Director of Technology - Located in Jiaxing, China

At Outform Group, our guiding philosophy is Dare To Innovate.

Outform Group specializes in creating tangible consumer engagements that elevate, connect and humanize brand experiences. We unite leading experts in research, strategy, design, innovation and manufacturing, who work together to create unforgettable brand experiences.

Lean, interdisciplinary teams work in close collaboration with clients, helping them to solve their user’s biggest problems. Our user-centric, data-driven approach focuses on creating a seamless experience across different environments.

THIS POSITION IS LOCATED IN JIAXING, CHINA

JOB SUMMARY

The Director of Technology is the senior technical authority for Outform's China operation, responsible for receiving technology programs from US and EMEA project teams, adapting designs for retail compliance and manufacturability, and ensuring all technology components meet Outform's engineering and safety standards before production.

This is a hands-on engineering leadership role, not a program management or commercial role. The Director of Technology owns the technical quality of everything Outform ships from China with an electronic or digital component.

Outform creates exciting, interactive retail environments. To stay on the cutting edge, we maintain a pool of technology vendors and regularly onboard more vendors to meet the needs of the projects. This role will be the critical interface between our regional account teams and our China-based development partners.

This role reports directly to the SVP, Development and has formal authority over vendor component qualification and technical sign-off.

DIRECT REPORTS

The following positions report directly to the Director of Technology located in China:

• Technical Project Manager(s)
• Hardware Developer
• Software Developer
• System Engineer

SCOPE & ACCOUNTABILITY

The Director of Technology holds end-to-end accountability for the technical integrity of every electronic and digital product Outform ships from China. The role carries real decision authority, including a hard production-release gate, and is the single point of technical ownership between our regional account teams and our China vendor and engineering base. Specifically, the role is accountable for:

• Technical sign-off authority. Final approval on all China vendor component selection and engineering submissions. No electronic or digital component enters production without documented sign-off from this role, which holds the authority to block production release until compliance and quality gaps are resolved.
• Building and leading the China technology function. Full ownership of a team that must be stood up from a small base: Technical Project Manager(s), Hardware Developer, Software Developer, and System Engineer, including hiring, capability development, and allocation across concurrent programs.
• The standards library. Accountable for creating and maintaining Outform's China technology standards from a blank slate, including component qualification criteria, compliance parameters, and QC/verification documentation that today do not exist in-country.
• Full pipeline coverage. Technical owner for the entire China digital and electronic pipeline handed off from US and EMEA, a program pipeline in the tens of millions and growing, spanning media players, LED, controllers, and integrated displays across major retail programs.
• Vendor technical governance. Ownership of the engineering relationship with Outform's China vendor pool (concentrated in Shenzhen and Shanghai) qualification, evaluation, and direct engineer-to-engineer channels, keeping technical decisions out of procurement and operations.
• Cross-regional hand-off quality. Accountable for the clarity and correctness of every technical hand-off to and from US/EMEA:  the definitive technical voice for China in kickoffs, design-intent resolution, and post-deployment root-cause analysis.
• Boundaries of the role. Owns technical quality and engineering governance, not commercial negotiation, program/account management, or production scheduling, but partners closely with the DPM, PPM, and account functions that do. Structural/mechanical engineering stays with the China engineering team; this role governs the points where electronics and structure intersect.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Technical Program Intake & Adaptation

• Receive technology projects handed off from US or EMEA development teams, including BOMs, wiring diagrams, and design intent documentation. This role will create or manage the creation of technical documentation as required for the execution of each project.
• Review designs for retail compliance requirements: electrical safety (UL, CE, CCC as applicable), ease of field service, thermal management, and commercial environment hardening
• Identify potential vendors for new and innovative technologies as needed by projects
• Arrange the kickoff of, and communication about each project with each vendor involved
• Identify and resolve design gaps before production release
• Document all adaptation decisions with clear rationale and version control
• Create standards for project intake and train overseas teams in the execution of these standards.

Engineering Standards & Compliance 

• Maintain and enforce Outform's component qualification standards: ESD ratings, power supply sizing, UL/CE compliance, cable specifications, fire ratings
• Own the China technology standards library - build and maintain what currently does not exist
• Establish and document acceptable parameters for recurring component categories (media players, LED controllers, power supplies, wiring harnesses)
• Conduct or commission thermal analysis on enclosed assemblies; escalate when professional analysis is required
• Maintain relationships with testing laboratories and regulatory agencies. Be the authority on standards compliance and explain these standards to internal stakeholders and customers

Vendor Technical Oversight

• Hold formal sign-off authority over China vendor component selection and engineering submissions - no tech component enters production without this approval
• Conduct or direct technical evaluations of vendor-submitted designs, prototypes, and material samples
• Maintain direct communication channels with vendors' engineering contacts, ensure we do not route technical queries through procurement or operations
• Identify and flag non-compliant components; block production release until resolved

China Engineering Team Partnership

• Work closely with the Jiaxing and Shanghai engineering teams (structural and mechanical engineers) to ensure fitment of technology into retail displays
• Provide technical review and guidance on programs where electronic and structural design intersect
• Serve as the escalation point for engineering questions from development project managers, production project managers, and overseas account teams
• Create Quality Control documentation for the testing and verification of all technology integrated during production

Cross-Regional Collaboration

• Participate in program kickoffs with US and EMEA development teams
• Communicate design adaptation decisions clearly in English to non-China stakeholders
• Flag design intent questions upstream before adapting - don't interpret when clarification is available
• Support post-deployment issue analysis; provide documented root cause findings with engineering evidence
• Host review sessions live in China or via video to remote stakeholders
• Provide handoff packages to our support teams in US and EMEA
• Outline support program including repair and maintenance parts lists, suggested quantities, and technical troubleshooting guides
• Travel as needed to North America and Europe to participate in customer prototype reviews and other development meetings. Candidates must possess valid visas for both the United States of America as well as the Schengen region of Europe or qualify for visa-waiver travel to these locations.

KEY INTERFACES (NON-REPORTING)

• Development Project Mangers
• Account Project Managers
• US Engineering Team
• China Engineering Team
• China Venders

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

• Success in this role will be measured against metrics including but not limited to:
• All technology programs received from US/EMEA teams are reviewed and adapted with documented decisions before engagement with vendors
• A China technology standards library exists and is actively maintained
• Vendor component qualification is a defined process - no components enter production without documented technical approval
• The Director has established direct working relationships with the China engineering team, our Chinese vendor pool, and US/EMEA development counterparts
• Post-deployment tech issues traceable to China engineering decisions are materially reduced

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related discipline
• 5+ years of engineering management experience, with at least 2 years in a senior or leadership capacity
• Experience managing outsourced development and production in China for electrical goods exported internationally
• Demonstrated experience in retail, commercial, or consumer electronics hardware - products deployed in real-world environments, not lab settings
• Strong working knowledge of electrical safety standards relevant to retail display or consumer electronics (UL, CE, CCC, RoHS)
• Fluent English - capable of reading technical documentation, writing clear engineering reports, and communicating effectively with US and European colleagues
• Experience with thermal design principles for enclosed electronic assemblies
• Hands-on experience with wiring diagram design, component qualification, and BOM management

Strongly Preferred 

• Mandarin Chinese proficiency (very strongly preferred)
• Familiarity with ESD standards, EMF/signal-to-noise considerations, and commercial-grade vs. consumer-grade component distinctions
• Experience with field-serviceable design philosophy - designing for repair, not just production
• Prior experience managing or mentoring engineering teams
• Familiarity with SolidWorks or equivalent CAD/PDM platforms
• Strong knowledge of the retail sales environments of North American and Europe

LEADERSHIP ATTRIBUTES & PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

• Builder's mindset, comfortable with ambiguity. Often what you’re building is cutting edge, bespoke solutions that push the limits of what has been done before. You take this in stride, energized by our core belief that we always “Dare to Innovate”
• Backbone to hold the line. The sign-off gate only works if the person enforces it. They must be able to tell a vendor, an account team, or an internal deadline "not yet" when a component isn't compliant and hold that under real commercial and schedule pressure without turning it into conflict.
• Cross-cultural bridge-builder. The role sits between Western account teams and Chinese vendors and engineers. They must operate credibly in both worlds, direct and documentation-driven with US/EMEA, relationship, and trust-driven with Chinese vendor engineers; translating intent and expectations, not just language.
• Influence without direct authority. Many critical partners (DPMs, PPMs, account teams, the structural engineers) don't report to this role. They must earn technical credibility fast enough that people route decisions through them by choice.  
• Hands-on technical credibility. This is a working technical leader, not a delegator. They should be able to open a wiring diagram, size a power supply, or diagnose a thermal issue themselves, earning respect from vendor engineers and their own team by demonstrating, not just directing.
• Instinct for documentation and rigor.  This person must be temperamentally inclined to write things down; decisions, rationale, standards, version control, so knowledge lives in the system, not in one head.
• Deep ownership. They own the technical quality of everything shipped from China and must take it personally, treating a field failure as a failure to prevent, and driving root-cause discipline rather than deflecting to the vendor.
• Clear communicator across distance. Leading across a 12+ hour gap with the US demands proactive, unambiguous written and video communication, surfacing risk early rather than letting it travel silently into production.
• Calm under escalation. As the escalation point when programs experience challenges, steadiness and evidence-based problem-solving keep those moments productive.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Working conditions are in a normal office environment. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to walk, sit, and stand, using hands to handle, finger, or feel objects, tools, or controls. Occasionally, the employee must crouch or kneel. The employee must occasionally exert or lift up to 20 pounds. Successful performance requires good eyesight with or without corrective lenses. Requires long periods of time working at a computer and includes phone work. Travel up to 50% of the time is required and is an essential function of this position.

DISCLAIMER

The above information has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification and may be amended at any time at the sole discretion of the Employer. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.

#LI-Remote