Director, Hardware Engineering

At REGENT, we’re on a mission to revolutionize regional transportation between coastal cities. We're not just building vehicles, we're creating a new category of transportation: the Seaglider. These groundbreaking wing-in-ground-effect craft travel just above the water’s surface, combining the speed of an airplane with the low operating costs of a boat. Capable of 180 miles at 180 mph on today's battery tech (and up to 400 miles with next-gen batteries), Seagliders will unlock fast, affordable, and sustainable coastal transit for passengers and cargo - connecting cities, islands, and communities like never before. Backed by leading investors and powered by a team of passionate, forward-thinking engineers, builders, and operators, we’re now scaling from a breakthrough prototype to full production - and building the team to make it happen. ROLE OVERVIEW As Director, Hardware Engineering, you’ll lead REGENT’s hardware engineering organization through its next critical phase - stepping into a team with real momentum and helping evolve it into the high-performing, process-mature organization that can carry Seaglider programs from concept through certification and into production. You’re joining a sizable organization with strong technical talent and real momentum already in motion. This is not a blank-slate build - the foundations are in place, and the next chapter is about strengthening leadership, sharpening execution, and building the systems needed to scale. Your first priority will be to listen, assess, and earn trust: understand where the team is strongest, where friction exists, and what support leaders and engineers need to perform at their best. From that foundation, you’ll lead the next stage of growth - strengthening the organization where it matters most and building the capabilities required for scale. A core part of the role is coaching and developing functional managers into exceptional leaders: helping them raise performance, grow their teams, navigate tough decisions, and lead with greater clarity and accountability. You’ll build leadership capacity while creating an environment where managers can operate with ownership and consistency. You’ll also raise the bar on execution, mature the processes that enable complex hardware programs to move faster with less risk, and build the cross-functional partnerships that make the broader engineering organization more effective. As part of Engineering leadership, you’ll co-own REGENT’s engineering operating system: shared standards for configuration management, design reviews, requirements traceability, and documentation that underpin both hardware and software delivery. Working closely with Chief Engineers and PMO, you’ll help ensure the hardware organization delivers consistently across multiple programs. Success looks like an organization that is stronger, more cohesive, and more scalable than when you arrived - with stronger managers, improved systems, and a team ready to execute through certification and beyond. If you’re energized by inheriting something strong and helping make it exceptional, we’d love to meet you! WHAT YOU'LL DO - Lead and Strengthen the Hardware Engineering Organization: Own the people, structure, and culture of a 30+ person (and growing!) hardware engineering organization spanning structures, aerodynamics, propulsion, electrical, and mechanical systems. Build on the strong technical foundation already in place while strengthening leadership, raising expectations, and creating a culture of accountability, rigor, and ownership. - Coach and Develop Functional Managers: Invest deeply in the growth of functional managers and emerging leaders. Coach them to lead higher-performing teams, make stronger decisions, navigate complexity, and operate with greater ownership, consistency, and accountability. - Own Delivery and Execution Rhythm: Establish clear operating cadences, decision-making mechanisms, and accountability systems that keep work moving. Remove