Vice President (VP)-Engineering

Why Badger Meter?

Badger Meter is a leading global water technology company, with a mission to preserve and protect the world’s most precious resource. For more than 100 years, cities and businesses have utilized our innovative and trusted solutions to enhance operational efficiency and conserve water while making it more affordable, clean and resilient. Just like every drop counts, at Badger Meter every employee counts because our contributions have a lasting impact on the world!

Here at Badger Meter, we believe that our approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion is the very foundation of our success. Our commitment is reflected in our core values, where we strive to create an environment that celebrates differences, encourages innovation, and ensures that every voice is celebrated and appreciated.

We understand that a diverse team brings a variety of perspectives and ideas, which ultimately fosters creativity and excellence. Badger Meter provides opportunities for career growth and development for every employee by creating a supportive and inclusive workplace where they can make meaningful contributions while preserving the world’s most precious resource.

What You Will Contribute:

As a member of the Company’s Executive Leadership Team, the Vice President of Engineering provides strategic and operational leadership for the engineering organization, with a focus on water industry technologies and products, including mechanical and static water meters and associated AMR/AMI communication devices, flow measurement technologies, liquid and gas sensing technologies, telemetry, metrology, and water management systems. This role oversees the design, development, and delivery of high-performance, regulatory-compliant solutions that address customer needs in municipal, commercial, and industrial water applications. The role ensures the Company’s engineering strategy, project management discipline and departmental resources drive technical and product quality excellence, achievement of sustainability goals, and alignment with the company’s mission and strategic plan to deliver comprehensive and scalable water management solutions to customers while preserving the world’s most precious resource.

Job Duties: Strategic Leadership

- Partner with executive leadership to develop and execute the Company’s engineering strategy in alignment with corporate objectives, market requirements and emerging technologies, competitive positioning and long-term product roadmaps.

- Identify emerging technologies and market trends that create new business opportunities.

Operational Management

- Lead and manage the engineering organization (100 employees), including product development, R&D, project management, systems engineering, sustaining engineering, test engineering, metrology, and product regulatory & compliance.

- Establish clear objective/priorities, performance metrics, development milestones, and resource allocation plans.

- Implement best-in-class engineering processes, tools, and methodologies to improve efficiency and quality.

- Key contributor to Company-specific Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) initiatives

Innovation & Product Development

- Oversee concept-to-launch activities for new products, with an emphasis on water metering technologies, IoT-enabled devices, AMI/AMR systems, liquid and gas sensing technologies and connectivity to related software platforms.

- Ensure designs meet industry standards for Hygiene, Electrical/Haz Loc, Metrology, Materials, Cyber Security and comply with regional regulatory requirements.

People Leadership

- Recruit, develop, and retain top engineering talent; build high-performing, cross-functional teams.

- Provide coaching, mentoring, and career development opportunities

- Foster a collaborative, transparent, and inclusive engineering culture

Financial & Resource Management

- Develop and manage the engineering budget, ensuring alignment with corporate priorities.

- Optimize resource allocation, balancing short-term project delivery with long-term capability building.

- Drive cost efficiency in design, prototyping, and testing without compromising quality.

Risk Management & Compliance

- Ensure compliance with all relevant water industry standards, certifications, and regulations.

- Oversee rigorous product testing for durability, accuracy, and performance in varying environmental conditions.

- Identify and mitigate technical, operational, and project risks.

- Lead, manage, and mitigate high level risks identified in the corporate Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) process

Education and Experience:

- Bachelor's Degree in engineering or physical sciences required; Master’s in engineering/physical sciences or MBA preferred

- Additional certifications in PMP, Lean Six Sigma preferred

- 10+ years in progressively senior leadership roles required

Qualifications:

- Deep understanding of engineering principles, product lifecycle management, and emerging technologies.

- Strong business acumen with the ability to balance technical decisions with business priorities.

- Exceptional leadership, communication, and organizational skills.

- Experience with global engineering teams and multicultural environments.

- Proven ability to lead global or multi-site teams

- Track record of: Managing large, multi-disciplinary engineering Teams, Leading full product lifecycle efforts (concept, design, testing, manufacturing, market), Driving innovation and implementing new technologies, Working cross functional with operations, manufacturing and commercial teams., Ideal experience includes experience with AWWA standards, flow measurement, IoT/AMI systems, PCBA design, predictive analytics, etc.

Performance Metrics

- Time-to-market for new products.

- Product quality and reliability metrics.

- Engineering cost efficiency (budget adherence).

- Employee engagement and retention in engineering teams.

Competencies:

- Operational Decision Making: Secure and compare information from multiple sources to identify business issues; commit to an action after weighing alternative solutions against important decision criteria.

- Strategic Influence: Create and execute influence strategies that gain commitment to one’s ideas and persuade key stakeholders to take action that will advance shared interests and business goals.

- Leading Change: Drive organization and cultural changes needed to achieve strategic objectives; catalyze new approaches to improve results by transforming org culture.

- Strategic Thinking: Ability to anticipate future trends, translate them into engineering initiatives, and drive innovation.

- Execution Excellence: Proven ability to deliver projects on time, within budget, and with high quality.

- Change Leadership: Skilled at leading organizational transformation and implementing new processes.

- Collaboration: Strong cross-functional leadership, building partnerships across all business units.

Working Conditions:

- Work is performed in an office environment and requires the ability to operate standard office equipment

Competitive Total Rewards at Badger Meter:

- Competitive Pay

- Annual Bonus

- Eligible for Annual Pay Increases

- Comprehensive Health, Vision, and Dental Coverage

- 15 days Paid Time Off + 11 Paid Holidays

- Two Ways to Save for Retirement: Badger Meter contributes 25 cents for every dollar you contribute to the plan, up to 7% of your eligible compensation. In addition to the match, the company will also contribute 5% of your eligible compensation to your Defined Contribution account on an annual basis. Additional access to a certified financial planner to help ensure your money is working for you, at no cost!

- Employer Paid benefits including: Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Basic Group Life Insurance, Short Term Disability, and more

- Educational Assistance – Tuition Reimbursement up to $5,250

- Voluntary benefits including: Additional Life Insurance, Long Term Disability, Accident and Critical Illness coverage

- Health Savings Account (HSA) & Flexible Spending Account (FSA) options

An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. This company considers candidates regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status. Applicants can learn more about their rights regarding equal opportunity in employment by viewing the federal "EEO is the Law" poster and the “EEO is the Law” poster supplement at http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/ofccpost.htm

Badger Meter complies with all aspects of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as amended by the ADA Amendments Act, and all applicable state or local disability laws. This means that we will reasonably accommodate qualified employees with a disability if accommodation would allow them to perform the essential functions of their job, unless doing so would create an undue hardship.

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