Director, NPI Program Management

Req ID: 141867
Remote Position: No
Region: Americas
Country: USA
State/Province: California
City: San Jose
Summary

The Director of NPI (New Product Introduction) Program Management is an executive-level leadership role responsible for the end-to-end orchestration, risk management, and operational execution of next-generation hardware products from concept to mass production. In this role, you will lead and scale a high-performing team of Manufacturing Technical Leads (MTLs) who serve as the critical operational bridge linking Design Technical Leads, Software Engineering Program Managers, Factory NPI Managers, and Operations/Engineering teams. The Director is ultimately accountable for ensuring that multi-layered technical risks are identified and mitigated early, hardware prototype builds are executed flawlessly on schedule, build plans are thoroughly validated, and strict Phase-Gate exit criteria are met across the entire product lifecycle.

Detailed Description

1. People Management & Technical Team Leadership

• MTL Group Leadership: Directly manage, mentor, and build a world-class team of Manufacturing Technical Leads (MTLs), establishing clear performance metrics and cultivating a culture of technical rigor, ownership, and cross-functional influence.
• Resource Optimization: Strategically allocate MTL resources across a complex portfolio of parallel hardware and software programs based on product complexity, tier-1 customer demands, and
  factory constraints.
• Technical Escalation: Act as the primary operational escalation point for programmatic and technical bottlenecks, unblocking the team by facilitating rapid engineering alignment and executive
  decision-making.

2. Cross-Functional Bridging & Stakeholder Management

• Factory Integration: Ensure seamless synchronization between Design teams and Factory NPI Managers, translating product requirements into execution-ready factory directives.
• Operations & Engineering Alignment: Partner closely with internal Front-End, Back-End, and Test Engineering Senior Managers to ensure manufacturing infrastructure, SMT processes readiness, box build automation, and test fixtures scale alongside prototyping phases.
• Design & Software Synthesis: Direct the team in bridging the gap between hardware Design Technical Leads, Software Engineering Program Managers and the manufacturing teams to ensure that firmware, diagnostics, and silicon features are operationally aligned with hardware/software testing timelines.

3. Prototyping Execution & Build Plan Validation

• On-Time Prototyping: Drive accountability across the team to ensure all early-stage hardware prototype builds (e.g., Proto, EVT, DVT, PVT) are executed on time and to precise quality standards.
• Build Plan Validation: Authorize and validate master product build plans, ensuring material readiness, factory capacity, component-level tooling, and custom test vectors are verified prior to
  firing up production lines.
• Build-Specific SOW Discipline: Enforce a strict documentation discipline requiring a comprehensive Scope of Work (SOW) to be authored, reviewed, and locked down for each individual build stage to clearly define build objectives, hardware configurations, and engineering deliverables.
• Deviation & Yield Controls: Supervise the tracking and resolution of design-induced or process-induced anomalies during builds, ensuring engineering deviations are strictly controlled, documented, and closed.

4. Risk Mitigation & NPI Governance

• Predictive Risk Frameworks: Implement systemic risk-identification frameworks (utilizing NUDD, pFMEA, and CTQ parameters) to flag technical, supply chain, and manufacturability constraints
  months before physical builds commence.
• Rigorous Change Management: Establish and govern strict change management protocols across the product lifecycle, ensuring all mid-cycle design modifications, component substitutions, or
  process variations are fully documented, risk-assessed, and approved.
• Issue Tracking & Timely Escalation: Implement robust issue-tracking infrastructure to capture real-time build anomalies, driving cross-functional engineering teams toward rapid resolution or
  orchestrating structured, timely technical escalations before critical path schedules are impacted.
• Phase-Gate Governance: Own the operational readiness reviews and Phase-Gate exits for all active programs, ensuring engineering data, DFM/DFA, and yield validation metrics are eticulously
  prepared for executive leadership approval.
• Post-Mortem & Continuous Improvement: Lead comprehensive post-build teardowns and post-mortem evaluations to feed lessons learned back into early-stage hardware co-development loops.

Knowledge/Skills/Competencies

• Technical & Process Depth: Deep mastery of standard product development lifecycles (PLC/NPI frameworks), advanced configuration management, and complex bill of materials (BOM) structures. Strong familiarity with hardware manufacturing processes (SMT, Box Build, Rack Integration, and Testing).
• Documentation & Governance Acumen: Solid proficiency in establishing documentation baselines (such as build SOWs), running rigorous change control boards (CCB), and implementing automated bug/issue-tracking methodologies (e.g., Jira or equivalent tracking systems).
• Cross-Functional Influence: Exceptional ability to operate in a highly matrixed environment, successfully commanding authority and building alignment between highly technical chip/software
  architects and factory floor operational leaders.
• Programmatic Acumen: Proven track record of managing multimillion-dollar prototyping budgets, complex global supply chains, and demanding critical-path schedules with high volatility. PMP or
  equivalent program management certification is a plus.

Physical Demands

Typical Experience

• 12+ years of hardware program management or NPI engineering experience within high-performance compute, networking, hyperscaler, or tier-1 consumer electronics sectors, with at least 5 years in a direct people-management capacity.

Typical Education

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Computer, or Industrial Engineering or a related technical discipline.. A Master's degree in Engineering Management or an MBA with a technical background is highly preferred.
  Educational Requirements may vary by Geography
  

Notes

This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities of the position. Employees are held accountable for all duties of the job. Job duties and the % of time identified for any function are subject to change at any time.

Celestica is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on any protected status (including race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran or disability status or other characteristics protected by law).
At Celestica we are committed to fostering an inclusive, accessible environment, where all employees and customers feel valued, respected and supported. Special arrangements can be made for candidates who need it throughout the hiring process. Please indicate your needs and we will work with you to meet them.

COMPANY OVERVIEW:

Celestica, Inc. (NYSE: CLS; TSX: CLS) is a technology leader dedicated to driving customer success and market advancements. With deep expertise in design, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, and platform solutions, Celestica enables critical data center infrastructure for AI, cloud, and hybrid cloud and advances technologies in high-growth markets. With a talented team and a strategic global network, Celestica helps its customers achieve competitive advantages.


Today, Celestica delivers innovative supply chain solutions globally to customers in strategic two operating and reporting segments: Advanced Technology Solutions (ATS) and Connectivity and Cloud Solutions (CC):



ATS: This segment serves customers in complex, regulated and high-reliability markets such as Industrial & Smart Energy, Aerospace & Defense, Semiconductor Capital Equipment, and HealthTech. It is engineering led, with deep expertise in design, manufacturing and lifecycle solutions.



CCS: This segment focuses on high-performance technology solutions and services for the data center, serving hyperscalers, digital native customers and enterprises. Celestica's Platform Solutions offering provides innovative and customizable computing, storage and networking solutions enabling AI-driven growth.


Built on a legacy of trust and performance, Celestica has earned its reputation by delivering results in complex and fast-changing markets. Celestica exceeds customer expectations by identifying trends and staying ahead of the curve. Backed by comprehensive capabilities and a global network across North America, Europe and Asia, Celestica helps customers gain competitive advantage with the quality, flexibility and resiliency they need to respond quickly to shifts in demand. Guided by a bold vision to accelerate market advancements, Celestica delivers innovative solutions and technologies that turn complexity into opportunity. Anchored in teamwork and commitment, Celestica strives to be the most trusted partner to its customers and colleagues worldwide.

Celestica would like to thank all applicants, however, only qualified applicants will be contacted.
Celestica does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruitment agencies or fee based recruitment services.