NPI Lead

Coherent Corp. • East Granby, CT

22h • $93,000 - $136,000

About The Position

Coherent is a global leader in lasers, engineered materials and networking components. We are a vertically integrated manufacturing company that develops innovative products for diversified applications in the industrial, optical communications, military, life sciences, semiconductor equipment, and consumer markets. Coherent provides a comprehensive career development platform within an environment that challenges employees to perform at their best, while rewarding excellence and hard-work through a competitive compensation program. It's an exciting opportunity to work for a company that offers stability, longevity and growth. Come Join Us!

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Engineering, Physics, Materials Science, or related technical discipline.
• Typically requires a minimum of 7 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 5 years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 3 years experience; or equivalent experience.
• Strong technical background with experience in product development, process development, manufacturing engineering, NPI, or technical program management.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional projects across R&D, PLM, Engineering, Quality, Operations, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain, and customer-facing teams.
• Experience with phase-gate, product lifecycle, qualification, manufacturing readiness, or design transfer processes.
• Strong communication, organization, risk management, data analysis, and independent execution skills, with the ability to support technical troubleshooting and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

• Lead NPI programs through the full phase-gate process; Serve as the central coordination point between PLM, R&D, Engineering, Quality, Operations, Manufacturing Engineering, and Supply Chain to align priorities, actions, and timelines.
• Develop and maintain program plans, milestone trackers, action registers, risk assessments, and status updates to ensure visibility and accountability.
• Coordinate the transition of new products, processes, or technical capabilities from development into production, ensuring readiness for manufacturing, quality, documentation, and operational support.
• Organize and lead phase-gate reviews, readiness reviews, technical reviews, and post-launch lessons learned.
• Identify technical, manufacturing, quality, and schedule risks early; drive mitigation plans with the appropriate functional owners.
• Support development and technical activities where needed, including experiment planning, data review and technical troubleshooting.
• Partner with Engineering and Operations to improve manufacturability, repeatability, yield, process capability, cycle time, and overall production readiness.
• Ensure required documentation is created, reviewed, and released, including specifications, process documentation, test requirements, control plans, technical drawings or equivalent documentation, and qualification records.
• Track launch and readiness metrics, communicate program status to stakeholders and leadership, and escalate barriers when needed.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior