Sr Director, Systems Engineering - Strategic SME

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Summary
The role is for a highly accomplished and forward-thinking Sr Director Technical Engineer for a leading role in a critical customer engagement. This role demands a unique blend of technical expertise, customer-centricity, and a passion for emerging technologies to drive innovation and deliver exceptional results.

This role is accountable for a strategic customer engagement - this includes regular engagement with the customer’s engineering teams on technical advances, product quality, engineering metrics etc. To be successful in the role, the individual will need to work closely with internal and external stakeholders globally.

The candidate will regularly interact with executives and/or major customers and product marketing. Interactions may involve readouts, technical direction setting or responding professionally and proactively to any potential escalations. The individual may also represent the organization in public speaking venues and/or community events.

Engagement in technical forums is highly desired, but not required.

Responsibilities
Lead Technical Engagement:

• Serve as the principal technical advisor and leader for a key customer, fostering a deep understanding of their business needs and technical challenges.
• Collaborate closely with the customer to define project scope, technical requirements, and success criteria, ensuring alignment with their strategic objectives.
• Architect and design innovative solutions that leverage emerging technologies (e.g., AI/ML) to address the customer's unique needs.
• Effectively communicate complex technical concepts and solutions to both technical and non-technical audiences at the customer, building trust and confidence.

• Lead and mentor a high-performing engineering team, providing technical guidance and fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning.
• Oversee the full software development lifecycle, from design and development to testing and deployment, ensuring adherence to the highest quality standards.
• Champion engineering best practices, including code reviews, automated testing, GenAI based toolsets and comprehensive documentation.
• Drive continuous improvement in engineering processes and methodologies to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.

• Define and implement robust quality assurance processes and metrics to ensure that deliverables consistently meet or exceed customer expectations.
• Proactively identify and mitigate risks to project success and product quality.
• Champion a culture of quality throughout the engineering team and the customer engagement.

Knowledge/Skills/Competencies

• Deep Expertise: 20+ years of experience in product architecture and engineering, with a proven track record of designing, developing, and delivering complex solutions.
• Technical Mastery: Expert-level understanding of software and hardware engineering principles, design patterns, and architectural best practices.
• Emerging Tech Focus: Strong experience with and passion for emerging technologies, with the ability to apply them creatively to solve real-world problems.
• Customer-Centric Approach: Exceptional communication, interpersonal, and presentation skills, with a demonstrated ability to build strong customer relationships and understand their needs.
• Quality Advocate: Deep understanding of quality assurance methodologies and a commitment to delivering high-quality solutions.
• Strategic Thinker: Able to translate customer needs into technical solutions and align engineering efforts with business goals.
• Leadership and Mentorship: Proven ability to lead and mentor engineering teams, fostering a collaborative and high-performing environment.
• Domain: Must have had hands on experience, in C/C++, python, Linux kernel, Platform drivers, open source development, Networking switching chipsets

Celestica is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, pregnancy, genetic information, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other protected category under applicable federal, state, and local laws.