Head of NPD

Role: Head of New Product Development
Location: Scotland

A leading global engineering organisation is seeking a Head of New Product Development to take ownership of a strategically critical innovation portfolio.

This is a senior leadership opportunity to shape future product capability, drive cutting-edge development, and deliver impactful solutions to a global customer base.

The Opportunity

Reporting to the Engineering & Innovation Director, this role sits within the global engineering leadership team and is responsible for the successful delivery of the NPD portfolio.

You will lead multidisciplinary teams across engineering, product, and operations, ensuring that complex programmes are delivered effectively and aligned to business objectives. This role also involves close engagement with customers to ensure new products meet evolving market needs.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the New Product Development portfolio, ensuring projects are delivered on time, within budget, and aligned with business objectives
• Develop and maintain the NPD roadmap, supporting future capability development and innovation strategy
• Provide leadership and oversight to project managers, lead engineers, and integrated project teams
• Drive accountability across project teams, ensuring effective delivery, governance, and risk management
• Ensure compliance with engineering processes, stage-gate reviews, safety requirements, regulatory standards, export controls, and cybersecurity protocols
• Monitor portfolio performance, including delivery timelines, cost performance, and capability maturity KPIs
• Champion continuous improvement across NPD processes through lean, agile, and systems engineering methodologies
• Collaborate with product, engineering, operations, and customer-facing teams to ensure solutions meet evolving customer requirements
• Support the adoption of emerging technologies, including AI, autonomous systems, and advanced materials, within future product development

What We’re Looking For

• Proven experience leading New Product Development, R&D, or innovation programmes within a complex engineering environment
• Strong leadership experience within technical or engineering teams, with the ability to influence across multiple functions
• Demonstrable experience delivering complex projects from concept through to implementation
• Commercially aware with the ability to balance innovation, customer requirements, and business objectives
• Experienced in project governance, compliance, and structured delivery methodologies
• Strong stakeholder management, communication, and presentation skills
• Degree qualified in Engineering or a related discipline
• Experience within highly regulated industries would be advantageous (e.g Aerospace, Defence, Marine & Subsea Engineering, Energy & Renewables, Medical Devices - will also consider other highly regulated industries) 

This is a rare opportunity to lead a high-impact innovation function within a global environment, driving the development of advanced technologies and future-focused solutions.

For more information or a confidential discussion, please get in touch with Diane Smedley-Nisbet at (url removed) or call me on (phone number removed)