Lead, Sustaining & Factory Operations Program Manager

As a Lead, Sustaining & Factory Operations Program Manager, you will serve as the strategic bridge between product innovation and global manufacturing excellence, ensuring a seamless transition from NPI to high-volume mass production. This pivotal leadership role demands a seasoned expert capable of mentoring a high-performing team, architecting long-term capacity plans, and managing executive-level relationships with global Contract Manufacturers to optimize yield, quality, and throughput. With over a decade of experience in hardware operations and a deep mastery of the full product lifecycle, you will drive the overarching DFM strategy and oversee multi-million dollar capital expenditures, all while navigating complex supply chain risks. We are looking for a financially-savvy leader with exceptional executive presence who is ready to optimize global operations and shape the future of our manufacturing footprint.

This is a US Hybrid role (3 days per week) based in our San Francisco, California office.

• →Strategic Leadership: Lead and mentor a team of Sustaining and Factory Operations Program Managers and to bridge the gap between internal product teams and global manufacturing partners, ensuring a seamless transition from NPI to high-volume mass production.
• →Organizational Alignment: Drive the overarching DFM (Design for Manufacturing) strategy, ensuring that engineering, quality, and manufacturing teams are aligned on risk mitigation and production scalability before the first unit hits the line.
• →Global Factory Operations: Oversee on-the-ground factory operations, managing the relationship with Contract Manufacturers (CMs) at the executive level to ensure KPIs for yield, quality, and throughput are consistently met or exceeded.
• →Sustaining & Lifecycle Strategy: Lead the Post Ramp Qualification (PRQ) framework, making high-stakes decisions on product changes necessitated by material shortages, quality improvements, or cost-reduction initiatives.
• →Business Planning & Demand: Partner with Executive Leadership (Planning, Sourcing, Retail, Product, and Finance) to ensure global supply matches demand, owning the mitigation strategy for any supply chain disruptions.
• →Infrastructure & Capacity: Architect the long-term capacity plan, including the strategic deployment of multi-million dollar capital expenditures for equipment, fixtures, and factory expansion.
• →Risk & Material Management: Partner with MPMs on Materials Management strategy, proactively identifying systemic supply chain risks and implementing hedging or dual-sourcing strategies.
• →Budgetary Oversight: Own the operational budget for the Sustaining and NPI programs, including accountability for Opex, Capex, and variance reporting.

• Experience: 10+ years of experience in Hardware Operations, Technical Program Management, or Engineering Leadership, with at least 3 years in a formal people management role.
• Proven Leadership: A track record of building, scaling, and leading high-performing teams in complex, fast-paced hardware environments.
• Factory-Floor Expertise: Significant experience working directly on-site at international manufacturing facilities (JDM/ODM models), with a deep understanding of assembly lines, test stations, and factory floor dynamics.
• Full Lifecycle Mastery: Deep expertise across all Hardware disciplines (EE, ME, ID) and Supply Chain functions (Sourcing, Quality, Logistics, and Global Planning).
• Executive Presence: Exceptional communication skills with the ability to distill complex operational challenges into clear, actionable insights for C-suite executives.
• Financial Acumen: Strong experience managing large-scale budgets and a sophisticated understanding of the financial drivers behind manufacturing and supply chain operations.
• Self-Driven Excellence: A relentless drive to optimize processes and a passion for mentoring the next generation of hardware leaders.
• Global Mobility: Ability to travel internationally and domestically (up to 30%) to interface with partners and oversee factory builds.