Senior Manager Design Engineering

About the role

Acuity Inc. (NYSE: AYI) is a market-leading industrial technology company. We use technology to solve problems in spaces, light and more things to come. Through our two business segments, Acuity Brands Lighting (ABL) and Acuity Intelligent Spaces (AIS), we design, manufacture, and bring to market products and services that make a valuable difference in people’s lives.

We achieve growth through the development of innovative new products and services, including lighting, lighting controls, building management solutions, and an audio, video and control platform. We focus on customer outcomes and drive growth and productivity to increase market share and deliver superior returns. We look to aggressively deploy capital to grow the business and to enter attractive new verticals.

Acuity Inc. is based in Atlanta, Georgia, with operations across North America, Europe and Asia. The Company is powered by approximately 13,000 dedicated and talented associates. Visit us at

You may utilize this posting to upload your resume and information; however, this is not an application for a specific position. Your submission may or may not be reviewed depending on our future needs for this role. If your information is reviewed for a specific job opening, you may be invited to apply for that specific job opening. We encourage you to review the open positions listed on our careers website and directly apply for any for positions that interest you.

Work location

This position requires onsite presence in Decatur, GA, following a hybrid work model.

Job Summary

Nightingale is seeking a highly influential and inspiring Senior Manager of Design Engineering, New Product Innovation to lead the development of the next generation of healthcare lighting solutions. This is not a traditional engineering management role. We are looking for a leader who can create an environment where innovation thrives, teams are energized, and new ideas move rapidly from concept to reality.

The ideal candidate combines the entrepreneurial spirit of a startup with the ability to leverage the scale, resources, and capabilities of a global enterprise. They must be equally comfortable leading structured product development programs and facilitating creative exploration that challenges conventional thinking.

This leader will inspire and develop a team of seasoned engineers while serving as a catalyst across Product Management, Marketing, Manufacturing, Sales, Sourcing, Operations, and Design. Success requires balancing speed with rigor, vision with execution, and disruptive innovation with core portfolio growth.

The role will be central to Nightingale's mission of delivering purposeful innovation that improves patient and caregiver experiences while strengthening Nightingale's position as the category leader in healthcare lighting.

Key Tasks & Responsibilities (Essential Functions)

Inspire and Grow a High-Performance Team

• Lead through vision, coaching, and empowerment, creating a culture of curiosity, ownership, accountability, and calculated risk-taking.
• Develop seasoned engineers, build future leaders, and grow the team as the innovation roadmap expands.

Accelerate a Balanced Innovation Roadmap

• Lead rapid concept development, iterative prototyping, validation, and commercialization across disruptive innovations, platform developments, and core portfolio priorities.
• Enable fast, clear decisions while maintaining quality, reliability, manufacturability, profitability, and customer value.

Connect Acuity Innovation and Design Capabilities

• Partner with Nexus, Acuity's Innovation Engine, to explore emerging technologies, evaluate breakthrough opportunities, and accelerate commercialization.
• Collaborate with the Design Hub to deliver world-class industrial design, human-centered user experiences, and a cohesive Nightingale design language.
• Integrate Engineering, Industrial Design, Product Management, and Marketing from early discovery through launch.

Lead Connected Healthcare Lighting and Controls

• Apply strong knowledge of Acuity's nLight lighting controls platform to product architecture, system integration, application requirements, and roadmap decisions.
• Bring working knowledge of low-voltage controls used in medical environments and patient rooms, including interfaces and workflows relevant to patient, caregiver, and facility needs.
• Partner with controls, electrical, software, compliance, and application experts to create integrated solutions that are intuitive, reliable, scalable, and appropriate for healthcare environments.

Influence and Execute Across the Business

• Inspire alignment across Marketing, Sales, Manufacturing, Sourcing, Quality, Operations, and executive partners by translating technical possibilities into clear customer and business value.
• Leverage Acuity's scale, resources, systems, and expertise without losing Nightingale's entrepreneurial speed and willingness to iterate.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead Nightingale New Product Innovation engineering from concept through commercialization.
• Own engineering execution and resource priorities across multiple fast-paced product programs.
• Build and mentor a growing team of experienced Design Engineering professionals.
• Drive product architecture, mechanical and electrical design integration, prototyping, validation, and launch readiness.
• Ensure effective integration of lighting and control solutions, including nLight and relevant low-voltage patient-room control systems.
• Partner with Nexus, the Design Hub, Product Management, and Marketing to translate insights and technologies into differentiated products.
• Engage Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Sourcing, and Quality early to deliver scalable, reliable, and profitable solutions.
• Establish practical engineering standards and operating mechanisms that support both creative exploration and disciplined execution.

Skills and Minimum Experience Required

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Product Design, Industrial Design, Engineering Technology, or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience in engineering, product development, design engineering, or innovation, including leadership of experienced technical teams.
• Demonstrated success delivering new products from concept through commercialization in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong cross-functional leadership, communication, and organizational influence skills.
• Knowledge of Acuity's nLight controls platform, or directly comparable networked lighting controls experience with the ability to become proficient in nLight.
• Working knowledge of low-voltage control systems relevant to healthcare and patient-room applications, including coordination of lighting with patient, caregiver, and facility interfaces.
• Experience balancing breakthrough innovation, core roadmap execution, technical risk, and commercial commitments.
• Lighting, healthcare, medical device, architectural products, controls, or related industry experience preferred.

Travel Requirements

1-20%

Pay and benefits

The range for this position is $104,200.00 to $187,500.00. Placement within this range may vary, depending on the applicant’s experience and geographic location. Acuity offers generous benefits including health care, dental coverage, vision plans, 401K benefits, and commissions/incentive compensation depending on role. For a list of our benefits,

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