Head of Product Development Engineer F/H
Do you have a strong drive to lead rigorous technical processes and contribute to the development of cutting‑edge systems? Join CAILABS as Head of Optical Development and become the key person responsible for development (TRL maturation of building blocks) and the industrialization of optical components and subsystems for OGS and other Cailabs product lines!
Join Cailabs!
Reporting to the Technical Department at our Rennes site, your role is to structure and develop the optical division to support CAILABS’ growth, while maintaining technical excellence and optimizing resource allocation across global strategic projects.
You will manage the Optical Development team (7 to 10 optical engineers) and lead continuous improvement initiatives within the team.
As Manager of the Optical Engineering team dedicated to product development, you play a pivotal role in structuring the team, driving performance, and developing skills. You oversee the design, development, validation, and industrialization of optical subsystems, while providing close support to expert engineers.
This role combines technical leadership, team management, product development oversight, strategic vision, and continuous improvement.
Responsibilities
- Building the roadmap for the Optical Development division in alignment with the company’s strategy, providing a clear vision of technical expertise to support the development of all products
- Managing, leading, and supporting a team of experts (currently 7 engineers, expected to grow to 8–10 by 2026)
- Recruiting, engaging, and developing team members, monitoring their progress and ensuring consistency of practices across disciplines
- Working closely with managers and technical leads from other teams to coordinate workload, priorities, and knowledge sharing
- Monitoring and improving productivity and industrialization challenges in optical activities
- Defining, optimizing, and documenting internal processes (development methods, experimental practices, best practices, and standards) within a cross‑functional continuous improvement approach
- Identifying risks, escalating issues, proposing action plans, and contributing directly to problem‑solving
- Assessing and optimizing the allocation of human and/or material resources across technical projects
- Leading technology watch activities and sharing expertise and best practices through communication materials (center of expertise)
- Monitoring and developing intellectual property topics (patents, confidentiality, etc.)
- Reporting to the Technical Department: progress, risks, trade‑offs, and key performance indicators
- Ensuring efficient organization of optical projects and maintaining the technical quality of deliverables (prototype → pre‑series → industrialization)