Product Development Team Structure

Team Structure

1. Engineering

• Electrical Engineering

  • System Architect: Specifies overall system design, including key components.

  • Hardware Engineer: Focuses on hardware design, schematic capture, and PCB layout.

  • RF Engineer: Specializes in RF systems design, antenna design, and connectivity (WIFI/BT, Cellular).

  • Power System Engineer: Manages power design, battery operations, and energy efficiency.

  • Component Specialist: Selects components, verifies characteristics, and checks EOL (End of Life).

  • PCB Layout Specialist: Focuses on PCB design, layout, and generation of necessary files.

• Mechanical Engineering

  • Design Engineer: Handles overall product design, including enclosure and form factor.

  • Module Specialist: Designs specialized modules such as camera, display, and USB connections.

  • Reliability Engineer: Conducts various tests to ensure the product's durability and safety.

2. Software

• Embedded Systems Engineer: Works on low-level programming, sensor integrations, and power management.

• Kernel Developer: Focuses on bootloader, secure boot, and kernel optimizations.

• Driver Developer: Develops drivers for various I/O peripherals.

• Software Platform Engineer: Develops and optimizes the OS layer, e.g., Android.

3. Quality Assurance & Testing

• QA Engineer: Conducts rigorous testing of both software and hardware.

• Automation Engineer: Writes scripts to automate testing processes.

• Test Engineer: Develops and conducts functional, system, and regression tests.

• Reliability Test Engineer: Focuses on product longevity and durability tests such as drop tests, thermal cycling tests, and stress tests.

4. Manufacturing

• Manufacturing Engineer: Oversees the manufacturing process, optimizes for efficiency, and ensures product quality during production.

• Process Engineer: Develops and refines manufacturing processes to improve yield and product quality.

• DFx Engineer: Ensures the product design is optimized for ease of manufacturing and assembly and the pcb can be reliably and cost-effectively manufactured.

• Supplier Quality Engineer (SQE): Ensures components and materials from suppliers meet required quality standards, conducts supplier audits, and resolves supplier-related quality issues. 

5. Program Management

• Technical Program Manager: Oversees the entire product development timeline, manages cross-functional meetings, and liaises with external partners.

• Build & Release Manager: Manages the product builds, from prototype to market release. Usually they work with PLM (product lifecylce management) systems such as agile.

6. Product Management

• Product Manager: Sets the product vision, defines features, and ensures that the product meets market needs.

• UX/UI Designer: Ensures the product is user-friendly, designs interfaces, and optimizes user experience.

7. Support & Logistics

• Supply Chain Specialist: Manages component sourcing, partnerships with vendors, and ensures timely availability of required materials. Their title is generally referred to global supply managers (GSM).

• Documentation Specialist: Creates user manuals, technical documentation, and training materials. Their title coule be technical writers.