Professional Experience
Sunnova Energy
Group PLM, Strategic Initiatives
2022 – PresentSunnova is a fast-moving, market leader in Residential EaaS; my role extends that product portfolio to both the C&I and Microgrid market verticals.
- Created a strategic product portfolio for Business and Microgrid sectors from ground-up; full-ownership of a DER tech-stack supporting $150M business in 2024:
- Solar (PV): High-wattage solar panels, racking (rooftop, carport, and ground-mount), and inverters (string- and micro-inverters).
- Energy Storage Systems (ESS): Integrated battery storage reduces energy cost through peak shaving, demand response programs, and time-of-use restrictions.
- EV Chargers: Mobility platforms with hardware and governing software, including V2X applications.
- Spearheaded a $5M+ cost-saving initiative by leading a cross-functional implementation of a third-party IIoT Monitoring & Control solution. Developed use cases and championed effort within organization, reduced Time-to-Market by 12+ months.
- Optimized the residential product portfolio to meet new Domestic Content rules, securing government incentives ($100M+ projected in 2Y) and sustaining company growth trajectory during a market contraction.
Sunnova Adaptive Business
Sunnova offers a complete suite of energy technologies and services to meet specific energy needs, goals, and local utility rate structures for your business.
Fluence Energy
Senior Product Line Manager
2021 – 2022Fluence is solving the problem of grid-level energy storage to aid conversion to renewable energy sources – my profitability team spanned the entire portfolio of ESS product & services.
- Developed long-term TCO roadmaps for long- and short-duration ESS offerings; those strategic actions generate 22% contribution improvement across the portfolio.
- Validated economic strategy for in-house battery module with global cell sourcing and regional pack configuration, enabling competitive open-market bidding.
- Reduced $3.9M in annual BOM spend by optimizing container and component design, sourcing, and commissioning; led offshore team to implement cost-out projects.
Fast Company: 2021 Top 10 Innovation
Fluence sold $1B worth of energy storage equipment in 2021, helping grids avoid dirty, coal-burning, peaker power plants.
Coherent
Product Line Manager
2018 – 2020Market definition role responsible for metrics like product growth, P&L accountability (both revenue and profit goals), roadmap and specification development, strategic account oversight, and global marketing strategy for VCSEL lasers.
- On-boarded two flagship customers – $100M projected revenue over 5Y. Responsible for product definition, customer inputs, and performance-price roadmap for new-to-world offering.
- Eliminated inherent eye-safety risk by prioritizing component integration; reduced customer layout space 61%, increased product margin 19%.
- Launched new automotive in-cabin sensing platform with 10Y roadmap, 60%+ contribution margin. Satisfied demanding audits with difficult customer.
- Prevented 8% margin erosion by executing cost-out plan for a commodity product that aligned with customer price-reduction targets.
- Streamlined portfolio and increased margin 11% through data-driven product pruning. Managed legacy product EOL, maintained 100% customer uptime.
Eaton
Director of Engineering
2013 – 2018Organized and led all product development functions for the Enclosures Division: New Product Design (NPD), Engineer-to-Order (ETO), and Product Cost Reduction (VA/VE).
- NPD champion, grew vitality sales ($35M sales, 29% growth) across four product lines. Defined multigenerational product roadmaps to ensure YOY growth.
- Overhauled Engineer-to-Order process with standardized Lean Six Sigma methods:
- Reduced leadtime by 55%
- Increased sales 36% YOY in Y1
- Implemented quality gating system, first-time yields improved 28%
- Led 40-person cross-functional team, consisting of direct and indirect employees. Developed and implemented:
- Tiered career-path ladders
- Succession plans for critical roles
- Individualized development plans
- Organizational capability assessments
- Executed DFM project to reduce 21% material and 38% labor cost on a $4M flagship line; 3 patents awarded.
Eaton
Engineering Manager
2012 – 2013Spearheaded material and labor reduction (VA/VE) projects with Supply Chain, Operations, Engineering, and Product Managers. Established VA/VE team; implemented a change-based culture to long-dormant product lines.
- Strategic oversight for $4.0M cost-out P&L (3% COGS) across seven production sites.
- Key transition member during M&A process. Partnered with technical leads in other divisions to identify $2.4M in actionable synergy cost-out projects.
- Lean 6 Sigma integration; reduced COGS 1.5% through labor efficiencies without sacrificing quality or leadtime.
- Chaired action committee to evaluate low-performing manufacturing sites; performed deep-dive analysis to find inefficiencies. Average annual savings of $350K per location.
Emerson
Senior Design Engineer
2003 – 2012Design lead for a global project team, consolidated products obtained through acquisitions with legacy offerings to a unified platform for the Oil and Gas industry.
- Executed 6 year initiative to reorganize mid-tier platform architecture. Formulated the design and IP process; 14 patents awarded.
- Converted legacy offerings from 20 disparate designs to a cohesive portfolio with 6 high-margin designs:
- $21M increase in globally served markets
- 63% supplier reduction
- 54% component reduction
- 28% blended margin improvement
- Led Chinese product design teams (12 design and test engineers); mentoring, managing deliverables, and driving consistent vision.
- Verified new product releases with statistically controlled Pilot Runs, confirming long-term viability.
Molex
Design Engineer
2002 – 2003Outsourced flagship product lines to off-shore assembly house – responsible for process transfer, intellectual property, and on-site qualification.
Implemented DFMEA, PFMA, and a Control Plan to comply with stringent aesthetics and quality expectations.
Nokia
Associate Design Engineer
1999 – 2002Responsible for designing circuit board assembly tooling; reduced both cycle time and handling defects.