R&D Manager, Systems Engineering

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Job Summary

The R&D Manager, Systems Engineering is a hands-on technical and people leader within Neogen’s Instrumentation and Software R&D organization. This role leads a multidisciplinary team of approximately 3-6 mechanical and electrical engineers while directly applying systems engineering principles across new product development, portfolio modernization, and sustaining engineering.

The R&D Manager, Systems Engineering is responsible for strengthening and scaling systems engineering practices across the instrumentation development lifecycle. This includes system architecture, requirements development and traceability, interface management, system integration, design risk management, verification and validation, and technical decision-making.

This position partners closely with Product Management, Portfolio Management, Software, Firmware, Quality, Regulatory, Manufacturing, Service, and other Engineering functions to translate customer and business needs into technically sound product architectures and executable engineering plans.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Systems Engineering Leadership

• Serve as the hands-on systems engineering leader for instrumentation development programs and sustaining initiatives.
• Define system, subsystem, and component architectures for complex multidisciplinary products.
• Lead functional decomposition and allocation across mechanical, electrical, software, and firmware domains.
• Develop and maintain system and subsystem requirements with clear acceptance criteria, bidirectional traceability, and disciplined change control.
• Define and manage interfaces across engineering disciplines, subsystems, external partners, manufacturing environments, and connected software systems.
• Lead system-level technical decision-making, including evaluation of design trade-offs, risks, dependencies, and implementation options.
• Communicate technical decisions, risks, assumptions, and recommendations clearly to engineering teams and senior stakeholders.

System Integration, Verification, and Validation

• Plan and lead system integration across hardware, software, firmware, electrical, and mechanical elements.
• Establish integration sequencing, test readiness, issue triage, and cross-functional resolution processes.
• Develop system-level verification and validation strategies that demonstrate requirements coverage, product performance, robustness, reliability, and intended use.
• Partner with engineering teams to ensure subsystem and component verification supports overall system-level objectives.
• Lead or support investigation of complex system-level failures, integration issues, and performance gaps.
• Ensure technical evidence and documentation support applicable design reviews and product-development requirements.

Systems Engineering Process and Capability Development

• Establish and scale practical systems engineering methodologies, tools, templates, and design-review practices.
• Develop consistent approaches for requirements management, traceability, interface definition, architecture development, integration, and verification.
• Identify opportunities to improve engineering rigor, efficiency, and consistency across product-development programs.
• Support implementation and adoption of requirements-management and traceability tools.
• Advance the use of modeling, simulation, model-based systems engineering, and digital-twin approaches where appropriate.
• Promote systems thinking and cross-disciplinary engineering practices throughout the organization.

Design Risk Management

• Integrate technical and design risk management into architecture and product-development decisions.
• Lead or support risk analyses, design reviews, mitigation planning, and technical risk tracking.
• Identify potential system-level failure modes, interface risks, and integration dependencies early in the development process.
• Partner with Quality, Regulatory, and Engineering teams to ensure appropriate risk controls are identified, implemented, and verified.

New Product Development and Sustaining Engineering

• Support new product development from concept and architecture through integration, verification, validation, and commercialization.
• Provide systems engineering leadership for portfolio modernization and sustaining engineering initiatives.
• Lead or support root-cause investigations related to field, manufacturing, product, or system-level issues.
• Evaluate architecture improvements to address performance, reliability, serviceability, cost, or lifecycle needs.
• Support component obsolescence response, alternate technology evaluation, and product lifecycle planning.
• Partner with Manufacturing, Service, and Quality teams to resolve complex technical issues and improve product performance.
• Support manufacturing transfer, configuration management, and product-development lifecycle governance activities.

People Leadership

• Lead, coach, and develop a multidisciplinary team of approximately 3-6 mechanical and electrical engineers.
• Establish clear goals, priorities, responsibilities, and performance expectations.
• Support recruiting, onboarding, development planning, and retention of engineering talent.
• Provide technical guidance and regular coaching to direct reports.
• Build mechanical and electrical engineering capability through mentoring, development opportunities, and structured feedback.
• Coordinate team resources and engineering priorities to support project and portfolio objectives.
• Foster accountability, collaboration, technical excellence, and continuous improvement within the team.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Product Management and Portfolio Management to translate customer and business needs into system-level requirements and technical strategies.
• Collaborate closely with Software, Firmware, Mechanical, Electrical, Quality, Regulatory, Manufacturing, and Service teams throughout the product lifecycle.
• Align technical architecture and engineering execution with product objectives, customer needs, and business priorities.
• Participate in cross-functional design reviews, project reviews, portfolio discussions, and technical planning activities.
• Support alignment between engineering teams and external development or manufacturing partners when applicable.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Progressive professional engineering experience developing complex multidisciplinary products.
• Experience working with products that integrate hardware, software, firmware, electrical, and mechanical systems.
• Hands-on experience with system architecture and system-level technical design.
• Experience developing and managing system or subsystem requirements.
• Experience with requirements traceability and change control.
• Experience defining and managing interfaces across multiple engineering disciplines.
• Experience supporting or leading system integration activities.
• Experience with design risk management and technical risk mitigation.
• Experience developing or executing verification and validation strategies.
• Previous people-leadership or technical-leadership experience, including coaching engineers or coordinating multidisciplinary engineering work.
• Demonstrated ability to translate customer or business needs into technical requirements and executable engineering plans.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, decision-making, and communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively within a cross-functional, matrixed product-development environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Systems Engineering or a related engineering discipline.
• Experience developing scientific instrumentation, diagnostics, laboratory equipment, medical technology, or other regulated products.
• Experience leading systems engineering activities for products integrating hardware, firmware, and software.
• Systems engineering experience within healthcare, automotive, aerospace, or another complex product-development environment.
• Experience with model-based systems engineering.
• Experience with SysML.
• Experience with system modeling, simulation, or digital-twin methods and tools.
• Experience implementing requirements-management or traceability tools and processes.
• Knowledge of product-development lifecycle governance and configuration management.
• Knowledge of reliability engineering principles and practices.
• Experience supporting manufacturing transfer.
• Experience establishing or scaling systems engineering practices within a multidisciplinary engineering organization.
• Experience leading organizational or engineering-process change.
• Experience supporting both new product development and sustaining engineering.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong systems-thinking and multidisciplinary problem-solving capabilities.
• Ability to understand and evaluate interactions across hardware, software, firmware, electrical, and mechanical domains.
• Ability to balance hands-on technical responsibilities with people leadership and team development.
• Strong requirements-development and technical documentation skills.
• Ability to identify technical risks, evaluate trade-offs, and develop practical mitigation strategies.
• Strong coaching, mentoring, and engineering talent-development skills.
• Strong collaboration and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to influence technical direction across teams and functions.
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to manage multiple technical priorities within a product-development environment.
• Strong judgment and decision-making skills in situations involving technical uncertainty or competing priorities.

Work Location

This position is based in Oakdale, Minnesota and requires regular collaboration with Engineering, Product Management, Manufacturing, Quality, Regulatory, Service, and other cross-functional teams.

About Neogen

Neogen is a global company focused on protecting the world’s food supply. We provide products and solutions that support food safety, animal safety, and related industries, helping customers detect risks, improve quality, and protect both people and animals.

At Neogen, we believe that taking care of our employees allows them to do their best work. When you join our team, you'll enjoy competitive benefits and the opportunity to make a meaningful difference every day.

Benefits Include

• Benefits starting on Day One: Medical, dental, and vision coverage begin on your first day of employment.
• 401(k) with company match: Invest in your future with retirement savings and company contributions.
• Paid Time Off: Enjoy generous paid time off so you can rest, recharge, and spend time with those who matter most.
• Career Growth Opportunities: We are committed to providing employees with the tools, training, and support needed to grow their careers.
• Meaningful Work: Be part of a team whose work has a real impact on customers, communities, and the world around us.
• Collaborative Culture: Join a team that values innovation, respect, teamwork, and continuous improvement.

Interested? We’d Like to Hear from You.

If this role sounds like a place where your skills and experience could make an impact, we encourage you to apply. You may have experience that does not fit neatly into every line of a job description. What matters most is whether you can successfully perform the core responsibilities of the role and are interested in contributing to the work ahead.

Equal Opportunity and Accommodation

Neogen is an Equal Opportunity Employer and provides equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

Employment is contingent upon successful completion of applicable pre-employment requirements and verification of identity and authorization to work in the United States.

Come build your future with us while making a difference every day.

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From inside the farm gate to our dinner plates, Neogen protects the world’s food supply. Through a variety of animal healthcare products, to food safety solutions for dangerous bacteria, allergens, toxins, drug residues and much more, Neogen is there - and you can be too.