Sr. Director, Strategic Program Management

Coherent Corp.•Santa Clara, CA

4h•Onsite

About The Position

Purpose Lead enterprise-wide delivery coordination for strategic customers with multiple products, business groups, and functions. Ensures delivery on commitments, maintains a single company-wide view of risk, and resolves cross-functional issues with speed and clarity. Responsible for integrated delivery, risk management, visibility across the company for multiple product lines, and customer satisfaction. Primary scope Stand up and run the integrated operating cadence for assigned strategic customers Create and maintain a single cross-company delivery plan Maintain one consolidated view of milestones, dependencies, risks, and customer-critical issues Drive escalation and resolution of issues that cut across organizational boundaries Ensure customer commitments are pressure-tested internally and tracked rigorously Provide executive leadership with a clear, honest view of health, risk, and actions needed Serve as the internal quarterback for strategic customer delivery, especially during ramps, launches, and periods of elevated execution risk Act as the bridge between General Management, Supply Chain, Operations, and Sales teams. Facilitate regular communication between teams to allocate constrained resources Provide a unified view of the customer internally and will be the final source of truth for cross-business execution What this role owns Integrated customer delivery plan Cross-company governance cadence Risk register and mitigation tracking Anticipate cross-functional, cross-business unit issues and can convene stakeholders to problem solve and manage the escalation process internally and with the customer Continuous awareness and ability to articulate the state of the customer Alignment around customer priorities, tradeoffs, and recovery plans Internal accountability for “no surprises” Success measures On-time delivery to customer commitments Early identification of risks and reduction of “late surprises” Speed of cross-functional issue resolution Accuracy and credibility of executive/customer status reporting Customer escalation frequency and severity Revenue-at-risk visibility and recovery effectiveness Leadership confidence that Coherent is operating as one company on strategic accounts

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required
Minimum 10 years of leadership experience in B2B technology program management, operations, or product management roles, with significant exposure to hardware or industrial products. Experience in the laser, photonics, or related high-tech industry is highly preferred
Lead culturally and technically diverse internal stakeholders across regions
Able to drive outcomes without direct authority
Proven success in planning and executing strategic relationships
Prior experience in a leadership role is expected. This could include leading a product marketing function or team, managing cross-functional initiatives, or mentoring program managers/ staff and should have the ability to influence and drive teams
A results-oriented mindset is required, with a focus on customer satisfaction
Senior program leader with strong executive presence
Comfortable operating across sales, operations, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, quality, and service
Strong judgment under ambiguity and pressure
Excellent at executive communication, issue framing, and escalation management
Experience with large strategic customers, complex ramps, NPI/transfers, supply-constrained environments, or multi-site delivery programs preferred
Proven ability to lead through change, drive operational efficiencies, and scale services in high-growth environments
Strategic thinker with strong analytical skills
Excellent written/verbal communication; skilled in presentations and simplifying technical info
Strong program management; capable of handling multiple initiatives and timelines
Proven cross-functional collaborator; able to lead and build consensus in matrix teams
Data-driven decision maker; proficient in using analytics to measure and optimize performance
Flexible and available to support operations across multiple time zones

Nice To Haves

Experience in the laser, photonics, or related high-tech industry is highly preferred
Experience with large strategic customers, complex ramps, NPI/transfers, supply-constrained environments, or multi-site delivery programs preferred

Responsibilities

Stand up and run the integrated operating cadence for assigned strategic customers
Create and maintain a single cross-company delivery plan
Maintain one consolidated view of milestones, dependencies, risks, and customer-critical issues
Drive escalation and resolution of issues that cut across organizational boundaries
Ensure customer commitments are pressure-tested internally and tracked rigorously
Provide executive leadership with a clear, honest view of health, risk, and actions needed
Serve as the internal quarterback for strategic customer delivery, especially during ramps, launches, and periods of elevated execution risk
Act as the bridge between General Management, Supply Chain, Operations, and Sales teams.
Facilitate regular communication between teams to allocate constrained resources
Provide a unified view of the customer internally and will be the final source of truth for cross-business execution
Integrated customer delivery plan
Cross-company governance cadence
Risk register and mitigation tracking
Anticipate cross-functional, cross-business unit issues and can convene stakeholders to problem solve and manage the escalation process internally and with the customer
Continuous awareness and ability to articulate the state of the customer
Alignment around customer priorities, tradeoffs, and recovery plans
Internal accountability for “no surprises”