Engineering Process Manager, Software

Panasonic•Hoffman Estates, IL

167d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Engineering Process Manager, Software serves as the independent quality governance authority across the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC). This role is responsible for defining quality criteria, establishing phase-gate decision frameworks, evaluating release readiness, managing quality risks, governing corrective and preventive actions (CAPA), and driving continuous improvement across software products.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
5+ years of experience in software quality, engineering process management, systems engineering, software development processes, or related disciplines.
Experience with SDLC governance, release readiness, risk management, requirements traceability, and quality gate processes.
Experience driving root cause analysis, CAPA, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Nice To Haves

Experience in manufacturing, industrial automation, embedded systems, networking, telecommunications, medical device, automotive, aerospace, or other complex hardware-software environments.
Experience working within integrated hardware and software product development environments.
Working knowledge of ISO 9001, configuration management, release governance, and risk-based decision-making.
Experience establishing, governing, or improving engineering quality frameworks and development lifecycle processes.

Responsibilities

Own quality governance across all phases of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC).
Define and maintain quality gate criteria, acceptance criteria, and phase-exit conditions.
Evaluate phase readiness and facilitate Go, Conditional Go, and No-Go decisions.
Act as the independent quality authority supporting release readiness, risk management, and governance compliance.
Ensure defined SDLC processes, deliverables, and phase-gate requirements are followed across requirements, development, verification, and release activities.
Document quality decisions, risk assessments, and release recommendations to ensure traceability and accountability.
Establish measurable quality criteria during requirements definition.
Ensure requirements traceability throughout the SDLC.
Validate that deliverables meet defined acceptance criteria before phase transitions.
Ensure required inputs, outputs, approvals, and deliverables are completed before progression to the next development phase.
Promote proactive quality practices that prevent downstream defects and rework.
Assess release readiness using objective quality, operational, and risk metrics.
Evaluate residual risk prior to production releases.
Facilitate risk-based Go, Conditional Go, and No-Go decisions.
Maintain documented decision history and release rationale.
Support release governance across software and system-integration environments.
Facilitate alignment across Product Management, Systems Engineering, Software Engineering, Quality Assurance, and Release teams.
Provide visibility into quality risks, process compliance, and readiness assessments.
Influence quality outcomes through collaboration, communication, and data-driven decision-making.
Own Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) governance processes.
Lead systemic root cause analysis efforts.
Drive recurrence prevention strategies across products and releases.
Monitor effectiveness and closure of corrective actions.
Identify opportunities to strengthen quality governance, traceability, and decision-making processes.
Develop metrics and KPIs that support quality decisions and release readiness.
Drive continuous improvement initiatives that improve product quality, process efficiency, and organizational maturity.