Job Description

Are you an experienced industry technology leader passionate about technology and improving workflows for the most demanding applications?

As the Research and Development Manager, you will be responsible for designing, managing, and certifying the products and services determined by our Labs and Marketing teams to serve targeted industries. 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES MAY INCLUDE: 

30 days and ongoing:

• Learns Puget Systems’ products and services, processes, procedures, and purpose as well as its customers and its position in the industry.
• Gains familiarity with Puget Systems’ core product offerings and related components, and is able to ask questions to the right people when needed.
• Attends new hire orientation and engages with meet-and-greets with all departments, acquiring knowledge about individual roles, understanding the organizational culture, workflow dynamics, overall business operations, and establishing initial connections for relationship-building.
• Completes prerequisite training for new hires through the Learning Management System (LMS). 
• Engages in a 30-day check in with the Direct Manager, the People and Culture Manager, and the President to discuss progress, address concerns, and align goals. 
• Gains familiarity with Google Forms, ClickUp, internal administrative interfaces, and Teamwork. 
• Focuses on relationship-building across the entire company. 
• Understands Puget Systems’ 1-3 year product plan.
• Attends relevant meetings and holds 1:1s with team members. 
• Performs other duties as assigned.

3 months and ongoing:

• Rides alongside all scheduling, communication, and risk assessments for product qualifications. 
• Builds a strong working relationship with department team members and has a baseline understanding of their previous performance. Begins to provide coaching for areas of improvement. 
• Builds comprehension of the different department job roles, including - hardware engineers, application engineers, and project managers, and how they can be best utilized across our workflows.
• Begins to provide insight and suggestions regarding Puget Systems’ product plan. 
• Becomes familiar enough with Puget Systems, vendors, and industry to begin identifying and tracking relevant KPIs. 
• Suggests changes to new product life cycle and cross-departmental efforts toward launching new products. 
• Gains dedicated exposure time to the SI ecosystem, vendors, customers, and other partners.
• Understands Puget Systems’ approach to career progression and employee development.

6 months and ongoing:

• Participates in generating new opportunities and concepts through Labs activities to be then evaluated by Marketing to determine the opportunity size and positioning.
• Guides the department and Puget Systems in product development plans, strategy and commercialization approach. 
• Oversees the team calendar and project management tools, ensuring timely delivery of product launches and key initiatives.
• Actively participates in partner and vendor meetings, making suggestions and ensuring the team follows through on agreed-upon action items. 
• Begins building own reports for tracking department progress and KPIs. 
• Manages project budgets, tracking expenses and ensuring projects are delivered within allocated financial constraints. Gains an understanding of how budget creation works in preparation for the upcoming budget cycle, including NPV and ROI for new products. 
• Takes ownership of employee performance management, including employee tier progression, goals, and coaching and development. Holds employees accountable to deliverables and strategic initiatives. 
• Attends relevant events, both customer- and vendor-facing as a Puget Systems representative. Uses their experience at these events to bring back industry insight to the Puget Systems team, including through event write-ups. 
• Have familiarity with vendors, product life cycles, and how they relate to Puget Systems’ 3-5 year product plan. 
• Understands and contributes to the new product funnel. 

12 months and ongoing:

• Oversees and provides direction for changes to the qualification and product go-to-market processes in each product category. 
• Builds leadership redundancy into the department. 
• Takes full ownership over all department initiatives, and provides team members with direction and accountability. Works with senior leadership to establish initiative prioritization. 
• Owns the department’s presence in partner and vendor meetings, as well as the technical relationship between Puget Systems and our vendors. 
• Provides tactical leadership and guidance to the team, ensuring clarity on roles, responsibilities, and timelines.
• Identifies opportunities for industry exposure, development, and growth based on current market conditions. 
• Mentors cross-departmental team members and coordinates efforts (GTM, new products and services, etc.). 
• Oversees the creation and distribution of high-quality content, including blog posts, case studies, whitepapers, and video content.
• Proposes direction for new product development and initiatives, in coordination with company President. 
• Collaborates with internal teams to create technical content that resonates with our target audience, including content creators, engineers, and researchers.
• Utilizes and changes KPIs to push the department forward. 

EDUCATION, SKILLS & EXPERIENCE:

• 5-10+ years of direct people leadership experience required 
• Background in either business or engineering required 
• Bachelor’s degree in business or engineering highly preferred
• Experience in R&D or application engineering highly preferred
• Experience in computer hardware and/or software preferred

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Must be able to lift up to 65 pounds at times.
• Able to work from home or office.
• Able to travel for trade shows and other activities (~15%).

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS:

• The compensation range for this position is $107,500 - $162,500 annually, based on skillset and experience level 
• This position is bonus-eligible

Benefits include

• Medical, Dental, and Vision offered and covered at 75% by Puget Systems for the Employee’s coverage
• Paid time off and Sick Time - 2 weeks PTO to start, +1 day / year until they hit 4 weeks
• Paid holidays - 8 days + 1 floating holiday per year
• Paid parental leave - 3 weeks
• Paid Medical Hardship Leave - up to 2 weeks / year
• Paid jury duty leave - up to 2 weeks / year 
• 4% match on 401(k), immediate vesting
• Volunteer Matching Program
• Wellness Reimbursement Program
• Company-sponsored financial counseling

WHO WE ARE:

Puget Systems was founded by Jon Bach in December of 2000. We have just under 70 employees, and operate out of our 14,000 sq foot building in Auburn, Washington. We design and manufacture solution-specific, highly reliable workstations and servers for content creation, engineering, and scientific computing. We are unified in our mission to enable the work of our clients, and provide an unparalleled customer experience. Our core belief is that computers are a tool that should get your work done, and not be a hindrance. Our focus is on the work of our clients, and how our technology enables new and exciting advances in those fields.

HIRING PROCESS 

All candidates must submit a resume to be considered for this position. Applications with a cover letter will be given additional consideration. Qualified applicants will be invited to a first-round Zoom interview. If successful, they will then be invited to a second-round Zoom interview and then an in-person interview. A background check is required ahead of your start date. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other protected class.

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