domestically and internationally to support customers and align global R&D efforts, with responsibility for meeting product

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or related field.
• 8+ years’ experience in HVAC product design and development.
• Proven leadership experience managing engineers.
• Experience leading product development cycle from customer requirements to launch.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate with technical teams & mentor engineers.
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to organize/execute a strategy.
• Goal-oriented & self-managed.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead and oversee the residential HVAC R&D team across product design, regulatory, and industrial design functions, ensuring coordinated execution between team members located in the Louisville, KY and Plano, TX offices.
• Lead the end-to-end development process for new products and innovations, translating market requirements into defined concepts and driving refinement through early-stage validation
• Be the primary owner of the technology and product roadmaps for these categories of products, ensuring alignment with business strategy, regulatory requirements, and customer needs
• Drive ongoing competitive intelligence efforts, including trends, performance comparisons, and analysis of competitor products, technology, and marketing claims
• Work with the advanced research team to drive innovation strategy and pull new ideas into the roadmaps
• Collaborate with quality, product safety, IoT and consumer insights resources throughout the product planning and launch processes
• Manage weekly R&D calls with international team – tracking action items, assigning duties, etc.
• Lead customer-facing discussions to identify product gaps, performance expectations, and specification requirements, and drive alignment of the engineering team around a focused product strategy
• Ability to travel domestically & internationally

Skills

Leadership

HVAC design

Product development

Cross-functional liaison

Mentoring engineers

Project management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Job description

Midea America Corp. is seeking an Engineering Director to lead Residential HVAC R&D for unitary and ductless products, overseeing design, regulatory compliance, and advanced research.

The role requires coordinating teams in Louisville and Plano, driving technology roadmaps and early-stage concept validation to position the portfolio for future growth. Travel is required domestically and internationally to support customers and align global R&D efforts, with responsibility for meeting product