Director- DFx CoE (Center of Excellence)

Celestica International LP • Richardson, TX

4d • Onsite

About The Position

The Director of NPI (New Product Introduction) Program Management is an executive-level leadership role responsible for the end-to-end orchestration, risk management, and operational execution of next-generation hardware products from concept to mass production. In this role, you will lead and scale a high-performing team of Manufacturing Technical Leads (MTLs) who serve as the critical operational bridge linking Design Technical Leads, Software Engineering Program Managers, Factory NPI Managers, and Operations/Engineering teams. The Director is ultimately accountable for ensuring that multi-layered technical risks are identified and mitigated early, hardware prototype builds are executed flawlessly on schedule, build plans are thoroughly validated, and strict Phase-Gate exit criteria are met across the entire product lifecycle.

Requirements

• 12+ years of hardware program management or NPI engineering experience within high-performance compute, networking, hyperscaler, or tier-1 consumer electronics sectors
• At least 5 years in a direct people-management capacity.
• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Computer, or Industrial Engineering.
• Proven track record of managing multimillion-dollar prototyping budgets, complex global supply chains, and demanding critical-path schedules with high volatility.

Nice To Haves

• A Master’s degree in Engineering Management or an MBA with a technical background is highly preferred.
• PMP or equivalent program management certification is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Ensure seamless synchronization between Design teams and Factory NPI Managers, translating product requirements into execution-ready factory directives.
• Partner closely with internal Front-End, Back-End, and Test Engineering Senior Managers to ensure manufacturing infrastructure, SMT processes readiness, box build automation, and test fixtures scale alongside prototyping phases.
• Direct the team in bridging the gap between hardware Design Technical Leads, Software Engineering Program Managers and the manufacturing teams to ensure that firmware, diagnostics, and silicon features are operationally aligned with hardware/software testing timelines.
• Drive accountability across the team to ensure all early-stage hardware prototype builds (e.g., Proto, EVT, DVT, PVT) are executed on time and to precise quality standards.
• Authorize and validate master product build plans, ensuring material readiness, factory capacity, component-level tooling, and custom test vectors are verified prior to firing up production lines.
• Enforce a strict documentation discipline requiring a comprehensive Scope of Work (SOW) to be authored, reviewed, and locked down for each individual build stage to clearly define build objectives, hardware configurations, and engineering deliverables.
• Supervise the tracking and resolution of design-induced or process-induced anomalies during builds, ensuring engineering deviations are strictly controlled, documented, and closed.
• Implement systemic risk-identification frameworks (utilizing NUDD, pFMEA, and CTQ parameters) to flag technical, supply chain, and manufacturability constraints months before physical builds commence.
• Establish and govern strict change management protocols across the product lifecycle, ensuring all mid-cycle design modifications, component substitutions, or process variations are fully documented, risk-assessed, and approved.
• Implement robust issue-tracking infrastructure to capture real-time build anomalies, driving cross-functional engineering teams toward rapid resolution or orchestrating structured, timely technical escalations before critical path schedules are impacted.
• Own the operational readiness reviews and Phase-Gate exits for all active programs, ensuring engineering data, DFM/DFA, and yield validation metrics are meticulously prepared for executive leadership approval.
• Lead comprehensive post-build teardowns and post-mortem evaluations to feed lessons learned back into early-stage hardware co-development loops.
• Directly manage, mentor, and build a world-class team of Manufacturing Technical Leads (MTLs), establishing clear performance metrics and cultivating a culture of technical rigor, ownership, and cross-functional influence.
• Strategically allocate MTL resources across a complex portfolio of parallel hardware and software programs based on product complexity, tier-1 customer demands, and factory constraints.
• Act as the primary operational escalation point for programmatic and technical bottlenecks, unblocking the team by facilitating rapid engineering alignment and executive decision-making.

Benefits

• Celestica is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on any protected status (including race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran or disability status or other characteristics protected by law).
• At Celestica we are committed to fostering an inclusive, accessible environment, where all employees and customers feel valued, respected and supported. Special arrangements can be made for candidates who need it throughout the hiring process. Please indicate your needs and we will work with you to meet them.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive