job_080317a: Director of Engineering, Spark Grills Inc. (San Francisco, CA)

From: Kristin Burns <kristin.burns_at_stanford.edu>
Date: Thu, 03 Aug 2017 09:41:52 -0700

<http://www.sparkgrills.com>Spark is a venture
funded startup working on a smart backyard
charcoal grill with a recurring revenue business
model. My previous company
<http://www.ecozoom.com>EcoZoom designs,
manufactures and sells biomass cookstoves and
solar products. 95% of our sales are to
developing countries. We've sold about 1 million
units since 2011, and 30% of Rwanda uses an EcoZoom cookstove.

I am looking for a Director of Engineering to
lead our product development. Someone who is an
engineer's engineer, who has taken a product from
concept through production. Startup experience
wouldn't hurt either. The full job description is
included in the body of this email.


Director of Engineering

Location: San Francisco, CA

JOB DESCRIPTION

Spark is a venture-backed startup looking for a
Director of Engineering who is passionate about
the intersection of IOT, hardware, and working towards our big, audacious goal.

You will be the guiding force in our product
development, working closely with the Founder to
spearhead our technical team and define the
technical direction, architecture, and evolution
of our products. The work will require
creativity, persistence, adaptability in a
rapidly evolving business environment, a passion
for the unknown, and solid knowledge of software
and electronics product development. We are
looking for a partner who can take an early
product and turn it into a go-to-market product.

If you have an infectious enthusiasm to create,
we want to hear from you. Get in at the
beginning. Create something in which you have
ownership. Lead a team. Have a real, lasting impact.

RESPONSIBILITIES
    * · Serve as a key member of the executive management team.
    * · Work with engineers, designers,
management and other key stakeholders.
    * · Manage a small team, but also roll
your sleeves up and work within your engineering
expertise. This is a hands-on role.
    * · With the Founder, develop strategic
plans for the direction and control of product development activities.
    * · Motivate team members and provide
technical direction and guidance, as well as hands-on project management.
    * · Maintain a high level of
communication with a cross-functional team and partners.
    * · Create process, documentation, and project management tools.
    * · Engage with customers, partners and
industry experts to understand key industry
trends and to inform the company’s product strategy and decision making.
    * · Help make Spark an industry leader.


QUALIFICATIONS
    * · 4-8 years of hardware product
management experience in fast-moving early stage startups.
    * · BS in technical field required.
Master’s Degree (Mechanical, Electrical, Product
Development, etc.), or equivalent experience desired.
    * · Competent in metal work, electronic
hardware, firmware and software design.
    * · Entrepreneurial mindset as a
self-starting, high energy individual with
ability to develop and execute complex plans to
reach the product’s and company’s objectives.
    * · Prototyping capabilities,
comfortable working in a machine shop, on 3D
printers, with laser cutters, etc.
    * · Proven track record of managing
multiple parallel work streams and seamlessly
moving between deeply technical product
requirements and high-level business strategy.
    * · Excellent project management skills
to keep cross-functional teams aligned and
provide robust documentation throughout the product lifecycle.
    * · Detail oriented while also able to
summarize and consolidate data into meaningful
recommendations and actionable next steps.
    * · Experience bringing a product from
idea stage through to production.
    * · Experience with patents.
    * · Excellent written and oral communication skills.


COMPENSATION, BENEFITS & PERKS
    * · Generous equity package in a venture-backed startup
    * · Market based salary
    * · Great opportunity to gain experience at an early-stage company
    * · State of the art prototyping shop
with unlimited training on almost every machine shop tool imaginable
    * · Healthcare and dental
    * · Flexible work hours


DISCUSSION

The backyard barbecue is an American pastime, but
we’ve lost something in our transition to the
convenience of gas grills over the last 30 years.
Eager to be rid of the messy and time-consuming
experience of dumping a bag of charcoal on an
aluminum grate and dousing it with lighter fluid,
we embraced gas, on the promise it would do the job just as well. It doesn’t.

Spark combines the artisanship of the pre-gas era
with the technology of today to give cooks the
authenticity, taste and character of charcoal without all the hassle.

With every grill sold, we’ll place money in a
working capital fund to finance the placement
(not giveaway) of clean cookstoves in developing
countries. The fund will recycle and grow, with
the goal of ending dirty cooking in our lifetime
- a problem that kills more people each year than
malaria, HIV and tuberculosis combined.

80% of US households own at least one grill,
which is used 34 - 44 times per year on average.
We believe our grill will fill an urban niche and
coupled with our social impact mission, will make
Spark a household name and catalyze sales growth.

To apply, please send resume and cover letter to
<mailto:ben_at_sparkgrills.com>ben_at_sparkgrills.com
with the subject “Director of Engineering”.
End
[]

Ben West
Founder
email <mailto:ben_at_sparkgrills.com>ben_at_sparkgrills.com
skype <skype:ben.d.west?call>ben.d.west
<tel:423.290.0629>


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Potential applicants should communicate directly
with the contact listed in the posting. Please
do not "reply" to the posting messages.

Job postings are archived at http://www-design.stanford.edu/~ddivjobs/

Note: The job postings distribution list
contains several distribution lists: Design grad
students, ME310 alumni, ME218 alumni, ME jobs
list, etc. Members of multiple lists will
receive multiple copies of postings. Please
excuse the duplication. Thank you.




clip_image001.png
(image/png attachment: clip_image001.png)

Received on 2017-08-03 09:41:58

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : 2017-09-05 12:00:07 PDT