Head of Product Development (w/m/d)

A career at Hitachi Rail will help create a legacy. With operations in every corner of the world, our work goes to the cutting-edge of digital transformation and technology. From the multi-cultural strength of our global organisation to the sustainable and innovative ways we work to bring people together, there’s something for everyone to get stuck into. And that’s where you come in.

Hitachi in Austria is a full system provider and global supplier of train control technology and traffic management systems (e.g. European Train Control System (ETCS), Electronic interlockings, Operation Control Centers and dispatching systems, field elements).

We are looking for an experienced and inspiring Head of Product Development to lead our multidisciplinary engineering organization across Austria, Hungary, and the Balkan region.

In this key leadership role, you will be responsible for more than 100 highly skilled engineers and experts, driving the development, maintenance, and evolution of safety-critical railway technologies ranging from established signaling systems to modern cloud-native platforms. You will lead a diverse organization that combines deep railway domain expertise, software, hardware, cybersecurity and systems engineering to deliver innovative and reliable solutions for rail operators. Is this exactly the challenge you are looking for? Then join us now at Hitachi Rail in Austria!

As Head of Product Development, you will have end to end leadership responsibility for the following departments:

• Product Design and Requirements Management
• SW Development (safety critical and non-safety critical)
• Cloud Platform Development
• Engineering Tools & Toolchain Development
• Hardware Development
• Solution Integration & End-to-End System Integration
• Cybersecurity Engineering

• Several years of successful leadership experience in a large engineering organization.

• Proven ability to lead leaders, managers, and multidisciplinary teams within an international environment.

• Strong people leadership skills with a passion for coaching, mentoring, and developing talent.

• Experience managing organizational change, transformation, and growth.

• You combine leadership excellence with strong technical credibility.
• Broad engineering background covering software, hardware, systems engineering, or safety-critical product development.
• Experience working with complex product ecosystems spanning both legacy and modern technologies.
• Understanding of safety-critical development environments, ideally within railway, aerospace, automotive, industrial automation, or similar regulated industries.
• Knowledge of cloud technologies, modern software architectures, cybersecurity principles, and large-scale system integration.

• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management capabilities.
• Ability to build trust across cultures, disciplines, and organizational boundaries.
• Strategic thinker with strong execution capabilities.
• High degree of ownership, resilience, and decision-making ability.
• Comfortable navigating both executive-level discussions and deep technical challenges