About This Role
Kidde Global Solutions is seeking a Staff Component Engineer to establish and manage the approved component portfolio for Residential Fire products while serving as the technical lead for the Component Engineering team. This role leads component selection, qualification, standardization, lifecycle management, and alternate-source development to improve product reliability, regulatory compliance, cost, and supply continuity.
The Staff Component Engineer assists the manager with CE team coordination, owns formal technical review and decision governance, provides technical direction to the team, and maintains consolidated visibility of progress, risks, and support needs across CE-owned projects. This role partners with Product Development, Sustaining Engineering, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Quality, and Compliance to reduce component-related technical and business risk.
Key Responsibilities
Technical Leadership and CE Team Coordination
Assist the manager in coordinating the CE team’s day-to-day technical work, priorities, and project execution.
Provide technical direction and support to Component Engineers and Sr. Component Engineers.
Drive consistent engineering methods, standards, documentation quality, and decision criteria across the CE team.
Coordinate cross-project dependencies and resolve technical issues affecting multiple programs or product platforms.
Maintain a consolidated view of CE-owned activities and report progress, risks, decisions, resource constraints, and escalation needs to the manager.
Technical Review and Decision Governance
Own the CE formal technical review process and define review criteria, evidence requirements, approval paths, and escalation thresholds.
Lead formal reviews of qualification plans, component selection and substitution decisions, risk assessments, validation evidence, and implementation readiness.
Review and approve technical conclusions within delegated authority, or recommend escalation when risks exceed that authority.
Ensure review actions are documented and closed before qualification closure, approval, or implementation.
Lead mandatory reviews for safety-critical components, regulatory or compliance impacts, new or unproven technology, significant reliability risks, major supply-continuity exposure, and cross-platform decisions.
Component Strategy and Governance
Own and maintain the approved component portfolio, engineering standards, and component records.
Establish preferred-component selection and qualification requirements.
Drive component standardization, reuse, and rationalization across product platforms.
Provide technical authority for component selection, derating, reliability, manufacturability, and substitution.
Lead resolution of complex or high-impact component decisions and ensure alignment across projects.
Qualification and Reliability
Evaluate and qualify electronic, electromechanical, sensing, and RF components.
Develop component qualification plans, test requirements, and acceptance criteria.
Assess component reliability, technology readiness, and suitability for intended applications.
Investigate component-related failures and support root-cause and corrective-action activities.
Review and govern qualification strategies for complex, critical, or cross-platform components.
Lifecycle and Supply Risk Management
Monitor component availability, lifecycle status, obsolescence, lead times, and single-source exposure.
Develop risk assessments and mitigation plans for new and existing products.
Lead technical qualification of alternate and replacement components.
Coordinate engineering changes resulting from component substitutions and supplier changes.
Partner with Supply Chain and Procurement to improve supply continuity.
Provide consolidated visibility of major component and supply risks across CE-supported projects.
Review critical or high-impact lifecycle, obsolescence, alternate-source, and supply-risk assessments before mitigation plans are finalized.
Product Development and Regulatory Support
Recommend approved components for new designs and participate in design reviews.
Assess component feasibility during technology-readiness and project-initiation activities.
Ensure components satisfy applicable safety, environmental, and regulatory requirements.
Maintain component traceability, qualification evidence, and compliance records.
Support compliance testing, agency submissions, and field-quality investigations.
Provide formal technical review for critical decisions affecting safety, compliance, regulatory status, or product performance.
Cost and Value Engineering
Identify component cost-reduction, consolidation, and value-engineering opportunities.
Evaluate proposed cost changes for reliability, safety, compliance, and supply risk.
Incorporate approved productivity components into the preferred component portfolio.
Basic Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, or related technical discipline.
8+ years of engineering experience involving electronic components, product design, reliability, or sustaining engineering.
Strong understanding of analog and digital semiconductors, passive components, power management devices, sensors, RF components, and electromechanical devices.
Demonstrated experience leading complex component engineering activities and structured technical reviews.
Ability to challenge engineering evidence, document decisions, define approval or escalation needs, and consolidate cross-project risks.
Experience with component qualification and reliability testing.
Experience working with suppliers and contract manufacturers.
Strong analytical, technical decision-making, stakeholder-management, and team-coordination skills.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, including clear communication of technical status and risk to engineering teams and management.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience with consumer electronics, embedded systems, or life safety products.
Knowledge of component lifecycle management and obsolescence monitoring.
Familiarity with UL, FCC, EMC, RoHS, REACH, and related regulatory requirements.
Experience qualifying alternate sources and managing supply chain risks.
Understanding of DFMEA, PFMEA, RCA, and reliability methodologies.
Working knowledge of PLM, ERP, and engineering database systems.
Experience supporting global manufacturing operations.
Experience defining technical processes, conducting technical reviews, and driving engineering standardization across teams.
Success Metrics
Reduction in single-source component exposure.
Alternate-source qualification cycle time.
Component cost reduction savings delivered.
Approved component reuse across programs.
End-of-life component mitigation effectiveness.
Supplier risk reduction.
New product first-pass qualification success.
Component-related field quality performance.
On-time delivery and technical quality of CE project commitments.
Timely and accurate consolidated reporting of CE project progress, risks, and escalations.
Consistency of technical methods, documentation, and decisions across the CE team.
Timeliness and quality of formal technical reviews, review-action closure, and escalation decisions.
Effectiveness of technical support, coaching, and cross-project issue resolution.