Director of Engineering
Location: Vancouver, BC(Hybrid)
Position: Full-time
Reports to: CEO
Works closely with: VP Product & Brand, VP Operations
Kanto is a Canadian design brand creating thoughtful products for the modern home and digital lifestyle. Our portfolio spans from speakers, turntables, and audio accessories to TV / desktop mounts and AV accessories. We pride ourselves in creating smarter solutions, combining performance, design and practical innovation.
We work closely with overseas engineering and manufacturing partners to develop products from concept through production, bringing them to market via global distribution, retail and direct-to-consumer online sales.
Position Summary
Kanto is looking for a Director of Engineering to lead the technical development of our growing product portfolio. This is a hands-on leadership role, managing a small team of multi-disciplinary engineers and working closely with Design, Operations, and third-party manufacturing partners to take products from concept through development, validation and mass production.
Our products span mechanical, electrical, acoustic, firmware, software and manufacturing engineering, so we’re looking for someone with the technical breadth and judgment to work across disciplines, elevating the technical standards of our product line, identifying risks early, challenging suppliers and keeping projects moving.
The right person is technically sound, pragmatic, structured and decisive. You’re comfortable diving into the details when needed, whether that means reviewing an amplifier design, addressing a mechanical design issue, or working through a production issue. You know when to make a decision, when to challenge an assumption, and when to bring in a specialist.
Most importantly, you create momentum. You bring the right people together, energize teams through your passion, solve problems and keep teams moving forward.
Success in this role means better products, fewer surprises, faster decisions, stronger supplier performance and fewer issues reaching mass production.
Core Responsibilities
Engineering Leadership
- Lead and develop Kanto's mechanical, electrical, acoustic engineering team.
- Establish clear priorities, ownership, deliverables and timelines.
- Identify and resolve technical risks and roadblocks early, keeping projects on track.
- Build practical engineering processes that improve execution without adding unnecessary bureaucracy.
- Create a culture of accountability, technical curiosity and problem-solving.
- Provide clear technical direction while knowing when to involve subject-matter experts.
Product Development
- Own technical execution, collaborating from product concept through mass production.
- Assess and predict technical feasibility, risks, costs and development requirements.
- Add structure to product development, translating product concepts into clear engineering requirements.
- Lead technical reviews, prototyping roadmaps, validation and production readiness.
- Ensure products meet Kanto's expectations for performance, reliability, quality, cost and manufacturability.
- Work closely with product design team to find practical solutions when technical constraints arise.
Supplier & ODM Engineering
Kanto works extensively with manufacturing and engineering partners in Asia. The Director of Engineering will serve as a strong technical counterpart to these partners.
- Provide technical leadership and direction to ODM and manufacturing partners.
- Review and challenge supplier designs, specifications, testing methods and proposed solutions.
- Review schematics, mechanical designs, tooling, firmware and technical documentation as required.
- Identify when supplier engineering support does not meet Kanto's requirements and determine the appropriate path forward.
- Drive resolution of technical and production issues with suppliers.
- Support factory qualification, technical audits and production readiness.
- Build strong technical relationships while maintaining clear technical standards and accountability.
- Occasionally travel internationally, including to Asia, for product development, troubleshooting and production support.
Quality, Reliability & Compliance
- Establish appropriate product validation and reliability testing.
- Ensure technical issues and design weaknesses are identified before mass production.
- Lead root-cause analysis and corrective action for significant product failures.
- Work with Operations and suppliers to resolve quality issues and prevent recurrence.
- Oversee technical aspects of regulatory certification and compliance across global markets.
- Use warranty, return and field-performance data to drive product improvement.
Engineering Across Disciplines
Kanto's products can involve a wide range of engineering challenges, including mechanical design and materials, electronics and amplifiers, acoustics, Bluetooth/Wi-Fi/HDMI, firmware and embedded systems, displays, thermal management, environmental protection, tooling and manufacturing processes, product safety and regulatory compliance.
You don't need to be the specialist in every area. You need to know the right questions to ask, recognize technical risk and know when to bring in deeper expertise.
What We're Looking For
- 10+ years of engineering experience, preferably with a mechanical background or strong mechanical design abilities.
- Have experience building consumer products, particularly consumer electronics
- Proven engineering leadership or management experience.
- Strong technical breadth across multiple engineering disciplines.
- Experience taking physical products from concept through development, validation and mass production.
- Experience working directly with Asian manufacturers, ODMs or engineering partners.
- Strong understanding of design for manufacturing and production realities.
- Comfortable reviewing and challenging technical work outside your original engineering specialty.
- Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills.
- Commercial awareness, including an understanding of product cost, trade-offs and development timelines.
- Ability to communicate technical issues clearly with engineers, suppliers, executives and non-technical stakeholders.
- Willingness to travel internationally as required.
What You’ll Get
- Full-time, Monday–Friday, hybrid position based in Vancouver.
- Competitive compensation, with consideration for relevant experience
- Employee benefits and company events
- Opportunities for professional development
- Product discounts and perks
- Free on-site parking
