Flex

Director, Engineering Labs & Validation Operations

Flex$150K — $180K *
Technical Services
11 - 15 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related field.
  • 12+ years of experience in engineering, validation, and laboratory operations.
  • Proven leadership experience in complex hardware or mission-critical systems.
  • Extensive management experience in engineering laboratories and technical facilities.
  • Strong technical expertise in electrical power systems and cooling technologies.
  • Demonstrated success in managing budgets, capital, and operational excellence.
  • Ability to lead technical teams and influence stakeholders.

Responsibilities

  • Develop and execute the engineering labs and validation operations strategy.
  • Lead multidisciplinary lab operations and technical teams.
  • Establish scalable validation capabilities across various system levels.
  • Oversee testing for prototypes, compliance, and performance specifications.
  • Define laboratory roadmaps and capacity models for efficient operations.
  • Establish engineering standards and safety procedures for labs.
  • Drive lab automation and data analytics in testing environments.

Benefits

  • Full range of medical, dental, and vision plans
  • Life Insurance
  • Short-term and Long-term Disability
  • Matching 401(k) Contributions
  • Vacation and Paid Sick Time
  • Tuition Reimbursement
Full Job Description


Job Summary

Flex intends to spin off its Cloud and Power Infrastructure segment into a new, independent publicly traded company, which we’re calling SpinCo, until the name is unveiled. The spin is planned for Q1 2027. If the intended spin occurs, this role will support SpinCo, which will focus on critical digital infrastructure, delivering end-to-end power and thermal management solutions for AI data centers and other mission-critical applications.

To support our extraordinary teams who build great products and contribute to our growth, we’re looking to add a Director, Engineering Labs & Validation Operations located in Austin, TX.

Reporting to the Chief Technology Officer,the Director, Engineering Labs & Validation Operations will be responsible for leading the engineering laboratory strategy, validation infrastructure, test operations, and technical facility capabilities supporting the development of next-generation AI data center platforms. This role will oversee the planning, operation, expansion, and continuous improvement of laboratory and test environments used to validate electrical systems, power infrastructure, cooling solutions, controls, compute platforms, modular infrastructure products, and integrated system architectures.

What a typical day looks like:

  • Develop and execute the engineering labs and validation operations strategy.
  • Lead multidisciplinary lab operations, validation engineering, test engineering, technician, and technical services teams.
  • Establish scalable validation capabilities for rack-level, cluster-level, modular, and facility-scale systems.
  • Oversee prototype, qualification, reliability, performance, compliance, and certification testing.
  • Define laboratory roadmaps, capacity models, investment plans, operating budgets, and asset utilisation strategies.
  • Establish validation methodologies, engineering standards, safety requirements, procedures, and governance processes.
  • Partner with Engineering, Product Management, Manufacturing, Quality, EHS, Facilities, and Supply Chain teams.
  • Support customer demonstrations, proof-of-concept testing, technical reviews, and executive technology showcases.
  • Drive lab automation, digital instrumentation, data acquisition, analytics, and AI-enabled test environments.
  • Monitor lab utilisation, schedules, capital investments, operating expenses, safety, and productivity performance.

The experience we’re looking to add to our team:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related technical field.
  • 12+ years of experience in engineering, validation, testing, laboratory operations, product development, and technical leadership.
  • Proven leadership of engineering organizations supporting complex hardware, data center infrastructure, AI/HPC platforms, or other mission-critical systems.
  • Extensive experience managing engineering laboratories, validation environments, technical facilities, test operations, and certification activities.
  • Strong technical knowledge of electrical power systems, liquid cooling, automation and controls, instrumentation, data acquisition, reliability engineering, and validation methodologies.
  • Demonstrated success managing capital investments, operating budgets, laboratory assets, capacity planning, and resource allocation while driving operational excellence.
  • Proven ability to build and lead high-performing technical teams, influence executive stakeholders, and thrive in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.

#LI-EA1

EA42

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What you'll receive for the great work you provide:

  • Full range of medical, dental, and vision plans
  • Life Insurance
  • Short-term and Long-term Disability
  • Matching 401(k) Contributions
  • Vacation and Paid Sick Time
  • Tuition Reimbursement

Application Deadline:

Applications for this job position will be accepted for at least five days following the job posting start date below and continuing until the end date below or until the position is filled. This posting may close sooner due to application volume.

Job Posting Start Date 08-28-2026 Job Posting End Date Job CategoryDesign, Process & Technology Engineering

Is Sponsorship Available?

No

About Flex

Flex Ltd. is an American Singaporean-domiciled multinational electronics contract manufacturer. It is the third largest global electronics manufacturing services (EMS), original design manufacturer (ODM) company by revenue, behind only Pegatron for what concerns original equipment manufacturers. Flex has manufacturing operations in over 30 countries, totaling approximately 200,000 employees.
Learn more about Flex
Size
172,648 employees
Market Cap
$9.7 billion
Industry
Net Income
$421 million
Founded
2016
5 Year Trend
+1.8%
Revenue
$23.3 billion
NASDAQ

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