Senior Product Development Governance & Process Leader

Daikin Applied Americas; Plymouth (MN); Hybrid; USD 113,800 - 193,900; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k) plan

Paid time off

Tuition Reimbursement

Job summary

Daikin Applied Americas is seeking a Senior Manager, Product Development Governance & Process Excellence to lead the governance, deployment, continuous improvement, and operational effectiveness of the company’s product development framework in Plymouth, MN.

This hybrid role collaborates with Engineering, Product Management, Quality, Reliability, Compliance, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain to drive alignment and disciplined execution.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Engineering Technology, Business, Operations, or a related technical discipline.
• 8+ years of experience in Program Management, Product Development, Engineering Operations, Quality, Process Excellence, or related disciplines.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex cross-functional initiatives.
• Strong understanding of product development processes, governance models, and project execution methodologies.
• Experience driving process improvement and organizational change.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, leadership, and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Own and continuously improve the company’s product development governance framework, decision-making processes, and stage-gate operating model
• Define and maintain governance standards, readiness expectations, escalation paths, and decision criteria
• Establish consistent operating mechanisms that support effective execution across multiple product development portfolios
• Facilitate governance reviews and readiness assessments that enable informed, evidence-based decisions
• Lead deployment of new processes, tools, governance models, and operating practices across the organization
• Develop implementation and sustainment strategies that drive long-term adoption
• Train, coach, and support teams on process expectations, governance requirements, and best practices
• Foster a culture of disciplined execution, accountability, and continuous improvement
• Develop metrics, dashboards, and reporting mechanisms that provide visibility into execution performance, milestone achievement, risks, dependencies, and organizational readiness
• Monitor process health and organizational performance to identify opportunities for improvement
• Provide leadership with actionable insights that support effective prioritization and decision-making
• Improve predictability, transparency, and confidence in product development execution
• Partner with Engineering, Product Management, Quality, Reliability, Compliance, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain teams to drive alignment and execution excellence
• Facilitate collaboration across organizational boundaries to improve development outcomes
• Lead cross-functional teams in resolving execution challenges and implementing process improvements
• Influence stakeholders at all levels through leadership, communication, and data-driven decision making
• Lead strategic initiatives that strengthen product development capabilities and organizational effectiveness
• Support evolution of the company’s product development operating model
• Identify opportunities to improve execution speed, decision quality, launch readiness, and overall development performance
• Drive initiatives that improve enterprise-wide product development maturity

Skills

Program management

Cross-functional leadership

Process improvement

Stakeholder management

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering/Tech/Business

Job description

Daikin Applied Americas is seeking a Senior Manager, Product Development Governance & Process Excellence to lead the governance, deployment, continuous improvement, and operational effectiveness of the company’s product development framework in Plymouth, MN.

This hybrid role collaborates with Engineering, Product Management, Quality, Reliability, Compliance, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain to drive alignment and disciplined execution.