Product Development Manager in Altrincham, Trafford

Product Development Manager
Manchester | Full time, permanent | Up to £55,000 depending on experience

We are recruiting for a Product Development Manager to lead the development of temporary security systems used on construction sites and vacant properties. These products often have no mains electricity or fixed network. They need to run unattended on solar and battery power, stay connected over a mobile network and provide reliable detection in harsh outdoor conditions.

Reporting to the Product Innovation Director, you’ll help decide which product improvements to prioritise and take responsibility for delivering them. You’ll stay close to the engineering: building prototypes, investigating faults and running trials on live sites. You’ll also make the call on whether a design is ready for production and be able to explain the evidence behind that decision.

What you’ll be doing

• Lead new products and improvements from concept through to deployment, balancing performance, power consumption, cost and ease of installation.

• Design enclosures, brackets and assemblies in 3D CAD, use 3D printing to test designs and build working prototypes that bring together electronics, power systems and embedded software.

• Define how products will be tested. Commission trial units on customer sites, review how they perform and use the results to resolve issues before a wider rollout.

• Work directly with suppliers and contract manufacturers on component selection, prototype builds, quality and delivery. Plan for testing and certification as products enter UK, European and US markets.

• Evaluate where AI and video analytics can improve detection, and test whether those improvements hold up under real site conditions.

• Oversee the handover to installation and service teams, with clear specifications, bills of materials, practical instructions and training.

What you’ll bring

You may already manage product development, or you may be a Senior Design, Development or R&D Engineer looking for wider ownership. What matters is that you can talk through a physical product you helped bring into use: what you personally designed or built, which decisions you made and what changed after testing.

You’ll need practical 3D CAD experience, an understanding of DC electronics and battery and solar power, and the ability to read schematics and use test equipment. You should be comfortable writing or debugging code in at least one language, ideally Python, and know enough about TCP/IP, routing, firewalls and VPNs to diagnose a connected device in the field. Experience with CCTV, alarms, cellular IoT or other remotely monitored equipment would be particularly relevant.

The role is based in Manchester, with home working where the task allows. Expect a few days of UK travel per month for supplier visits and field trials, plus occasional international travel. A full UK driving licence is required, and you’ll need to hold or be able to obtain a valid passport.

If you’d like to discuss the role, get in touch with James at NexHire for an informal conversation. To apply, send your CV and a short note about a product you’ve worked on. CAD models, prototype photos or code examples are welcome.