InnoTECH Staffing is looking to hire an Associate Director of Engineering / Director, Engineering focused on system integration for a medical device company located in Watertown, MA. This requires being onsite 5 days a week.

Company Overview
Our client is a clinical diagnostics startup developing a breakthrough point-of-care instrument that delivers laboratory-grade performance across clinical chemistry, hematology, and immunoassays from a single blood sample. Our platform combines three “gold standard” analytical technologies into a compact, fully integrated system that brings reference lab quality to the point of care—transforming how clinicians access and act on diagnostic data.

The Role
We are hiring an Associate Director or Director of Engineering to lead complex system integration efforts while guiding a small, high-performing technical team. This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who thrives at the intersection of deep technical work, tactical project leadership, and team development. You’ll report to the VP of Engineering and be responsible for driving cross-functional progress on key milestones, ensuring design rigor, and fostering a culture of excellence within a lean and fast-moving startup environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Technical & Tactical Leadership
• Own system-level architecture and integration efforts across optics, fluidics, robotics, and embedded systems, ensuring all subsystems operate as a cohesive platform.
• Lead cross-functional project execution from concept through verification, validation, and transfer to manufacturing, maintaining momentum and clear accountability across teams.
• Serve as the primary engineering lead on key product development initiatives including triaging technical risk, coordinating priorities, and unblocking path-critical workstreams.
• Collaborate closely with internal scientists, design engineers, and external consultants to ensure alignment on technical requirements, timelines, and quality benchmarks.
• Strategic Thinking & Execution
• Contribute to engineering strategy, helping translate business and clinical needs into scalable, manufacturable solutions aligned with company goals.
• Work with the VP of Engineering to define system roadmaps, build execution plans, and manage resource allocation in a high-complexity, low-headcount environment.
• Serve as a voice of pragmatic leadership in stage-gate product reviews, helping balance technical ambition with near-term deliverability.
• Team Leadership & Culture
• Provide technical mentorship to junior engineers and scientists, fostering continuous learning, rigorous design thinking, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
• Help recruit, onboard, and retain exceptional talent while cultivating a culture of curiosity, accountability, and urgency.
• Promote open communication, shared ownership of outcomes, and team resilience in the face of engineering and scientific uncertainty.
• Quality & Process Discipline
• Identify, assess, and escalate technical issues with speed and clarity, ensuring they are addressed without compromising system integrity or timeline targets.
• Innovation & IP
• Contribute meaningfully to our growing IP portfolio by identifying and protecting novel engineering solutions that give the platform competitive defensibility.

Preferred Experience

• B.Sc. or M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering or a related field
• 12+ years of experience in complex product development, with at least 3 years in a leadership role managing engineers and/or technical projects
• Deep experience with systems integration across multiple disciplines (mechanical, fluidic, optical, and embedded/software)
• Proven success driving product development into manufacturing transfer, ideally in a regulated environment
• Prior experience working in lean or startup settings. Comfortable with ambiguity, limited resources, and the need to prioritize ruthlessly
• Familiarity with diagnostic instrumentation, cytometry, or complex fluidic/optical systems is a strong plus

Compensation includes base salary, full benefits, unlimited PTO, and initial equity grant