Director, Connected Lifecycle Engineering

Director, Connected Lifecycle Engineering

Needham, MA

The Opportunity

Every connected SharkNinja product — the wireless link, the on-device display, the companion app experience — runs on firmware this leader owns. You will set the architecture that every connected program in the portfolio is built and gated against, and own the delivery of that firmware globally, whether it's written by your team or by an ODM/JDM partner.

This is a dual-mandate role: architect and delivery owner.

Architecture. You define the connectivity stack standards, pairing and provisioning protocols, display and embedded UI frameworks, and the app- and cloud-integration interfaces that gate every connected firmware program.

Delivery. You own global connected-device firmware — wireless connectivity, connected-device security, over-the-air updating, on-device displays, and the differentiated connected experiences that set our products apart.

You'll operate as a peer to the Embedded Firmware director (who owns non-connected embedded architecture and delivery), and partner with the Embedded Firmware director in Asia on connected features executed from that region.

What You'll Own

Architecture & Technical Direction

Architecture, interface definitions, and integration standards for wireless connectivity, display/UI, and companion app and cloud integration — all product categories, globally.

Architectural standards for Bluetooth/BLE, Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Thread, and Matter stacks, and for display and embedded graphics/UI frameworks.

Portfolio-wide device provisioning, pairing, and companion-app integration protocols: BLE GATT profiles, Wi-Fi onboarding, cloud device registration and authentication.

Technical decisions on wireless silicon, display hardware, and connectivity modules, in partnership with Hardware Engineering.

A reuse-first strategy — proven connectivity and UI components, vendor SDKs, and reference designs — reserving in-house development for differentiated experiences, security, and IP.

Connected architecture intent translated into requirements clear enough that development partners execute without interpretation.

Standards, Governance & Enforcement

Engineering standards for connectivity and display/UI subsystems, applied equally to internal developers and third-party suppliers.

The technical requirements embedded in supplier agreements for connected subsystems — including the pre-MP reproducibility deliverable: source, toolchain, and signed build manifest sufficient to independently rebuild shipping binaries.

Design review and gating checkpoints that connectivity, display, and app-integration deliverables clear before integration.

Connected product behavior defined at design time with Systems Engineering and NPD, closing hardware/software/app gaps before they surface at integration.

Connectivity Certification & Compliance

Certification strategy and process for wireless standards: Bluetooth SIG qualification, Wi-Fi Alliance certification, Matter certification, and regional RF regulatory compliance.

Architecture that accounts for certification requirements at design time rather than as a late-stage gate.

Technical escalation for interoperability failures against phones, routers, hubs, and third-party ecosystems (Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Matter).

Connected Delivery Leadership

Delivery commitments for internally developed connected firmware: schedule, quality, and scope.

Leadership of the Connected Firmware organization through the Manager, Connected Firmware Delivery — building capability, capacity, and technical bench strength in wireless, display, and app-integration engineering.

Clean integration of connected firmware with hardware, cloud services, mobile applications, and user interfaces.

Partnership with other company firmware leaders on shared platform work and non-connected standards.

Test Automation & Development Infrastructure

The test automation framework for connectivity and display subsystems: interoperability test rigs, RF conformance testing, CI pipeline design, and static analysis tooling.

Build and integration requirements for connected firmware repositories, internal and supplier.

The mechanism Quality gates against for connected features. This function builds the scaffolding; acceptance criteria and gate authority remain with Embedded QA & Governance.

Team & Cross-Functional Leadership

Build and lead a senior technical team spanning connected architecture and delivery, with proven experience directing ODM and JDM partners on wireless and display subsystems.

Develop technical leadership talent and strengthen the architect and engineering career paths within Firmware Engineering.

Serve as a senior technical voice in partner capability assessment and consolidation decisions for connectivity and display suppliers.

Partner closely with Cloud, Mobile App, and UX/UI teams on connected feature architecture.

Communicate technical direction, delivery status, and risk to Firmware and EE executive leadership.

What You'll Bring

Experience

12+ years in embedded software and firmware engineering, with significant depth in wireless connectivity and/or connected-device architecture.

5+ years leading engineering organizations, including direct people leadership of senior engineers and managers.

Architected Bluetooth/BLE, Wi-Fi, Zigbee, or Matter connectivity stacks and taken products through certification.

Integrated embedded firmware with mobile companion apps and cloud services.

Defined architecture executed by ODM/JDM partners, and enforced standards against outsourced development.

Established CI/CD, static analysis, and automated test infrastructure for connected embedded programs.

Shipped production connected firmware in consumer electronics, home appliances, robotics, IoT, or comparable high-volume industries.

Technical Expertise

Wireless connectivity at protocol and stack level: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth/BLE, Matter, Thread, Zigbee.

Device provisioning, pairing, and companion app integration: BLE GATT, Wi-Fi onboarding, cloud device registration and authentication.

Display technologies and embedded graphics/UI frameworks.

Device security for connected products: secure pairing, network security, credential provisioning, cloud authentication.

OTA software update architecture.

Wireless certification and regulatory processes: Bluetooth SIG, Wi-Fi Alliance, Matter, FCC/CE.

RTOS, build systems and toolchains (gcc, CMake, headless builds), Git-based source control, static analysis.

Test automation frameworks, RF and interoperability test infrastructure, hardware-in-the-loop validation.

Hardware-software integration and product bring-up.

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related discipline required. Master's preferred.

Salary and Other Compensation: The annual salary range for this position is displayed below. Factors which may affect starting pay within this range may include geography/market, skills, education, experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate.

The Company offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements: medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts (HSA) with company contribution, 401(k) retirement plan with matching, employee stock purchase program, life insurance, AD&D, short-term disability insurance, long-term disability insurance, generous paid time off, company holidays, parental leave, identity theft protection, pet insurance, pre-paid legal insurance, back-up child and eldercare days, product discounts, referral bonus program, and more.

Pay Range

$210,000—$240,000 USD