Director of Process Engineering

Coherent Corp. Vietnam•Sherman, TX

About The Position

The Director of Process Engineering supports and executes the process engineering strategy and technology roadmap across facilities. The role establishes standard operating procedures, process controls, governance, and accountability while accommodating legitimate site-specific operational needs. It oversees technical OpEx and CapEx budgets, lifecycle risks, equipment procurement, and vendor performance. The position leads continuous improvement and process optimization, including Lean Six Sigma initiatives to improve Overall Equipment Effectiveness, reduce cycle times, and eliminate waste. It partners with Product Engineering and Process Integration Engineering to support production readiness, line balancing, product qualification, high-volume manufacturing transitions, and process readiness. It also advances automation, robotics, and Industry 4.0 capabilities, including Manufacturing Execution Systems, cloud data integration, and predictive maintenance. The Director provides organizational leadership, mentorship, and career development for process engineering and technician teams. The role manages execution and recovery actions, balances near-term needs with longer-term goals, and establishes KPIs, analytics, reporting, and operating reviews to identify risk, capacity constraints, productivity opportunities, and performance gaps. The position works across Manufacturing and Site Operations, Program Management, Global Procurement, Finance, Engineering, Quality, IT, Commercial organizations, business leadership, R&D, supply chain, production-floor operators, and executive boards. It aligns process roadmaps and improvement plans with customer commitments, new product introduction and production ramps, and business objectives, and communicates significant risks to leadership. The work is performed in an office and climate-controlled manufacturing facility, with occasional movement through manufacturing, warehouse, and logistics areas. The role may require support outside normal business hours for a 24/7 manufacturing organization and domestic and international travel as business requires.

Requirements

Master’s degree in Chemical, Mechanical, Materials, or Electrical Engineering.
15 or more years of progressive experience in advanced manufacturing, semiconductor photonics fabs, or processing plants.
At least 5 years of experience in senior leadership.
Demonstrated experience leading teams and cross-functional processes in a complex manufacturing environment.
Experience managing changing priorities and constrained resources while maintaining customer and business focus.
Proven ability to lead and develop people and build high-performing teams.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, communication, organizational, and decision-making skills.
Ability to influence across organizational boundaries and lead through ambiguity and changing priorities.
Ability to foster continuous experimentation while maintaining strict change control and risk mitigation protocols.
Strong familiarity with advanced process diagnostics such as PFMEA, root-cause analysis, and statistical process control, as well as data literacy platforms.
Ability to communicate effectively with operational teams, functional leaders, customers, and executive leadership.
Ability to travel domestically and internationally as required by business.
Ability to work effectively with a 24/7 manufacturing organization and provide support outside normal business hours when required.
Ability to sit and work at a computer for extended periods and occasionally move through manufacturing, warehouse, and logistics areas.
Follow applicable site EHS procedures and corporate EHS standards.

Nice To Haves

PhD degree.
Strong understanding of photonics process engineering and demonstrated experience resolving process issues during manufacturing.
Industry-specific expertise, such as semiconductor dry etch or infrastructure wastewater treatment.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office and analytics/reporting tools such as Excel, Power BI, SQL, or comparable technologies.

Responsibilities

Support and execute a comprehensive process engineering strategy and technology roadmap.
Establish standard operating procedures and process controls across facilities.
Oversee technical OpEx and CapEx budgets, lifecycle risks, equipment procurement, and vendor performance management.
Establish consistent processes, governance, and accountability across teams while recognizing site-specific operational requirements.
Lead continuous improvement initiatives using Lean Six Sigma to improve OEE, reduce cycle times, and eliminate waste.
Partner with Product Engineering to ensure production readiness, line balancing, and transitions from product qualification to high-volume manufacturing.
Collaborate with Process Integration Engineering to ensure process readiness with minimum technician coverage during high-volume manufacturing.
Drive automation, robotics, and Industry 4.0 integration, including MES, cloud data integration, and predictive maintenance.
Provide leadership, mentorship, and career pipelines for process engineers and technicians.
Make organizational changes as needed to continuously improve efficiency.
Drive timely recovery actions when execution deviates from plan and escalate issues requiring cross-functional or leadership decisions.
Balance near-term execution requirements with longer-term objectives.
Establish and monitor KPIs measuring team effectiveness, execution, and business performance.
Use data and analytics to identify process risks, capacity constraints, productivity opportunities, and root causes of performance gaps.
Develop actionable reporting and operating reviews to support timely decisions and accountability.
Partner with Manufacturing and Site Operations, Program Management, Global Procurement, Finance, Engineering, Quality, IT, Commercial organizations, and business leadership.
Align process roadmaps and gap-improvement plans with customer commitments, NPI and production-ramp requirements, and business objectives.
Coordinate with R&D, supply chain, production-floor operators, and executive boards.
Communicate significant process risks to leadership and drive timely decisions and corrective actions.
Follow site EHS procedures and Coherent Corp. Corporate EHS standards.
Depending on location, execute and maintain applicable ISO 9000, 9001, 14001, or other standards within the relevant Quality Management System and Environmental Management System responsibilities.
Ensure adherence to Coherent Corp.'s ICARE values.