Chief Engineer for Power Sports Boat Mfg

I am conducting a retained search for a Chief Engineer & Director of New Product Engineering for a highly profitable luxury sports product manufacturer.

I would appreciate your suggestions as to how I can identify leaders in the field - are there power boat design awards (websites/magazines?). Any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated.

The attributes sought include:
An ideal candidate will have significant creative, technical and leadership skills with demonstrated track record of bringing innovative new products to market on time and at the targeted costs.

A comprehensive understanding of how to accelerate the new product design cycle through disciplined project management tools; partnership with key suppliers, and the use of advanced CAD methods, FEA, FMEA, and statistical design of experiment (DOE) methods to maximize quality and speed of components into manufacturing.

Effective leaders with the ability to build a team of A players who are both highly creative and pragmatic is essential; must have business savvy in that he or she understands the primary value drivers that make a fundamental difference in building a unique and sustainable competitive advantage in their industry. Product quality is essential to success with a focus on improving the reliability of the most important product characteristics and enhancing the product’s standing in JD Power survey.

BS in Engineering from a respected engineering school is required. Candidate must have at least 3 years direct leadership experience managing the new product delivery process for a business unit. Advanced degree in Engineering will be considered a plus; Six Sigma experience / certification particularly with DFSS methods is a plus; new product leadership experience within the marine industry is a significant plus.

Thanks in advance.

 

Questions

I am curious to know if this luxury sports boat manufacturer has potential employment opportunities in other areas of the business. I am assuming that one reason this company is looking for a New Product Engineer is that they are looking to expand, which could possibly equate to other employment opportunities in other areas. Specifically, what kinds of luxury sports boats does this company manufacture? I am extremely interested in getting into the industry and learning design, production and marketing of performance ski & wakeboard boats. I understand this not the reply you were hoping for, but I had to ask. I would greatly appreciate any feedback or direction that you can offer. Thank you.

 

I am not aware of any ski/wakeboarding company in the NJ area...perhaps you could apply for an internship to any of the 10 or so companies in TN and California?? Another option is to work for a dealer, learn the business and then apply to these companies with the experience you've gained.

I'm afraid I don't have any opportunities for entry level positions. Good luck in your search!

 

Thanks

Thank you for your quick response. I am in the process of exploring all of those options that you suggeted. I just figured that I would take a shot and ask the question of you after reading your thread. In any event, I greatly appreciate your time and feedback. Thanks again.

 

Go to IBEX, (http://www.proboat.com), walk around, and talk to Eric Sponberg, Eric Greene, Rob Schofield, Lou Codega, Don Blount, Dean Schleicher, Dick Akers, (they are giving seminars and are the top technical dogs in the field) and especially Carl Cramer (publisher of PBB and organizer of IBEX) and Paul Lazarus (PBB editor) and see who they suggest - basically everyone knows everyone else - sorry if I have left out someone, but these were the names that came to mind quickly. Also contact some marine industry headhunters, Cassidy and Assoc., Bryan Spencer, and Todaro Assoc. are the major players in the marine field. Contact Kevin Stone at Proteus Engineering to get a list of MAESTRO users for FEA, and Rino users. Don MacPherson at Hydrocomp will also know his users, as will Bill Plice at GHS.

Look and see who has published SNAME, ASNE, MACC, HPYacht, RINA, HISWA etc. papers, who has done articles in Professional BoatBuilder and who has done seminars at IBEX, and on what.

Finally, ask Phil Kimball at SNAME (www.sname.org) for some leads - he can tell you who is on the small craft panels and the advanced craft panels, for example.

Note though, the field is pretty tight for really good people,especially with TPS/Lean/5S/Taguchi experience.

 

Thank You

CDBarry-

Thanks so much for the information. It is greatly appreciated.

JP2

 

The Superyacht Society

PlayerSearch:

You might make inquiry within The SuperYacht Society, (http://www.superyachtsociety.com, or contact Vanessa Stuart at (954) 525-6625) of which I have been a member the past year.

A partial description of the Society and its function from their Web site:

"The Superyacht Society is the sole organization serving and representing the large yacht industry worldwide. Society members are individuals and companies who have been recognized for their leadership and dedication to raising the standards of design construction, maintenance, repair and operation of large yachts. ..."

As the Society's name suggests, their primary focus is vessels above 24 meters (79 feet). However, the members' fields are not necessarily limited to that size range. A prominent activity of the Society is the annual Design Award ceremony held each year during the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show. Members work in both power and sail arenas.

Extending you best regards,

Don Gale
South Salem, NY