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.