Director, NPI Program Management

Celestica International LP•San Jose, CA

9d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of NPI (New Product Introduction) Program Management is an executive-level leader responsible 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 addressed early, prototype builds are completed on schedule, build plans are validated, and Phase-Gate exit criteria are met throughout the product lifecycle. The position oversees MTL performance and resource allocation across hardware and software programs, serves as the primary operational escalation point, and aligns design, software, engineering, and factory teams. It drives prototype build execution and validates build plans, including readiness of materials, factory capacity, tooling, and test vectors. The Director also enforces build-specific Scope of Work documentation, controls deviations and yield issues, and governs risk management, change control, issue tracking, operational readiness reviews, Phase-Gate exits, and post-build continuous improvement. The role requires deep knowledge of product development and NPI processes, configuration management, bills of materials, and hardware manufacturing processes. It also calls for strong cross-functional influence and experience managing large prototyping budgets, global supply chains, and critical-path schedules. The usual background is 12 or more years of hardware program management or NPI engineering experience, including at least five years in direct people management. A bachelor's degree in a relevant engineering discipline is typical; a master's in Engineering Management or a technically grounded MBA is highly preferred.

Requirements

12 or more years of hardware program management or NPI engineering experience in high-performance computing, networking, hyperscaler, or tier-1 consumer electronics sectors.
At least five years of direct people-management experience.
Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Computer, or Industrial Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
Deep mastery of standard product development lifecycles and PLC/NPI frameworks, advanced configuration management, and complex bill of materials structures.
Strong familiarity with hardware manufacturing processes, including SMT, box build, rack integration, and testing.
Proficiency in establishing documentation baselines such as build SOWs, running change control boards, and implementing automated bug or issue tracking methodologies.
Exceptional ability to influence and build alignment in highly matrixed organizations across technical architects and factory operations leaders.
Proven experience 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 a team of Manufacturing Technical Leads, setting performance metrics and fostering technical rigor, ownership, and cross-functional influence.
Allocate MTL resources across parallel hardware and software programs based on 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.
Synchronize Design teams with Factory NPI Managers and translate product requirements into factory execution directives.
Partner with Front-End, Back-End, and Test Engineering Senior Managers to ensure manufacturing infrastructure, SMT processes, box build automation, and test fixtures scale with prototyping phases.
Lead coordination among hardware Design Technical Leads, Software Engineering Program Managers, and manufacturing teams so firmware, diagnostics, and silicon features align with testing timelines.
Ensure early-stage hardware prototype builds, including Proto, EVT, DVT, and PVT, are completed on time and to quality standards.
Authorize and validate master product build plans, verifying material readiness, factory capacity, tooling, and custom test vectors before production-line startup.
Require a comprehensive Scope of Work to be authored, reviewed, and finalized for each build stage, defining objectives, hardware configurations, and engineering deliverables.
Track and resolve design- and process-induced build anomalies, controlling, documenting, and closing engineering deviations.
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 so design modifications, component substitutions, and process variations are documented, risk-assessed, and approved.
Implement issue-tracking systems for build anomalies and drive timely resolution or escalation before critical-path schedules are affected.
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 and feed lessons learned into early-stage hardware co-development.