Director of Program Management

Cspeed•Palo Alto, CA

About The Position

CScale is a startup backed by Sutter Hill Ventures and Atreides Capital - headquartered in Palo Alto, CA. Our executive team has a demonstrated track record of building and scaling category-defining semiconductor and infrastructure businesses at companies like Broadcom, Lumentum, Tesla, Apple, Samsung, Intel, and VMware. CScale is developing next-generation optical semiconductor solutions for the AI infrastructure market, focused on enabling true “scale-up” architectures. Our mission is to replace traditional copper interconnects with advanced fiber-optic technologies that overcome the limitations of existing optics solutions and architectures.

Requirements

Strong technical program management skills (i.e. build an integrated schedule, own the critical path, drive issues to closure)
Working knowledge of the silicon development flow, from design and verification through tapeout, post-silicon validation, and qualification
Technical depth to engage engineers on pre- and post-silicon problems and tradeoffs
Ability to lead matrixed teams through influence and make sound decisions with incomplete information
Clear communication with engineers and executives, and composure under pressure
Proficiency with scheduling and tracking tools (e.g. MS Project, Jira, sharepoint, Notion)
12+ years in semiconductor or hardware product development, including 7+ years leading technical programs and earlier hands-on engineering experience
Driven multiple silicon programs from concept through release to manufacturing
Experience leading programs across global teams
Startup or first-generation product experience
B.Sc.+ in EE, Physics, or a related field

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with reliability qualification and production ramp
experience with optical engine or silicon photonics programs, or high-speed connectivity products

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary point of contact for cross functional program execution, with broad responsibility for execution excellence across CScale
Own the cross-functional execution plan from concept through production (architecture, design, verification, tapeout, bring-up, validation, customer sampling, qualification, release to manufacturing)
Build the integrated program plan across design (multiple silicon die, hardware, software), fab, packaging, QA, test, and qualification
Set milestones, phase gates, and the critical path with engineering and operations leads, and own the gate reviews
Manage program scope, schedule, budget, and resource plans, and drive decisions when any of them change
Run the program cadence across global sites and hold teams to their commitments
Identify risks early, drive mitigations, and escalate issues with options and a recommendation
Define program health indicators and build the executive dashboards leadership uses to run the business
Own sample readiness and release-to-manufacturing criteria with engineering and operations
Establish program management processes and tools as CScale moves into production