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Job Title: R&D Senior Manager, Engineering, China
Location: Beijing, Shanghai
Employment Type: full-time
About AVEVA
AVEVA is a global leader in industrial software, headquartered in Cambridge, UK, and part of the Schneider Electric group. More than 20,000 industrial enterprises across over 100 countries use AVEVA’s technology to engineer, operate, and optimize their assets more safely, efficiently, and sustainably. This role sits within AVEVA’s Engineering business, home to the Unified Engineering platform and a wider portfolio of design and engineering software used by owner-operators and EPCs worldwide.
Role Purpose
This role is primarily accountable for building and leading a local R&D organization in China for delivering AVEVA Unified Engineering’s China strategy through that organization — beginning with compliance exploration and pilot delivery and continuing through its ongoing evolution beyond that initial delivery.
Customer discovery, requirements definition, technical and solution architecture, and the exploration of AI capabilities in China engineering scenarios remain part of the role but are not its primary accountability: you will build a team around you to lead these activities day to day, while you set direction and make the final calls.
A defining element of the role is finding pragmatic intersections between global architectural constraints and China market realities: representing China’s voice within the global product organization, translating local customer requirements into executable R&D pathways, and maximizing local technical innovation within defined authorization boundaries.
This is a role for someone who combines strong organizational leadership with technical judgement and business acumen — able to build and lead a local team that collaborates closely with Engineering teams around the world on an ongoing basis.
What You’ll Do
Lead and Grow the China R&D Organization
Build, develop, and lead a high-performing local R&D team in China.
Recruit, develop, and manage the performance of the local R&D team.
Coordinate resources effectively within a global matrix organization and drive cross-time-zone, cross-cultural technical collaboration.
Provide regular updates to the China leadership on R&D progress, technical risks, and resource requirements.
Strategy and direction setting
Represent China in global R&D strategy discussions and ensure China strategy engineering requirements are given appropriate priority in the global product roadmap.
Define the technical boundaries and feasible delivery scope for the China version of UE and establish a practical path that balances Xinchuang requirements with global architectural constraints.
Direct your team’s ongoing evaluation of the domestic LLM and AI technology ecosystem for potential integration into engineering design scenarios.
R&D delivery leadership
Lead technical decision-making and milestone management from compliance exploration and pilot release through to production readiness and beyond, as the China version of UE continues to evolve.
Lead the local team in completing customization content adaptation, extension development, customized packaging, and validation in localized and Xinchuang environments.
Direct your team’s exploration of AI agents and copilots to enhance the efficiency of local engineering workflows, building differentiated capabilities that leverage domestic AI models.
Support Customer Engagement and Market Insight
Guide your team in conducting in-depth technical interviews with strategic customers, translating real engineering execution scenarios from owner-operators and EPCs into product requirements.
Oversee technical solution design and on-site deployment for pilot projects, with your team leading day-to-day delivery and ensuring priority workflows run reliably in compliant environments.
Build technical trust with customers and provide credible technical endorsement for the commercial team.
Who You’ll Work With
You will be working with teams in China and the UK, so you will work across time zones and cultures daily. Your key relationships include:
The local China R&D team you build and lead
The UK global R&D organization
The Portfolio Lead, on scope, priorities, and delivery sequencing
The China leadership team
Global product management and the global product roadmap community
Strategic customers and pilot accounts — owner-operators, EPCs, and their engineering teams
What We’re Looking For
Above all else, we are looking for the right person, not the perfect CV. We value clear thinking, strong judgement, and the ability to make pragmatic technical decisions under real constraints, not just familiarity with tools or terminology. We are prioritizing proven leadership experience within B2B enterprise software organizations over deep domain-specific engineering knowledge, although the latter would also be advantageous.
Core Skills (Required)
Proven leadership experience within a B2B enterprise software organization, ideally leading R&D or engineering teams through the full product lifecycle.
Strong understanding of Xinchuang compliance technologies, with hands-on experience adapting software to localized environments.
Practical experience with, or strong interest in, AI and LLM applications in industrial or engineering scenarios.
Experience serving as the China technical leader within a global matrix organization.
Fluent business English, with the ability to lead technical and strategic discussions with global headquarters.
Core Skills (Beneficial)
Deep understanding of the digital engineering design stack: 1D data (P&ID tags and attributes), 2D drawings (process flow and layout drawings), and 3D models (piping, structures, equipment).
Deep user or development experience with AVEVA E3D, Unified Engineering, or similar engineering software platforms.
Experience integrating domestic LLMs into engineering-scenario AI applications.
First-hand engineering project experience in process industries such as power, oil and gas, chemicals, and green energy.
Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree or above in engineering or a related discipline (Master’s preferred) — for example Computer Science, Automation, Chemical Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering.
10+ years of experience in engineering software R&D, product technology, or technical management, including 4+ years of team management experience.
Location and Travel
This role is based in Beijing, China, and is delivered jointly with colleagues in the UK and across AVEVA’s global R&D organization, so you will collaborate across multiple time zones daily, and some travel should be expected for customer engagement and knowledge transfer. Strong remote collaboration skills are essential.
R&D at AVEVA
Our global team of 2000+ developers work on an incredibly diverse portfolio of over 75 industrial automation and engineering products, which cover everything from data management to 3D design. AI and cloud are at the centre of our strategy, and we have over 150 patents to our name.
Our track record of innovation is no fluke – it’s the result of a structured and deliberate focus on learning, collaboration and inclusivity. If you want to build applications that solve big problems, join us.
Find out more: aveva.com/en/about/careers/r-and-d-careers/
AVEVA requires all successful applicants to undergo and pass a comprehensive background check before they start employment. Background checks will be conducted in accordance with local laws and may, subject to those laws, include proof of educational attainment, employment history verification, proof of work authorization, criminal records, identity verification, credit check. Certain positions dealing with sensitive and/or third party personal data may involve additional background check criteria.
AVEVA is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to being an exemplary employer with an inclusive culture, developing a workplace environment where all our employees are treated with dignity and respect. We value diversity and the expertise that people from different backgrounds bring to our business.
Come and join AVEVA to create the transformative technology that enables our customers to engineer a better world.
Skills Required
- Proven leadership experience in a B2B enterprise software organization, ideally leading R&D or engineering teams through the full product lifecycle
- Strong understanding of Xinchuang compliance technologies and hands-on experience adapting software to localized environments
- Practical experience with, or strong interest in, AI and large language model applications in industrial or engineering scenarios
- Experience serving as the China technical leader within a global matrix organization
- Fluent business English with the ability to lead technical and strategic discussions with global headquarters
- Bachelor’s degree or above in engineering or a related discipline
- 10 or more years of experience in engineering software R&D, product technology, or technical management
- At least 4 years of team management experience
- Master’s degree in engineering or a related discipline
- Deep understanding of the digital engineering design stack, including 1D data, 2D drawings, and 3D models
- User or development experience with AVEVA E3D, Unified Engineering, or similar engineering software platforms
- Experience integrating domestic large language models into engineering-scenario AI applications
- Engineering project experience in process industries such as power, oil and gas, chemicals, or green energy
AVEVA Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about AVEVA and has not been reviewed or approved by AVEVA.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time away from work is positioned as a meaningful part of the rewards mix, including paid time off that can increase with tenure and additional paid volunteering days. This breadth is reinforced by mentions of public holidays and emergency leave as part of the overall time-off offering.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Wellbeing support appears broad and multi-channel, combining counseling access, coaching resources, and region-specific digital wellbeing tools. Flexible work hours and a hybrid model are also presented as lifestyle-supporting elements within the broader rewards package.
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Career-Linked Recognition & Rewards — Recognition is tied to tenure milestones through a formal program that provides rewards and symbolic recognition. Development-linked rewards also appear through learning access, mentorship, and education reimbursement that connects benefits to skill growth.
AVEVA Insights
What We Do
AVEVA is a global leader in industrial software, sparking ingenuity to drive responsible use of the world’s resources. The company’s secure industrial cloud platform and applications enable businesses to harness the power of their information and improve collaboration with customers, suppliers and partners. Over 20,000 enterprises in over 100 countries rely on AVEVA to help them deliver life’s essentials: safe and reliable energy, food, medicines, infrastructure and more. By connecting people with trusted information and AI-enriched insights, AVEVA enables teams to engineer efficiently and optimize operations, driving growth and sustainability. Named as one of the world’s most innovative companies, AVEVA supports customers with open solutions and the expertise of more than 6,400 employees, 5,000 partners and 5,700 certified developers. With operations around the globe, AVEVA is headquartered in Cambridge, UK. Learn more at www.aveva.com
