Principal: Product Design Engineering

Since launching the world's first portable wood‑pellet fired pizza oven back in 2012, Ooni has grown into an award‑winning, multi‑national business with a product range that is loved by people around the world. We’re beginning an exciting new phase of the Ooni journey. Our focus has always been on creating innovative products that spark joy in our customers and we’re proud of everything we’ve achieved so far – however, we’re only just getting started.

We are on the lookout for a creative, driven and passionate Principal: Product Design Engineering to lead our team of Product Design Engineers at our design hub in Broxburn, a short drive from Edinburgh. As a senior member of the team, you’ll oversee the full product engineering journey, from concept through to manufacturing and launch, ensuring we continue to deliver world‑class products in the cooking and outdoor living space. If you’re excited by the opportunity of making our product roadmap for 2026 and beyond a reality, then we’d love to hear from you.

Reporting to the Director of Product Delivery, this role requires 4 days per week at our offices in Broxburn, Edinburgh.

What you'll do

• Build, lead, and mentor a world‑class Product Design Engineering team, creating an environment that attracts, grows, and retains top talent.
• Oversee the delivery of consumer products from design to mass manufacturing, to end of life, ensuring technical excellence, quality, safety, and customer delight.
• Ensure engineering rigour across all development phases, including mechanical design, prototyping, testing & validation, and design‑for‑manufacture (DfM).
• Partner closely with the Design & Innovation team to translate product vision into manufacturable, scalable, and cost‑optimised solutions.
• Champion innovation and sustainability, embedding advanced materials, sustainable manufacturing methods, and lifecycle considerations into product engineering.
• Oversee the delivery of high‑quality CAD, drawing packages, and engineering documentation (Solidworks or equivalent).
• Drive technical risk assessment, validation plans, and testing strategies to ensure compliance with safety and regulatory standards in partnership with the Quality, Compliance & Testing team.
• Collaborate with Sourcing and Supplier Management teams to ensure robust design transfer and smooth transition into production with global manufacturing partners.
• Act as a key contributor to our stage‑gate product development process, ensuring milestones are met and cross‑functional alignment is achieved.
• Advocate for continuous improvement in tools, processes, and ways of working, including use of digital prototyping, simulation, and PLM/PDM systems.

What you’ll need to succeed

Essential

• Significant experience in design engineering of consumer products, ideally in appliances, hardware, or similar categories.
• Proven leadership of multidisciplinary engineering teams (mechanical, software, electronics, development, validation/verification).
• Passion and dedication to team growth and development.
• Expertise in taking products from concept to mass manufacture, with a strong record of commercial launches.
• Mastery of CAD (Solidworks or equivalent), including advanced modelling (surface, complex assemblies).
• Solid grounding in engineering theory and principles (mechanics, thermodynamics, materials science).
• Expertise in requirements management and cascade.
• Familiarity with quality and risk management tools and techniques.
• Experience in design for manufacture across multiple processes (sheet metal, castings, injection moulding, assembly).
• Proven collaboration skills both internally and with overseas manufacturing partners.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills – able to engage both technical teams and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Comfortable in a fast‑paced, scale‑up environment, balancing innovation and delivery.
• Degree (or equivalent qualification) in Engineering or a relevant technical discipline.
• A portfolio of consumer products showcasing work from concept through to mass production.
• Ability to travel overseas for up to 2–3 weeks at a time.

Preferred

• Certified Solidworks Professional (or equivalent advanced CAD certification).
• Experience with PDM/PLM system management.
• Knowledge of sustainability in product design (materials, lifecycle analysis, compliance).
• Systems Engineering knowledge & experience.
• Expertise in sheet metal forming, deep draw metal manufacturing, and plastic injection tooling.
• Familiarity with additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping techniques.
• Chartered Engineer (CEng) or working towards chartership.

Why Ooni?

When you join one of our global teams, you’re joining a dedicated group of do‑ers who value Kindness, Passion, Innovation, Ambition and Rigour above all else. We live, work and play by these values and are proud of what we’ve built here. As a member of our team, you will also receive the following:

• £1000 to spend on Ooni products each year, plus 50% discount on any other Ooni products.
• £500 every year to spend on your passion – whatever that may be.
• 35 days of paid time off per year, plus an additional 5 week sabbatical when you’ve been here for 5 years.
• Access to an employee assistance programme which includes on demand coaching.
• We believe in giving back to our communities, which is why we offer every team member five paid volunteer days each year to support causes they care about.
• Pizza is at the heart of everything we do – you’ll have access to our ovens in every office, and we’ll teach you to make pizza like a pro as part of your onboarding experience.

Having a fantastic culture is really important to all of us at Ooni. We work hard to make it diverse and inclusive, and want everyone to have access to the same opportunities.