Director of Product Development
We are seeking a Director of Product Development who will serve as a key team leader reporting to the CEO by owning the development of photovoltaic module product development, as well as being a highly engaged technical contributor. This includes directing the internal design efforts on PV cells, mechanical components, packaging, electrical and process design and certification for solar modules. Role will also collaborate closely with internal and external global supply and manufacturing partners, and certification laboratories to optimize the design for manufacturability and low cost. We seek a self-motivated and highly creative contributor and team-leader with significant product-engineering experience and a serious interest in renewable energy technologies to join our world manufacturing headquarters located in Thornton, Colorado.
Responsibilities:
-Conceptualize advanced products, develop initial prototypes, and transition prototypes into volume manufacturing
-Play a key role at initial architectural definition of the Company's products, from customer input to functional definition and mechanical configuration
-Deploy product functional characteristics into sub-system requirements, and ensure that such sub-systems can be defined, prototyped and integrated into a complete system quickly and cost-effectively
-Drive product development of CIGS-based photovoltaic modules optimized for market applications that leverage our unique flexible modules
-Lead reliability and quality functions, while working with manufacturing, to ensure product design robustness, capabilities of suppliers and manufacturing partners, and timely product certification
-Develop Product Requirements document by translating customer and market requirements into product specifications
-Evaluate and design standard balance of system configurations for various application uses
-Work directly with customers and through the sales team to identify key system requirements and customer needs; will interact with a wide variety of groups both within and external to the organization
-Benchmark analysis of existing competitor product offerings in the market for comparison against existing and new product real-world performance
-Develop financial modeling of new and existing products
-Perform feature/benefit analysis on new products and analyze/test new products to meet or exceed international codes and standards
-Drive certification activities with external agencies
-Perform product development activities to support sales such as creating data sheets and installation manuals, and performing specification reviews
-Create product development schedules using stage gate process as well as product roadmaps for internal and external use
-Work directly with customers to provide technical assistance
Requirements:
-US Citizen or Permanent Resident
-Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science or equivalent; Masters preferred
-5+ years experience leading PV product development and product management, including product certification
-Possess a highly refined sense of manufacturability and component assembly methods, materials selection to achieve function and cost simultaneously
-Experience leading product and/or technology development teams on a short schedule to achieve high quality results is expected
-Experience in the use of current modeling methodologies for estimating capital and manufacturing costs, including sensitivity analyses
-As product and life cycle cost are key considerations in the Company's efforts, experience in designing new products to achieve initial and life cycle cost would be highly desirable
-Broad based experience in DFM issues and field failure modes relating to PV modules and systems
-Demonstrated ability to effectively deliver product designs suitable for mass production
-Working knowledge of PV systems modeling, both steady state and transient would be beneficial
-Experience with codes and standards related to the solar industry
-Strategic vision planning and the ability to translate this into an actionable plan
-Self motivated with ability to take on leading role in product development
-Team player with a track record of success working with cross-functional teams
-High level of organization skill as well as excellent technical and team leadership skills
-Outstanding communication skills with excellent writing skills
-Strong computer skills: MS Word, Excel and Outlook
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and offer a dynamic and versatile work environment. If you enjoy working in a team environment with a competitive benefits package including: medical, dental, vision, life, STD, LTD and a 401(k) match, than Ascent Solar Technologies is the place for you. Please send your resume with salary requirements to employment@ascentsolar.com .
