Head of Engineering

Head of Engineering - Design Team Location: Chennai, IITM Research Park | Department: Engineering & Design Role in the Team Report directly to the CTO / Founder and serve as the single point of technical leadership across all engineering and design functions — structural design, BIM, estimating, and site execution interfaces. Own and lead a multidisciplinary engineering design team — Lead Engineers, BIM Lead, Sr. Structural Designers, and Detailers — setting technical standards, design culture, and delivery accountability across all active projects. Act as the primary technical interface with IIT Madras (IITM) for design validation, structural vetting, and cutting-edge R&D collaboration on next-generation modular building systems. Partner with procurement, factory, and site execution teams to drive the BIM-to-Factory pipeline — ensuring every design is translated into fabrication-ready, erection-ready, and site-executable outputs. Collaborate with sales, estimation, and contracts teams to provide technical authority in client engagements, bid clarifications, and value engineering reviews. Drive cross-functional initiatives in DFMA, PFMEA, and Lean Construction — buildingengineering systems that reduce on-site skill dependency and increase factory-completion percentages toward 99%. Required Qualifications Education Master's degree (M.Tech / M.E.) in Structural Engineering — mandatory. Preference for IIT / NIT graduates. Additional qualifications in DFMA, Lean Construction, Agile Engineering, or Product Management are a strong advantage. Technical Skills & Experience 12+ years of experience in structural/construction engineering, with at least 3-5 years in a senior leadership role overseeing multidisciplinary engineering teams. Proven track record in designing and scaling PEB, LGSF, and modular / industrialised building systems — from concept through to mass-produced, multi-geography deployment. Deep expertise in IS codes — IS 800, IS 456, IS 875, IS 1893 — and strong understanding of structural system behaviour, connection design, and fabrication tolerances. Expert proficiency in STAAD Pro, ETABS, and Revit / BIM tools — with clear understanding of how these integrate with manufacturing ERPs and BIM-to-factory digital pipelines. Hands-on experience implementing DFMA and PFMEA methodologies in a construction or prefab/modular manufacturing context. 3-5 years of experience in a modular, prop-tech, or startup engineering environment — where you successfully translated user behaviours and customer feedback into scalable structural solutions. Strong knowledge of modern building materials: composite panels, high-tensile steel, specialised coatings, and structural systems for foldable or rapid-deploy applications. Familiarity with Lean Construction, Agile engineering methodologies, and advanced procurement integration. Behavioural DNA & Mindset First-Principles Thinker — you don't do things because that's how it's always been done. You break problems down to their fundamental physics and rebuild from there. Product Mindset — you view a building as a high-performance machine, not just a static structure. You design for the user, not just the code. High Agency — you see a bottleneck in the factory or on site and you own the solution, regardless of your job title. Startup DNA — scrappy, intense, and comfortable building systems from scratch in environments with limited legacy infrastructure. Scale Thinking — you have taken concepts from single prototypes to mass-produced, geography-agnostic structural systems. Driven by Purpose — motivated by the vision of making high-quality, sustainable, rapidly deployable housing accessible to all of humanity.