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Sr Director of Engineering (EE, Firmware, Software & Cloud)

Mountain View, CA

Willow is a platform for products that help improve the lives and health of women. We are a mission-driven team of experienced inventors, mothers, and fathers dedicated to making a difference in women’s lives. The Willow™ Wearable Breast Pump, selected as one of TIME's 25 Best Inventions in 2017 and 2018 CES Innovation Award for Wearable Technologies, is the first solution in our platform.

Role Overview

Willow is seeking a Senior Director of Engineering to lead, scale, and architect our multi-disciplinary engineering organization spanning Electrical Engineering (EE), Embedded Firmware, Cloud Infrastructure, and Mobile/Software Applications.

In this role, you will be the primary technical bridge connecting physical hardware to our cloud and mobile ecosystem. You will balance strategic leadership with hands-on technical execution, diving deep into system architecture, design reviews, and technical problem-solving alongside your teams. You will manage a hybrid delivery model—leading in-house engineering leads while orchestrating external design houses, contract manufacturers (CMs), and outsourced software teams to bring high-reliability, connected healthcare products to market.

 

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Hands-On Engineering

  • Act as the chief technical authority across Willow’s end-to-end stack: Electrical Engineering (PCBA design, power management, sensors), Firmware (RTOS, low-power BLE), Software (iOS/Android), and Cloud (AWS/GCP, APIs, analytics).
  • Remain actively engaged in technical execution: drive system-level architecture, lead design reviews (schematics, layout, firmware architecture, API design), and jump in to troubleshoot complex technical bottlenecks.
  • Define and enforce technical standards, code quality metrics, hardware test procedures, and secure software development lifecycles (SDLC).

Team Management & Organizational Growth

  • Manage, recruit, and mentor a high-performing, multi-disciplinary engineering team across EE, firmware, cloud, and mobile disciplines.
  • Build a culture of accountability, innovation, technical rigor, and cross-functional collaboration.
  • Establish career paths, performance management, and continuous learning programs for engineering staff.

External Vendor & Partner Orchestration

  • Direct and manage external development partners, offshore software agencies, specialized design houses, and hardware manufacturing partners (JDM/ODM/CM).
  • Negotiate statements of work (SOWs), manage vendor budgets, track technical deliverables, and ensure external code/hardware designs meet internal standards.
  • Establish clear handoff protocols between external development partners and internal sustaining/operations teams.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Execution

  • Partner closely with Product Management, Quality Assurance, Regulatory Affairs, and Operations to translate product requirements into executable technical roadmaps and project timelines.
  • Ensure engineering practices comply with relevant regulatory requirements (e.g., FDA medical device software controls, ISO 13485, IEC 60601, HIPAA, and data privacy standards).
  • Balance technical debt, performance, cost of goods sold (COGS), feature velocity, and product reliability.

 

Qualifications

Required Experience & Technical Depth

  • Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.
  • Experience: 12+ years of progressive engineering experience in connected consumer hardware, IoT, or medical devices, with at least 5+ years in engineering leadership (Director level or above).
  • Multi-Domain Mastery: Demonstrated technical depth across all four required core domains:
  • Electrical Engineering: Mixed-signal PCB design, low-power battery management, sensor integration, BLE design, and RF compliance.
  • Firmware: Embedded C/C++, RTOS, microcontroller architectures (e.g., Nordic, STM32), and low-level communication protocols (I2C, SPI, UART).
  • Software & Cloud: Mobile application architecture (iOS/Android), cloud platforms (AWS/GCP), microservices, RESTful APIs, and IoT device management.
  • Hands-On Capability: Proven ability to remain technical—able to read schematics, evaluate codebases, review system interfaces, and guide architectural decisions without relying solely on delegated oversight.
  • Vendor Management: Deep experience managing third-party engineering vendors, offshore development teams, and contract manufacturers through full product lifecycles (NPI through mass production).

Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience in regulated medical devices (FDA 510(k), IEC 62304 software lifecycle) or high-reliability consumer health technologies.
  • Proven track record of delivering successful, high-volume consumer IoT products from concept through mass manufacturing.
  • Familiarity with data security, encryption standards for connected hardware, and healthcare privacy compliance (HIPAA/GDPR).

Willow is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunities regardless of gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, disability, or Veteran status. 

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