Senior Manager, Mechanical Engineering

KULR Technology Group is a publicly traded company (NYSE: KULR) with a vibrant startup dynamic, headquartered in San Diego, CA. Our mission is developing energy management platforms to accelerate the global transition to a circular electrification economy. We create sustainable solutions that benefit humanity using space proven engineering, making the world of batteries and electronics cooler, lighter, and safer. We operate in four verticals: e-mobility, environmental/energy storage, industrial/consumer tools, and aerospace/defense. Our technologies have been deployed by NASA, including applications on the Space Station and Mars Rover.

Job Title: Senior Manager, Mechanical Engineering

FLSA Status: Exempt

Pay Rate: $126,225 – $189,100

Reports to: Vice President, Engineering

Location: Onsite

KULR Technology Location: Webster, TX 

Travel: Travel up to 15% required between work locations, conferences, vendors, and customers.

Position Overview: 

The Senior Manager of the Mechanical Engineering division within KULR’s broader Engineering team is a pivotal role that leads, mentors, and guides teams operating within this dynamic division. The Mechanical Engineering division is comprised of two autonomous battery design teams, a thermal management solutions team, and a safe storage solutions team, focused on safeguarding lithium-ion batteries from thermal runaway events. The primary responsibility of this role is to oversee the development of KULR-designed energy storage systems, products, and technologies throughout their entire lifecycle, ensuring readiness for manufacturing. This position ensures that designs meet rigorous product performance requirements established during early conceptualization stages. Through direct and indirect leadership, this role drives innovation, upholds product quality, and nurtures collaboration within the Mechanical Engineering Division. The contributions of this Senior Manager are instrumental in propelling KULR Engineering towards continued success and advancement in the field of energy storage solutions.

Functions: 

• Provide leadership and direction to a team of mechanical engineers, designers, and technicians.
• Foster a culture of creativity, collaboration, and continuous improvement within the mechanical engineering division.
• Lead the mechanical engineering aspects of battery product development projects from concept to production.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including electrical engineering, materials science, and manufacturing, to ensure seamless integration of mechanical designs.
• Drive innovation in battery design, focusing on factors such as performance, efficiency, and manufacturability.
• Provide technical guidance and support to the mechanical engineering team, including design reviews, problem-solving, and troubleshooting.
• Stay abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in battery design and mechanical engineering.
• Establish and maintain rigorous quality standards for mechanical designs, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and industry standards.
• Implement robust testing and validation processes to validate mechanical designs and optimize product performance and reliability.
• Manage project schedules, budgets, and resources effectively to ensure on-time delivery of high-quality mechanical designs.
• Identify and mitigate risks and obstacles that may impact project timelines or deliverables.
• Communicate project status, milestones, and key updates to senior management and stakeholders. Develop resource mapping and projections via analytic techniques for the CTO. 
• Support executive and sales teams by interacting with key customers, partners, and investors as needed.
• Continue developing technical and subject matter expertise in the fields of thermal science and energy storage systems. 
• Provide in-person, hands-on, support to all Engineering programs as needed by the team. Leading by example and through servant leadership.
• Provide engineering expertise to other departments where needed.
• Serve as an active leadership presence for both Texas and California based facilities. 
• Support Engineering compliance with KPIs, MRBs, ECDs, and EDCs.
• Provide support for ISO 9000 requirements.
• Establishes programs to support training, process improvements, and the creation and maintenance of best practices and protocols. 
• Leads initiatives with other departments to identify new potential products and projects. 
• Resolve escalated issues arising from operations which require coordination with other departments.
• Other job-related duties as assigned.     

Supervisory Responsibilities:  This position will supervise a minimum of 3-6 staff:

• Engineering Supervisor(s), Batteries
• Engineering Design Manager of Safe Storage Solutions
• Additional Supervisor and Design Manager personnel as the Division grows.

Supervisor duties to include:

1. Screens applications, interviews candidates, and recommends individuals for hiring.
2. Trains and assigns work to new and continuing employees.
3. Delegates tasks and provides effective direction to team members to produce substantial business results.
4. Independently conducts frequent performance feedback weekly, quarterly and annually, to include annual performance evaluations.
5. Makes recommendations for salary increases, merit increases and reclassifications.
6. In conjunction with HR, determines corrective action as needed for direct reports.

Requirements

Education & Experience: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Software Engineering or related, required. Initiation of master’s degree or Ph.D. level academic coursework, completion of degree preferred.
• Strong demonstrated experience in thermal management and/or energy storage systems (i.e., lithium-ion batteries). 
• Strong demonstrated experience leading teams with sizes ranging between ~ 5-15 employees. 
• 7+ years of engineering experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs):

• Seasoned subject matter expert in design, prototyping, and analysis. 
• Seasoned in matters of product development cycles.
• Subject matter expertise of lithium-ion battery design desired.
• Subject matter expertise of lithium-ion battery thermal runaway and battery safety desired.
• Strong demonstrated knowledge of thermodynamics, fluid flow, heat transfer, and thermal management desired. 
• Demonstrated cross-disciplinary engineering experience (e.g. mechanical engineer w/ knowledge of electrical or software engineering topics). 
• Computer proficiencies in software platforms such as: Microsoft Office suite expert (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel), Microsoft SharePoint, Solidworks, Blender, KeyShot, Tableau, LabVIEW, FEM analysis tools.
• Strong knowledge of applied mechanics
• Highly skilled in design engineering
• Highly skilled in design optimization
• Highly skilled in design review
• Strong knowledge of engineering management
• Strong knowledge of project controls
• Highly skilled in prototyping
• Highly skilled in requirements engineering/analysis
• Strong knowledge of CAD Software
• Strong knowledge of Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) Software
• Demonstrated ability to influence others, build effective relationships with both internal and external stakeholders to accomplish business objectives.  
• Demonstrated ability to assume personal accountability, address limitations, exhibits honesty and respect towards others, the company and oneself. 
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, assessing business needs and using problem solving skills to address challenges.  
• Demonstrated ability to serve and actively contribute as an active team member on the immediate team and the larger organization. Ability to support the team effort without necessarily taking the lead. 
• Able to generate new insights into situations and encourage innovation to generate successful outcomes.  Creates, designs, and implements programs or processes.  
• Ability to achieve measurable goals and results to support of organizational success. 
• Ability to understand and analyze underlying organizational issues.
• Outstanding interpersonal skills to build effective relationships to achieve business results. 
• Strong demonstrated written and verbal communication skills to work effectively with a wide range of individuals in a diverse community. 
• Cooperative spirit within a team of diverse cultures while working in a fast-paced environment with multiple deadlines and frequently changing priorities. 
• Intermediate use of computers and Microsoft Office Suite Applications such as Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook.  

Physical Demands/Work Environment: 

The work environment characteristics described here represent those an employee may encounter while performing this job’s essential functions. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

Office Work Environment

Sedentary work. Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects. Close visual acuity to perform an activity such as preparing and analyzing data and viewing a computer terminal. Sufficient clarity of speech and hearing or other communication capabilities, which permits the employee to communicate effectively on the telephone and in person. Sufficient manual dexterity with or without reasonable accommodation, which permits the employee to frequently operate a personal computer (estimated 80%-100% of the typical workday) and other office equipment. Sufficient personal mobility and physical reflexes, with or without reasonable accommodation, which permit the employee at a computer workstation for an extended period.

Work Environment 

• Standing for long periods of time, climbing up and down ladders, bending, grasping, sitting, pulling, pushing, stooping, and stretching are generally required to perform the functions of this position. Occasionally
• Must be able to lift up to 25 lbs. unassisted. Occasionally
• Noisy environments. Occasionally
• Hazardous conditions. Occasionally
• Small and/or enclosed spaces. Occasionally
• Operating machinery and/or power tools. Occasionally
• Repeating motions that may include the wrists, hands and/or fingers. Occasionally
• Adjusting or moving objects up to 20 pounds in all directions. Occasionally
• Remaining in a stationary position, often standing or sitting for prolonged periods. Occasionally
• Moving about to accomplish tasks or moving from one worksite to another. Occasionally
• Sedentary work that primarily involves sitting/standing Occasionally
• Moving self in different positions to accomplish tasks in various environments including tight and confined spaces. Occasionally
• Light work that includes moving objects up to 20 pounds. Occasionally
• Medium work that includes moving objects up to 50 pounds. Occasionally
• Heavy work that includes moving objects up to 100 pounds or more. Never
• Ascending or descending ladders, stairs, scaffolding, ramps, poles and the like. Occasionally

Special Conditions: 

• Employment is contingent upon successful completion of a criminal background check.
• Must have a current, valid driver’s license.
• Must be able to provide own transportation between work locations. 
• Must be able to work various hours and locations based on business needs.
• Must be a U.S. Citizen due to federal contract requirements.
• Successful applicant must meet ITAR requirements.

Disclosure And Acknowledgement: 

All job requirements are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities. Some requirements may exclude individuals who pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health and safety of themselves or others. 

This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the incumbent of this position. Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform other job-related duties requested by the supervisor in compliance with federal and state Laws. 

Requirements are representative of minimum levels of knowledge, skills and/or abilities. To perform this job successfully, the incumbent must possess the abilities or aptitudes to perform each duty proficiently.