Director of Engineering, Safety & Compliance The Toro Company

Who Are We?

The Toro Company is a homegrown, Minnesota-based company that has been in business since 1914. We pride ourselves on providing world class equipment to help maintain the environment that we love, while putting an emphasis on giving back to the communities that surround us. From residential lawns and gardens, to venues such as St. Andrews Links and Target Field, we are a company with a global footprint and a passion for helping people beautify whatever landscape they may be in. With 100 years of operation under our belt and an average employee tenure of 15 years, come find out what makes The Toro Company the best place in the Twin Cities to build a career.

The Director plans and directs the team of safety and compliance engineers supporting The Toro Company’s (TTC) outdoor power equipment (OPE) divisions.  Serves in a consultative capacity for product safety and product qualification activities to ensure compliance with domestic and international product safety and regulatory requirements for the OPE product designs.  Assists in the development of TTC product safety policies and procedures and trains engineers and OPE division staff on usage of systems and safety standards, including mechanical, electrical and functional safety and regulatory compliance. Represents TTC on pertinent domestic and international technical societies and standards organizations committees.  Serves in a consultative capacity to the Legal Department regarding worldwide response to product injury incidents related to OPE products, including support of product liability investigations and defense. 

What Will You Do?

In order to grow and build a successful career with The Toro Company, you will be responsible for: 

• Leads OPE product safety and compliance engineers and directs their activities related to product safety and compliance issues.

• The primary representative of TTC and its OPE divisions as an active member on domestic and international standards development organizations and committees and trains direct report team as they also participate on standards development committees.

• Tracks safety and regulatory compliance status on OPE products, including engine emissions, and ensures that product design teams meet their safety and regulatory compliance requirements prior to production and through product shipment release.

  Compiles with safety and regulatory compliance documentation including the construction and storage of technical files

  Updates safety and regulatory compliance documents as needed such as European Union risk assessment documents

  Has approval to ship (sign-off) responsibility on OPE products that they comply with all necessary standards for the markets they are being sold into

• Advises OPE product development teams on product safety compliance.

  Evaluates and interprets U.S. and international product safety and regulatory standards to ensure products meet all standards required for the markets to which they are sold.

  Provides safety and regulatory related design guidance for product development teams.

  Evaluates updates to current standards and implements new requirements to existing and new products.

  Leads product safety risk assessments.

  Reviews or trains direct reports all OPE safety messaging and compliance with standards.

  Reviews and assists the development of all OPE safety and regulatory decals.

• Communicates and educates OPE divisional engineering, product evaluation, and technical publications on standards changes.

• Serves as the primary OPE engineering product safety liaison to the legal department. Works collaboratively with legal on safety and regulatory compliance topics, including accident investigation, claims support, developing internal safety policies/practices, developing advocacy positions for standards and implementing regulatory requirement and responding to those requirements.

• Serve as a chairperson of relevant OPE product safety committees or delegates to direct reports, as appropriate.

• Participates on corporate product safety board.

• Supports and advocates for OPE divisional compliance to the corporate product safety policy and related guidelines.

• Improves systems and procedures to enhance the product development process. Benchmarks leading companies to ensure utilization and application of the latest methods.

• Own, develop and effectively manage the department budget.  Obtain timely approvals for necessary staff, equipment, facility and budget changes or enhancements.

• Provide adequate written standards, checklists and ensure related disciplines are in place to ensure compliance with business policies and compliance to applicable domestic and international standards.

• Other duties as assigned by supervisor.

What Do You Need?

To be considered for this role, an individual should meet the following minimal requirements: 

• Bachelor of Science in a related engineering degree from a college/university ABET accredited (or equivalent) engineering program, OR

• Master of Science in a related engineering degree from a college/university with an ABET accredited (or equivalent) undergraduate engineering program.

• Sr. Manager II-Minimum of (7) years of experience in standards development, auditing, or compliance in a manufacturing environment, preferably within the outdoor power equipment industry or off-road heavy duty equipment industry.

• Director Level-Minimum of ten (10) years of experience in standards development, auditing, or compliance in a manufacturing environment, preferably within the outdoor power equipment industry or off-road heavy duty equipment industry.

• Ability to investigate and define strategies to ensure cost-effective, efficient, low-risk project execution.

• Excellent communication skills, ability to interact with all levels of personnel internally and externally, as well as with various groups, business functions and governmental agencies.

• Able to effectively convey proposed strategies and legal requirements to senior-level management.

• Highly competent organizational, presentation and written skills.

• Lean Enterprise or Six Sigma knowledge is desirable.

• International experience and experience in international standards writing capacity is a plus.

• Must be versed in regulatory compliance and standards promulgation activity regarding noise, vibration, product safety, auditing, etc. 

• Technical and practical knowledge of standards committees and their associated function and activities, regulatory systems and processes.

Other Job-Related Components:

• Position supports the product safety initiatives for TTC’s OPE divisions.  Works with project teams to accomplish goals.  Provides training, task and/or project leadership.

• Domestic and International travel required to industry safety and regulatory committee meetings, accident investigation sites, test sites, distributors, customers, vendors, manufacturing facilities and other locations as required.

MUST BE A US CITIZEN OR A PERMANENT RESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

#LI-Hybrid

What Can We Give You?   

At The Toro Company, we are always working to make sure our employees know just how valued they are. In addition to a competitive salary, an affordable and top tier medical/dental/vision plan, 401k, and many other great benefits - The Toro company offers employees at ourBloomington, MN HQlocation a variety of perks, including: 

Dress for your day - We know you're more productive when you're comfortable, which is why TTC employees are encouraged to take advantage of our casual, corporate environment. 

Location – Conveniently located near both St. Paul and Minneapolis, we are centrally located for most commuters! 

Food - Take advantage of our onsite café, which serves both breakfast and lunch. With a Caribou Coffee attached, you can grab a snack and a coffee at any time during your day. 

Wellness - The Toro Company’s HQ offers complimentary use of our onsite fitness facility to employees. In addition to physical wellbeing, TTC offers a variety of mental health and financial health resources to all employees. 

Volunteerism - The Toro Company is proud to provide employees 20 hours of paid time to volunteer in the community. 

Summer Hours – Enjoy a flexible schedule during the summer! By working a little more during the first few days of the week, TTC employees at our Bloomington HQ are able to start their weekends early and leave by noon on Friday. 

Flexible Work Arrangements – This team is currently implementing a hybrid work schedule. The opportunity to collaborate in the office and work from home part-time, has promoted team-building and flexibility. 

Competitive Salary – The pay range takes into account skills, experience, education, and location. It is not common to be hired at or near the top of the range; compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. Cash compensation is one piece of our competitive total rewards package. If you need to, you can access your pay early with the One@Work app, formerly the Even app.

At The Toro Company, we are committed to fostering a secure and trustworthy recruitment process for our Applicants.  Recruitment fraud is a potential threat to job seekers, so please be aware that throughout our recruitment process, you’ll never be required to pay any fees or disclose personal financial details when applying to TTC opportunities. 

We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and consider qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), political affiliation, military service, or other non-merit based factors. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.