Equipment Design Engineering Manager (onsite)

About Johnson Controls 

Johnson Controls, a global leader in thermal management, mission-critical building systems, energy efficiency, and decarbonization, helps customers use energy more productively, reduce carbon emissions, and operate with the precision and resilience required in rapidly expanding industries such as data centers, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, advanced manufacturing, and higher education.  

For more than 140 years, Johnson Controls has delivered performance where it really matters. Backed by advanced technology, lifecycle services and an industry-leading field organization, we elevate customer performance, turn goals into real-world results and help move society forward.  

Visit johnsoncontrols.com for more information and follow @Johnsoncontrols on social platforms.  

What you will do

At Silent-Aire, a Johnson Controls company, we're shaping the future of data center infrastructure through industry-leading innovation and custom-engineered solutions. As a premier manufacturer of mission-critical equipment, we design and build large-scale systems including advanced air handling units, modular data centers, and other cutting-edge technologies that power some of the world's most demanding environments.

We are seeking a strategic and technically driven Equipment Design Engineering Manager to lead a high-performing team of Senior Equipment Design Engineers and Subject Matter Experts. In this influential leadership role, you will drive the development, optimization, and standardization of complex engineered products while helping define the next generation of scalable, cost-effective, and manufacturing-ready solutions.

This is more than a people leadership position. You will play a pivotal role in advancing engineering excellence through value engineering (VAVE), Design for Excellence (DFX), modularization, cost optimization, and continuous improvement initiatives. Working cross-functionally with engineering, manufacturing, sourcing, and operations teams, you will transform innovative concepts into high-quality, production-ready solutions that enhance efficiency, improve quality, accelerate scalability, and deliver measurable business value.

Success in this role requires a strong understanding of how engineering decisions impact every stage of the product lifecycle, from material and labor costs to manufacturing complexity, throughput, serviceability, and overall product performance. If you're passionate about building high-performing teams, driving engineering innovation, and delivering meaningful impact at scale, this is an exciting opportunity to help shape the future of our industry.

This position is based in Edmonton, AB. Candidates must be commuting distance to the facility, or able to relocate. Various relocation packages are available.

How you will do it

Team Leadership & Development:

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of Senior Equipment Design Engineers and technical Subject Matter Specialists.

• Establish clear engineering priorities, deliverables, ownership, and accountability across the team.

• Assign and balance engineering resources based on project priorities, technical complexity, business needs, and production requirements.

• Develop technical capabilities within the team through coaching, design reviews, lessons learned, standards development, and knowledge sharing.

• Promote a culture of technical excellence, ownership, accountability, continuous improvement, and fact-based engineering decision-making.

• Ensure the team provides effective technical support to other EDE mechanical, electrical, drafting, project, and specialized design teams.

• Develop and maintain strong collaboration between Equipment Design Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Production, Quality, Procurement/Sourcing, Project Management, and other engineering organizations.

Engineering & Technical Leadership:

• Provide senior technical oversight for complex equipment, assemblies, systems, and engineering challenges.

• Ensure designs are production-ready and properly consider manufacturability, assembly, installation, serviceability, quality, safety, cost, and repeatability.

• Provide technical leadership across mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and piping systems as they relate to integrated equipment design.

• Lead and participate in engineering design reviews, design charrettes, technical problem-solving sessions, and production-readiness reviews.

• Challenge existing designs and engineering practices to identify opportunities to simplify, standardize, modularize, and reduce unnecessary complexity.

• Support development of optimized product architectures that can be reused and scaled across customers, product platforms, and projects.

• Ensure lessons learned from manufacturing, field issues, NCRs, engineering changes, and previous projects are incorporated into future designs.

Cost Analysis & Design Optimization:

• Understand product cost structures and how engineering decisions influence material, purchased-component, fabrication, assembly, labor, logistics, installation, and lifecycle cost.

• Work with Engineering, Manufacturing, Procurement/Sourcing, Finance, and Operations to evaluate the cost impact of design decisions.

• Use engineering cost analysis to identify opportunities to reduce total product cost without compromising performance, safety, quality, reliability, or customer requirements.
• Drive engineering solutions that reduce part count, unique components, manufacturing steps, assembly complexity, and production variation.

• Ensure cost is considered as a fundamental engineering design input rather than only as a downstream procurement activity.

Standardization & Modularization:

• Drive the development and implementation of standard parts, common components, reusable assemblies, and modularized subassemblies across EDE.

• Identify opportunities to replace project-specific designs with configurable or standardized engineering solutions.

• Promote reuse of proven designs and prevent unnecessary proliferation of unique parts and assemblies.

• Work with Procurement/Sourcing and Manufacturing to select preferred parts, materials, fabrication methods, and suppliers when appropriate.

• Develop engineering solutions that can be efficiently configured for multiple customers and applications while minimizing unnecessary customization.

• Support development of common product architecture, design libraries, engineering templates, and approved standard solutions.

DFX & Manufacturing Integration:

• Work with the DFX Manager and team in Designing for Excellence throughout the engineering organization, including Design for Manufacturability (DFM), Design for Assembly (DFA), Design for Cost (DFC), Design for Serviceability (DFS), and Design for Safety.

• Ensure manufacturing requirements are considered early in product development rather than addressed after design release.

• Work directly with Manufacturing Engineering and Production to understand fabrication, assembly, tooling, material handling, installation, and quality challenges.

• Translate shop-floor feedback into permanent engineering improvements and standardized design practices.

• Lead initiatives to reduce manufacturing variation, assembly complexity, rework, production disruptions, and engineering-driven quality issues.

• Encourage engineering teams to design around repeatable manufacturing processes and proven production capabilities.

VAVE & Cost Reduction:

• Lead and support Value Analysis / Value Engineering (VAVE) activities across EDE.

• Identify engineering-driven savings through design optimization, part consolidation, standardization, alternate materials, modularization, simplified manufacturing, and improved component selection.

• Develop technically sound business cases for proposed engineering cost-reduction initiatives.

• Work cross-functionally to validate cost savings and implementation feasibility.

• Track VAVE initiatives from concept through engineering validation and implementation.

• Support VAVE reporting, including project status, implementation progress, risks, and documented savings.

• Ensure cost reductions are technically validated and do not negatively affect product performance, reliability, quality, safety, compliance, or serviceability.

Engineering & Drawing Standards:

• Establish and enforce consistent application of ASME Y14 drawing and engineering documentation standards.

• Ensure compliance with applicable GD&T, dimensioning, tolerancing, drawing, and engineering documentation requirements.

• Ensure EDE design and drawing standards are consistently applied across the team's engineering deliverables.

• Drive drawing and model quality through structured design reviews and release checks.

• Ensure drawings clearly communicate design intent and provide Manufacturing and suppliers with accurate, complete, and usable information.

• Partner with EDE standards and drafting resources to continuously improve design standards, drawing practices, templates, libraries, and engineering documentation.

Project & Execution Management:

• Apply strong project management principles to engineering execution, including scope definition, scheduling, resource planning, prioritization, risk management, dependency management, and progress tracking.

• Coordinate multiple simultaneous engineering initiatives in a fast-paced, high-production environment.

• Establish engineering execution plans with clear milestones, ownership, deliverables, and escalation paths.

• Identify technical and schedule risks early and drive timely resolution.

• Balance long-term product and standardization initiatives with immediate production and project requirements.

• Ensure engineering deliverables are completed accurately and released in alignment with agreed project and manufacturing schedules.

• Communicate project status, risks, resource constraints, VAVE opportunities, and technical decisions clearly to EDE leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.

What we are looking for

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Technology, or a related technical discipline; equivalent combination of technical education and significant relevant industry experience may be considered.

• Experience in equipment design, product design, manufacturing engineering, or high-volume engineered product development.

• Demonstrated experience leading senior engineers, designers, technical specialists, or multidisciplinary engineering teams.

• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes, product cost, cost analysis, DFX, VAVE, standardization, modularization, and design optimization.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities with the ability to balance technical requirements against cost, manufacturability, schedule, quality, and production needs.

Preferred

• Experience in a high-production or high-volume manufacturing organization such as automotive, heavy equipment, commercial vehicle, agricultural equipment, industrial equipment, or a comparable engineered-product environment.

• Manufacturing and engineering experience with organizations such as Ford, John Deere, Western Star, or a comparable high-volume manufacturer.

• Experience with HVAC equipment, air handling units, modular data centers, industrial equipment, or other complex configured-to-order products.

• Experience developing modular product architectures, standard subassemblies, configurable designs, or platform-based product solutions.

• Experience leading structured VAVE, cost-reduction, product-standardization, or manufacturing-throughput initiatives.

• Experience using PTC Creo, Autodesk Inventor, Windchill, SAP, or comparable CAD, PLM, and ERP systems.

• Experience with engineering change management, configuration control, structured design-release processes, and production-readiness reviews.

• Project management certification or formal project management training is considered an asset.

• Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Design for Six Sigma, or continuous-improvement experience is considered an asset.

• Professional Engineering designation or eligibility for professional registration is considered an asset.

#LI-ONSITE

Johnson Controls’ Canadian subsidiaries are committed to providing reasonable accommodation to applicants, candidates and employees with disabilities, in accordance with applicable human rights legislation, and in Ontario, in accordance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (“AODA”). When requested, accommodation will be provided throughout all stages of the recruitment and selection process. To request accommodation, please contact us. Any information you provide related to accommodation measures will be treated as confidential. A copy of Johnson Controls’ applicable AODA policies are available on our website at www.johnsoncontrols.com for your reference, and can be made available in accessible formats upon request.