Vice President of Product Development (Robotics)

Reporting To

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Location

Singapore (LionsBot HQ)

About LionsBot

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Singapore, LionsBot International is a multiple award-winning smart robotics company providing deep-technology solutions to the global commercial cleaning industry. With a proprietary cloud operating system (LionsOS), a growing portfolio of autonomous floor-cleaning robots designed and manufactured in-house, and operations spanning 30+ countries across Europe, the US, and Asia, LionsBot is redefining how the world cleans. Recognised by Forbes Asia’s “100 to Watch,” the Financial Times’ High-Growth Companies Asia-Pacific, and honoured with Interclean Amsterdam, Red Dot, and iF Design awards, LionsBot is on a mission to give cleaners superpowers—one robot at a time.

Role Summary

The Vice President of Product Development will own the end-to-end design, development, industrialisation, and lifecycle management of LionsBot’s autonomous cleaning robotics portfolio, with scope extending into adjacent service robotics categories such as security, delivery, and inspection. This role carries full accountability for robot product strategy, engineering execution, manufacturing readiness, quality, and product experience, while building and leading large, cross-functional product teams to deliver robust, scalable, and cost-efficient robotic products loved by cleaners worldwide.

Key Responsibilities

1. Robotics Product Strategy & Portfolio Management

• Define and execute LionsBot’s robotics product roadmap in close alignment with commercial strategy, customer insights, and competitive dynamics

• Drive new robotic product introduction (NPI) end-to-end, from early concept and prototyping through to mass production readiness

• Manage the full product lifecycle—including sustaining engineering, cost-down programmes, and end-of-life transitions—across LionsBot’s expanding service robot portfolio

2. End-to-End Service Robotics Development

• Lead all engineering disciplines—mechanical, electrical, embedded software, autonomy, perception, and system integration—to deliver cohesive, production-grade robotic systems

• Ensure seamless integration across hardware, embedded firmware, AI/ML, LionsOS cloud platform, and user-facing interfaces

• Architect robust, modular system platforms that optimise for reliability, safety, serviceability, and scalability across product variants

3. Robot Manufacturing & Industrialization

• Champion design for manufacturing (DFM), design for assembly (DFA), and design for cost (DFC) disciplines across all product programmes

• Manage relationships with contract manufacturers, key component suppliers, and manufacturing partners to ensure quality, cost, and delivery targets

• Drive factory ramp-up, pilot builds, EVT/DVT/PVT milestones, and the transition to volume production at LionsBot’s Singapore manufacturing facility

4. Product Testing, Quality & Compliance

• Define and enforce rigorous product testing, validation, and quality frameworks across all robot platforms

• Ensure full compliance with safety, regulatory, and certification standards across all target markets (CE, UL, and region-specific requirements)

• Instil a culture of continuous improvement, leveraging field data and customer feedback to enhance reliability, durability, and real-world performance

5. Product Experience & Design

• Own the end-to-end product experience—spanning industrial design, UX/UI, human-machine interaction (HMI), and serviceability—ensuring LionsBot robots are a joy to use

• Ensure products are intuitive for frontline cleaners, robust for demanding commercial environments, and optimised for real-world autonomous deployment

• Strike the right balance between cleaning performance, aesthetics, usability, and long-term maintainability

6. Lean Product Development

• Embed lean product development practices across the organisation to compress development cycles and accelerate time-to-market

• Relentlessly optimise bill-of-materials cost, manufacturability, and supply chain resilience without compromising quality

• Champion data-driven decision-making by leveraging fleet telemetry, field failure data, and customer feedback to inform design priorities

7. Leadership & Team Building

• Recruit, scale, and mentor large multidisciplinary product and engineering teams across mechanical, electrical, software, and test engineering

• Foster a high-performance engineering culture rooted in ownership, execution excellence, and a passion for building great robots

• Partner closely with AI/autonomy, operations, commercial, and after-sales service teams to ensure products succeed in the field

Key Qualifications

Experience

• 10+ years of progressive experience in robotics, mechatronics, or complex electromechanical product development, with at least 3 years in a senior leadership capacity

• Proven track record of delivering commercial service robots (or comparable autonomous hardware products) to market at scale

• Deep hands-on experience with in-house manufacturing, contract manufacturing, and global supply chains

• Demonstrated ability to build and manage large, cross-functional engineering and product teams (50+ people preferred)

Technical Expertise

• Comprehensive understanding of robotics system design—including mechanical, electrical, embedded systems, autonomy/navigation, and sensor fusion

• Fluency with EVT/DVT/PVT stage-gate processes, NPI methodologies, and volume production ramp

• Strong working knowledge of quality management systems, testing frameworks, and international regulatory compliance (e.g., ISO 13482, CE, UL)

Leadership & Business Skills

• Strong product ownership mindset with an unwavering focus on execution, quality, and customer outcomes

• Outstanding stakeholder management, communication, and cross-functional leadership skills

• Proven ability to navigate the trade-offs between innovation, unit cost, development timeline, and field reliability in a fast-scaling environment

Education

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a closely related technical discipline

• An MBA or advanced management qualification is a plus

Key Success Metrics

• On-time and on-budget delivery of NPI milestones (EVT, DVT, PVT, and mass production)

• Measurable improvements in product quality, field reliability, and customer satisfaction

• Year-over-year bill-of-materials (BOM) cost reduction while maintaining or improving product performance

• Successful scaling of manufacturing output in line with global demand growth

• Team growth, retention, and engineering team engagement scores