Director, NPI Program Management

Celestica•San Jose, CA

8d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of NPI (New Product Introduction) Program Management is an executive-level leader accountable for orchestrating, managing risks, and executing next-generation hardware products from concept through mass production. The role leads and develops a team of Manufacturing Technical Leads (MTLs), who connect Design Technical Leads, Software Engineering Program Managers, Factory NPI Managers, and Operations and Engineering teams. The Director ensures technical risks are identified and mitigated early, prototype builds run to schedule, build plans are validated, and Phase-Gate exit criteria are met throughout the product lifecycle. The Director manages MTL performance and resource allocation across parallel hardware and software programs, and serves as the primary operational escalation point for programmatic and technical bottlenecks. The role coordinates design and factory teams, and partners with Front-End, Back-End, and Test Engineering leaders to align manufacturing infrastructure, SMT processes, box-build automation, and test fixtures with prototyping requirements. It also guides integration of hardware, firmware, diagnostics, silicon features, and testing timelines. The position drives execution of Proto, EVT, DVT, and PVT builds; authorizes and validates master build plans; and ensures material readiness, factory capacity, tooling, and test vectors are confirmed. It enforces build-specific Scope of Work (SOW) documentation and oversees the tracking and resolution of build anomalies and controlled engineering deviations. The Director establishes risk, change-management, and issue-tracking processes; owns operational readiness reviews and Phase-Gate exits; and leads post-build reviews to feed lessons learned into future development cycles.

Requirements

At least 12 years of hardware program management or NPI engineering experience.
At least 5 years of direct people-management experience.
Experience in high-performance compute, networking, hyperscaler, or tier-1 consumer electronics sectors.
Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Computer, or Industrial Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
Deep knowledge of product development lifecycles and PLC/NPI frameworks, configuration management, and complex bills of materials.
Strong familiarity with SMT, box build, rack integration, and testing.
Proficiency in documentation baselines such as build SOWs, change control boards, and automated bug or issue-tracking methodologies.
Ability to influence and build alignment in a matrixed environment across technical architects and factory operational leaders.
Track record managing multimillion-dollar prototyping budgets, complex global supply chains, and volatile critical-path schedules.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Engineering Management or an MBA with a technical background.
PMP or equivalent program management certification.

Responsibilities

Directly manage, mentor, and develop the Manufacturing Technical Leads team; establish performance metrics and promote technical rigor, ownership, and cross-functional influence.
Allocate MTL resources across hardware and software programs according to product complexity, customer needs, and factory constraints.
Serve as the primary operational escalation point for programmatic and technical bottlenecks, facilitating engineering alignment and executive decisions.
Coordinate Design teams and Factory NPI Managers, translating product requirements into factory directives.
Partner with Front-End, Back-End, and Test Engineering Senior Managers to align manufacturing infrastructure, SMT processes, box-build automation, and test fixtures with prototyping needs.
Bridge hardware design, software program management, and manufacturing teams to align firmware, diagnostics, silicon features, and testing timelines.
Drive on-time, quality execution of early hardware prototype builds, including Proto, EVT, DVT, and PVT.
Authorize and validate master product build plans, confirming material readiness, factory capacity, component tooling, and custom test vectors.
Require a comprehensive Scope of Work for each build stage, defining objectives, hardware configurations, and engineering deliverables.
Oversee build anomaly tracking and resolution, and ensure engineering deviations are controlled, documented, and closed.
Implement risk-identification frameworks using NUDD, pFMEA, and CTQ parameters to identify technical, supply-chain, and manufacturability constraints ahead of builds.
Establish and govern change-management protocols for design changes, component substitutions, and process variations.
Implement issue-tracking processes and drive cross-functional resolution or timely escalation of build anomalies.
Own operational readiness reviews and Phase-Gate exits, preparing engineering data, DFM/DFA, and yield-validation metrics for executive approval.
Lead post-build teardowns and post-mortem evaluations, incorporating lessons learned into early-stage hardware co-development.