R&D Principal Engineer (Design Modularity)

We're looking for people who put their innovation to work to advance our success - and their own. Join an organization that ensures a more secure world through connecting and protecting our customers with inventive electrical solutions.

Position Summary
nVent is seeking a Principal Engineer focused on Design Modularity to lead, promote, and embed modularity into core new product development (NPI) initiatives across the Systems Protection segment. This is a high-impact, hands-on technical leadership role, positioned within the Engineering Technology group, responsible for both defining modular design strategies and ensuring their execution in cross-functional product development teams.

You will serve as the technical owner and driving force for modular system implementation in New Product Introduction (NPI) programs-ensuring scalable architectures, subsystem standardization, and complexity reduction are fully realized in product designs from concept through launch.

Key Responsibilities
Modularity Champion & Technical Leader
Serve as the technical champion for modular system design across multiple NPI programs, ensuring alignment with nVent's modular framework.
Drive adoption of structured modular hierarchies in product development.
Promote modular design principles and lead cultural change towards a modular approach in core engineering teams.
NPI Execution & Ownership
Integrate modularity directly into R&D product development teams, collaborating daily with product engineers, designers, and program managers.
Lead modular architecture development for key NPI projects, ensuring modularity principles are applied rigorously from requirements definition to production release.
Drive definition and control of critical subsystem interfaces, ensuring interchangeability, scalability, and serviceability for assigned projects.
Modularity Governance
Collaborate across NPI development teams to ensure meticulous process controls for subsystem and module owners to safeguard modularity throughout development and into lifecycle management.
Complexity Reduction & Cost Optimization
Champion and consult with product management and engineering leadership to drive product complexity reduction initiatives, promoting and implementing modular design to achieve part count reduction, SKU simplification, and cost efficiencies.
Partner with Manufacturing and Supply Chain to streamline production processes through standardized modules.
Mentorship & Capability Building
Mentor engineering teams on modular design methodologies, balancing technical depth with practical NPI execution.
Develop training, standard processes, and playbooks to institutionalize modularity in core engineering processes.
KPI Tracking & Continuous Improvement
Define, track, and report on modularity critical metrics (BOM reduction, reuse rates, interface standardization, assembly time savings).
Identify continuous improvement opportunities to enhance modular design implementation in NPI projects.
Qualifications
Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in Engineering or a related technical field; advanced degrees preferred (MBA, Master's in Engineering).
Significant experience in product architecture, modular design, and NPI execution in complex systems; 10+ years preferred.
Proven leadership in embedding modularity into core product development teams.
Consistent track record in complexity reduction, cost optimization, and cross-disciplinary systems integration.
Hands-on experience working within R&D NPI teams to deliver modularized product solutions.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities to drive efficiency and optimize project outcomes.
Excellent communication, partner management, and leadership skills to champion collaboration and drive alignment at all organizational levels.
Willingness to travel occasionally for team and customer engagement.

WE HAVE:

• A dynamic global reach with diverse operations around the world that will stretch your abilities, provide plentiful career opportunities, and allow you to make an impact every day

  • nVent is a leading global provider of electrical connection and protection solutions. We believe our inventive electrical solutions enable safer systems and ensure a more secure world. We design, manufacture, market, install and service high performance products and solutions that connect and protect some of the world's most sensitive equipment, buildings and critical processes. We offer a comprehensive range of systems protection and electrical connections solutions across industry-leading brands that are recognized globally for quality, reliability and innovation.

  • Our principal office is in London and our management office in the United States is in Minneapolis. Our robust portfolio of leading electrical product brands dates back more than 100 years and includes nVent CADDY, ERICO, HOFFMAN, ILSCO, SCHROFF and TRACHTE. Learn more at www.nvent.com.

• Commitment to strengthen communities where our employees live and work

  • We encourage and support the philanthropic activities of our employees worldwide

  • Through our nVent in Action matching program, we provide funds to nonprofit and educational organizations where our employees volunteer or donate money

• Core values that shape our culture and drive us to deliver the best for our employees and our customers. We're known for being:

  • Innovative & adaptable

  • Dedicated to absolute integrity

  • Focused on the customer first

  • Respectful and team oriented

  • Optimistic and energizing

  • Accountable for performance

• Benefits to support the lives of our employees

Pay Transparency

nVent's pay scale is based on the expected range of base pay for this job and the employee's work location. Employee pay within this range will be based on a combination of factors including knowledge, skills, abilities, experience, education, and performance. Where federal, state, or local minimum wage requirements exist, employee pay will comply.

Compensation Range:

Depending on the position offered, employee may be eligible for other forms of compensation, such as annual incentives.

Benefit Overview

At nVent, we value our people and their health and well-being. We provide a broad benefits package with meaningful programs for full-time employees that includes:

• Medical, dental, and vision plans along with flexible spending accounts, short-term and long-term disability benefits, critical illness, accident insurance and life insurance.

• A 401(k) retirement plan and an employee stock purchase plan - both include a company match.

• Other supplemental benefits such as tuition reimbursement, caregiver, personal and parental leave, back-up care services, paid time off including volunteer time, a well-being program, and legal & identity theft protection.

At nVent, we connect and protect our customers with inventive electrical solutions. People are our most valuable asset. Inclusion and diversity means that we celebrate and encourage each other's authenticity because we understand that uniqueness sparks growth.