Principal Program Manager, Auto & Industrial

Description

The company runs a digital marketplace that connects manufacturers looking to grow with buyers at Fortune 1000 firms who need access to manufacturing capacity around the world.

You will own a set of the company's most complex, highest-value production programs, often several running at once at $5M or more each, from award through steady-state supply.

You are the main contact for the customer and lead the cross-functional and partner groups that deliver each program, answerable for quality, delivery and financial results.

Beyond individual programs, you help raise program management practice across the company, build a portfolio that can scale, and mentor other program managers.

This role reports to the Director, Strategic Program Operations.

Responsibilities

• Run major production programs from opportunity and award through first article, launch and repeat orders, often several at once at $5M or more each.
• Build detailed plans covering scope, timeline, quality and cost that satisfy both customer and internal requirements.
• Apply the company's Product Development Process in line with APQP.
• Oversee program budgets and financials, including tooling, capital and margin, and push to meet financial targets.
• Track timeline adherence, on-time delivery, quality, customer experience and program financial results.
• Act as the primary contact for the customer's program, engineering, quality and procurement teams.
• Lead cross-functional teams from Sales, Field Deployed Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain Planning and the Partner Network.
• Hold manufacturing partners to their commitments and work through capacity, schedule and quality problems with them.
• Manage capacity, partner availability and dependencies across concurrent programs, flag risks early, escalate when needed, and lead recovery across customer, partner and internal teams.
• Report program status in regular reviews with customers and internal leaders.
• Spot chances to expand programs within existing accounts and pass them to Sales and Account Management.
• Lead cross-functional operations projects that make programs more efficient, scalable and repeatable.
• Define and monitor program KPIs and use the data to drive improvements.
• Apply Lean and operational best practice to program workflows and identify automation and process gains.
• Write and maintain program management standards, templates and playbooks for the team.
• Work with Product and Engineering to improve the tools and systems that support program execution.
• Coach program managers on launch planning, customer management, financial management and structured problem solving.
• Serve as the escalation point for difficult issues across the portfolio.
• Help onboard new program managers and take part in hiring.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, business, operations, supply chain or a related field.
• 12+ years of program or project management, including leading production programs in a manufacturing environment.
• Manufacturing experience across processes such as CNC machining, injection molding, sheet metal, stamping, die casting or extrusion.
• Proven record running several complex programs at once, often $5M or more each, from award through launch and repeat production.
• Working knowledge of APQP and related quality planning practices.
• Experience managing program budgets, timelines, scope and financial results.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and managing supplier or contract manufacturer performance.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and facilitation skills in technical and manufacturing settings.
• Strong written and verbal communication, including executive-level presentations.
• Hands-on and accountable, willing to get into the details to keep a program on track.
• Credible with a customer's program director and a partner's plant manager.
• Structured and data-driven, acting on program signals before they become escalations.
• Customer focused, with clear and proactive communication.
• Builds processes and standards that others can follow.
• Comfortable working independently and within a team in a fast-paced environment.
• Preferred: 5+ years of military experience, such as in program management, acquisition, logistics or operations.
• Preferred: PMP certification.
• Preferred: Lean or Six Sigma certification.
• Preferred: experience in automotive, aerospace, defense or industrial manufacturing.
• Preferred: experience with PPAP, AS9102 first article inspection or other customer launch requirements.
• Preferred: familiarity with ERP systems, Salesforce, BI tools such as Tableau or Looker, and project management tools such as Smartsheet, Jira, Asana or Microsoft Project.
• Preferred: experience in a high-mix contract manufacturing or manufacturing marketplace environment.

Conditions

Remote or hybrid.

About 25% travel to customer and partner facilities.

You must be ITAR eligible, meaning a U.S. person as defined by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (22 C.F.R. § 120.62), such as a U.S. citizen or national, lawful permanent resident, or someone granted asylum or refugee status, because the role requires access to export-controlled information.

Estimated base salary for new hires is $116,000-$143,000 per year plus an annual bonus, depending on factors such as job-related skills, relevant experience and location.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and considers all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

Benefits

• 401(k) match.
• Medical, dental and vision insurance.
• Life and disability insurance.
• Generous paid time off, including vacation, sick leave, floating and fixed holidays, and maternity and bonding leave.
• EAP and other wellbeing resources.
• Additional benefits beyond those listed.