Rj McLaren
Director, Systems Engineering & Product Management @Kontron Europe
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WORK HISTORY
Director, Systems Engineering & Product Management @Kontron Europe
Leading a cross-functional technical and engineering team, managing the complete system lifecycle from concept through long-term sustainment. Responsibilities span solutions architecture, product management, technical pre-sales, and system integration with accountability for defining and executing the North American systems solutions roadmap, ensuring alignment with corporate strategy and revenue targets across the aerospace, defense, transportation, and communications markets.Regional senior technical authority on critical open architecture standards (such as ARINC, SOSA, MOSA, VITA, etc). This involves shaping platform roadmaps, influencing specification development, and ensuring technical proposals and system solutions remain compliant with industry and regulatory requirements (e.g, MIL-STD-810/461, DO-160, FCC). I also act as the US ITAR Technical Officer for defense programs and the senior technical liaison for strategic customers.A core part of my role is driving competitive design wins by owning technical pre-sales and Bid & Proposal activities for complex, multi-million-dollar opportunities. This includes leading solution architecture and cost analysis for RFP responses. Furthermore, I implement standardized engineering processes, leveraging Lean methodologies and KPIs, to improve engineering throughput, reduce lead times, and elevate product quality across all programs. I also direct quick-turn prototyping and system integration activities to de-risk new technologies ahead of productization.
EDUCATION
Northwest Nazarene University
BS, Engineering Physics
Northwest Nazarene University
MBA, International
SKILLS
ABOUT RJ MCLAREN
Technology-focused systems product management and engineering executive with 25+ years driving embedded computing solutions for aerospace, defense, transportation, and communications markets. Leads multi-national cross-functional technical teams managing complex system lifecycles from architecture through sustainment with global deployment and regional/governmental certifications for multi-million-dollar programs.Deep expertise in open architecture standards and regulatory compliance, serving as regional technical authority and shaping industry specifications. Proven track record winning competitive design opportunities through strategic technical pre-sales, solution architecture, and Bid & Proposal leadership.Known for integrating emerging technologies into platform products and aligning company capabilities into competitive winning solutions for rapidly developing markets. Career spans product strategy, business development, systems engineering, and process improvement across rugged embedded systems and open platform architectures. Championing AI adoption by actively embracing and leveraging artificial intelligence across all aspects of engineering workflows, product development, and customer solutions to drive innovation and efficiency.
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