Staff Product Cost Innovation Manager

We are looking for a Staff Product Cost Engineer to establish and lead product cost engineering as a strategic capability within Product Sourcing. This role will own the cost and value perspective across the full product lifecycle, from early architecture and concept development through NPI, DVT/PVT, ramp, mass production, and sustaining.

You will build the fact base behind product cost decisions, translate product and manufacturing choices into transparent cost models, and partner with Engineering, Product, Finance, Quality, Supply Chain, and EMS partners to deliver products that meet Oura’s performance, quality, schedule, and cost objectives.

This is a hands-on, highly influential individual-contributor role. You will be expected to operate at the level of a technical and commercial authority: challenging assumptions with data, shaping design choices early, creating negotiation leverage, and turning cost opportunities into measurable results.

This role is hybrid to our SF office onsite 3 days a week

• Own product cost targets and cost visibility:
• Define target costs and cost architectures for new products, major subsystems, and key components in conjunction with Finance and Product teams
• Reinforce and maintain cost models for complete products and assemblies, including electronic components, PCBA, mechanical parts, batteries, sensors, tooling, test, labor, yield, overhead, EMS value-add, logistics, tariffs, and other landed-cost elements.
• Create a consistent cost taxonomy, modeling methodology, and set of assumptions that Engineering, Sourcing, Finance, and suppliers can use as a common fact base.
• Track target, quoted, negotiated, and actual costs across the product lifecycle; identify variances, cost risks, and optimization opportunities.
• Develop scenario models for volume, geography, sourcing strategy, supplier footprint, capacity, make-versus-buy, and design alternatives.
• Drive design-to-cost and value engineering
• Engage early in product architecture, concept, and design reviews to influence cost before designs are frozen.
• Translate product requirements, BOMs, CAD, drawings, stack-ups, specifications, and manufacturing flows into cost and value implications.
• Lead value-engineering workshops with mechanical, electrical, industrial design, reliability, quality, and manufacturing teams.
• Identify opportunities involving component selection, architecture, tolerances, materials, finishes, part consolidation, test strategy, automation, cycle time, yield, packaging, and assembly flow.
• Quantify cost, quality, schedule, reliability, and supply trade-offs so leaders can make informed decisions.
• Partner with Engineering and NPI teams to ensure cost is considered at EVT, DVT, PVT, ramp, and sustaining milestones.
• Connect cost engineering to supply chain execution
• Driving cost bridge over multiple program generations.
• Assess the cost impact of manufacturing readiness, line balance, automation, labor content, cycle time, tooling utilization, yield, scrap, rework, and capacity constraints.
• Support factory build reviews and cost learning during prototype, validation, and production builds.
• Work with EMS and logistics partners to separate material, conversion, NRE, capital, transportation, and margin elements in a transparent way.
• Incorporate actual production performance into cost models and use the learning to improve future estimates and negotiations.
• Build the capability and influence decisions
• Create scalable templates, databases, dashboards, and governance for product cost engineering.
• Establish cost-review mechanisms and clear ownership across Sourcing, Engineering, Finance, Operations, and Program Management.
• Present product level cost analyses, recommendations, risks, and decisions to senior leadership with clarity and precision.
• Mentor peers and raise the organization’s fluency in cost drivers, design-to-cost, supplier economics, and manufacturing trade-offs.

This is a hybrid role out of our San Francisco office.

We Would Love to Consider You for this Role if You Have:

• 10–12+ years of experience in product cost engineering, should-cost analysis, value engineering, manufacturing engineering, strategic sourcing, supply-chain engineering, or a closely related discipline.
• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Supply Chain, or a related technical field; advanced degree is a plus.
• Demonstrated experience costing complex, high-volume consumer electronics or wearable products across both electronic and mechanical domains.
• Strong understanding of BOM structures, engineering drawings, tolerances, specifications, manufacturing processes, tooling, test, yield, labor, overhead, and supplier commercial models.
• Experience developing bottom-up cost models and using them to set targets, evaluate design alternatives, challenge supplier quotes, and drive negotiations.
• Practical knowledge of electronics and PCBA cost drivers, including component pricing, PCB fabrication, SMT placement, soldering, programming, inspection, ICT, functional test, and yield.
• Practical knowledge of mechanical cost drivers, including plastics, metals, machining, stamping, die casting, overmolding, cosmetic finishing, adhesives, gaskets, and assembly.
• Experience working directly with contract manufacturers, ODMs, component suppliers, and international manufacturing teams.
• Ability to move between detailed technical analysis and executive-level recommendations without losing rigor.
• Advanced Excel and data-modeling skills; familiarity with ERP, PLM, business-intelligence, or cost-engineering tools.
• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Willingness to travel internationally to suppliers and manufacturing sites as needed.

• Experience with wearable technology, miniaturized electronics, sensors, batteries, RF systems, or other highly integrated consumer products.
• Experience with early-phase product architecture, DFM/DFA, tolerance analysis, reliability, and NPI build phases.
• Experience modeling total landed cost, including freight, duties, tariffs, inventory, working capital, and regional supply-chain scenarios.
• Experience with capital equipment, automation, test infrastructure, tooling amortization, and manufacturing capacity economics.
• Experience creating cost databases, parametric models, automated reporting, or decision-support dashboards.
• Familiarity with SQL, Python, Power BI, Tableau, or similar analytical tools.
• Experience leading cross-functional cost-down portfolios with measurable annualized savings.
• MBA, master’s degree, or equivalent experience in engineering, operations, finance, or supply chain.

At Ōura, we care about you and your well-being. Everyone here at Ōura has a ring of their own and we are continually looking to improve employee health.

What we offer:

• Competitive salary and equity packages
• Health, dental, vision insurance, and mental health resources
• An Ōura Ring of your own plus employee discounts for friends & family
• 20 days of paid time off plus 13 paid holidays plus 8 days of flexible wellness time off
• Paid sick leave and parental leave

Ōura takes a market-based approach to pay, which may vary depending on your location. US locations are categorized into tiers based on a cost of labor index for that geographic area. While most offers will be closer to the starting range, successful candidates' pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, internal peer equity, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future.

Region 1 $198,500- $233,000

A recruiter can determine your Region based on your US location.

We are not considering candidates residing in the following states: Alaska (AK), Delaware (DE), Iowa (IA), Mississippi (MS), Nebraska (NE), South Dakota (SD), West Virginia (WV), and Wisconsin (WI).