About this role
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Own end-to-end manufacturing program execution for a hardware product from early development through mass production launch, serving as the primary manufacturing program lead.
- Lead manufacturing readiness across EVT, DVT, PVT, pre-production, and production ramp, ensuring milestones are achieved on schedule and with high quality.
- Develop and maintain integrated program plans, build schedules, critical paths, risk registers, issue trackers, and validation milestones across internal teams and manufacturing partners.
- Drive manufacturing process development, documentation, optimization, and validation in partnership with Manufacturing Engineering, Test Engineering, Quality, and Operations.
- Coordinate build planning and execution, including build objectives, factory readiness, equipment deployment, process validation, test integration, issue resolution, post-build closure, and exit criteria for each build phase.
- Drive ramp readiness by ensuring yield, throughput, capacity, staffing, equipment, process documentation, and operational handoff criteria are understood, tracked, and achieved before mass production.
- Establish and drive the manufacturing NPI operating cadence during critical program phases, including build readiness reviews, cross-functional issue reviews, leadership updates, timely decisions, and accountability across a focused cross-functional team.
- Identify program risks early and drive cross-functional issue resolution with clear ownership, root cause analysis, corrective actions, escalation paths, and recovery plans while balancing schedule, quality, cost, and manufacturing readiness.
- Communicate clear program status, key decisions, risks, and recovery plans to engineering, operations, and leadership stakeholders.
- Build strong working relationships with contract manufacturers and suppliers to ensure successful execution of manufacturing activities and production readiness.
- Contribute to improving manufacturing program management processes, documentation, and tools to enable more scalable and predictable NPI execution.
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, or a related technical field.
- 5+ years of experience in technical program management, manufacturing development, hardware engineering, or a related field.
- Experience owning at least one complete hardware product development cycle from prototype through mass production launch, including EVT, DVT, PVT, and production ramp.
- Proven ability to independently lead manufacturing programs with cross-functional engineering teams and external manufacturing partners.
- Experience working directly with overseas manufacturing partners, particularly in Asia, within consumer electronics or other high-volume hardware industries.
- Strong understanding of manufacturing processes including SMT, mechanical assembly, test, validation, and pack-out.
- Demonstrated ability to navigate ambiguity, prioritize effectively, and drive decisions across engineering and operations teams.
- Excellent communication and organizational skills, with the ability to tailor messaging for technical teams and leadership audiences.
- Proficiency with Excel, Jira, Confluence, Gantt/scheduling tools, Google Workspace, and PLM systems (Arena preferred).
- Willingness to travel internationally up to 25% to support supplier builds, validation activities, and production launches.