This role is responsible for managing multidisciplinary product delivery and program execution from inception to successful Business-Case realization. The Program Manager takes a General Manager's view of the program, assuming ownership across multiple functions and phases of the NPI (New Product Introduction) process.
Key Responsibilities:
- Business Case & Concept Development:
- Drive focus on the voice of the customer, offering-scope, and business case.
- Influence decisions in the initial phases.
- Detailed Planning:
- Translate business case and concept into actionable plans with deliverables across engineering and other functions.
- Perform estimation, balance technical risks and dependencies, and manage costs, resources, vendors, etc.
- Consultative Role:
- Help establish appropriate people, technology, processes, and tools for project success.
- Coach and optimize the efficiency of the project team.
- Execution & Delivery:
- Lead with a line-management focus to drive engineering results.
- Achieve readiness for commercial launch, ensuring high predictability and quality to stakeholders and senior executives.
- Risk Management:
- Identify risks early and create mitigation strategies.
- Regularly track and manage risks to ensure on-time delivery.
- Launch & Go-live:
- Oversee marketing communications, demand generation, and revenue tracking during and post-launch.
- Work with product management, business, and finance teams to measure outcomes against goals and targets.
- Budget Management:
- Understand finance reports and analyses, taking appropriate actions to stay within budget.
- Transformation to Agile:
- Lead the transition to Agile, CI/CD, and DevOps.
- Standardize practices with appropriate tools, dashboards, and metrics (e.g., effort, schedule, cost, revenue, defects).
- Revenue Impact:
- Drive positive revenue impact through new product, product sustenance, and enablement.
- Schedule, Cost, and Effort Compliance:
- Ensure compliance with phase gates, revenue targets, and continuously improve cycle time.
Required Skills & Experience:
- Business & Financial Acumen:
- Thorough understanding of markets, finance, and business needs.
- Ability to drive Make-vs-Buy decisions to optimize ROI and time to market.
- Technical Knowledge:
- Strong understanding of the engineering lifecycle models (Software, Electrical, Mechanical).
- Exposure to Cloud, IoT, Data Analytics, UI Technologies, Embedded Firmware.
- Control Systems domain knowledge is preferable.
- Vendor Management:
- Build effective relationships with third-party ODMs/OEMs.
- Vendor evaluation, interface, and management when required.
- Negotiation & Stakeholder Management:
- Proficient in negotiation and influencing in a global setup.
- Present problems and solutions eloquently to stakeholders.
- Agile Expertise:
- Expertise in Agile methodologies (Scrum, SAFe), CI/CD, and DevOps.
- Act as a catalyst in transforming organizational culture to bring in agility and predictability.
- Influencing:
- Strong communicator, able to influence teams and align them to deliver exceptional business value.
- Project Management:
- Strong project management principles with expertise in estimation, dependencies, milestones, and integration goals.
- Problem Solving:
- Structured approach to problem-solving, with agility and alacrity in execution and decision-making.
Qualifications & Experience:
- Education: Graduate in Engineering, or Masters in Math/Science/Computers.
- Experience: 10-15 years of experience, including 7-8 years in product program management.
- Must Have:
- Hands-on exposure to multidisciplinary programs (hardware, software, firmware, mechanical).
- Experience in program execution with Agile CI/CD.
- Roles like Scrum Master, Release Train Engineer, or Release Train Manager are preferred.
- Experience with tools such as Jira/Rally, Microsoft Project, Configuration Management, CI/CD, Visio, and Office Tools.
- Experience managing geographically distributed and culturally diverse teams.
- Proven track record of managing complex programs and product deliveries with incremental revenue impact.
- Desired Certifications:
- PMP, IPMA, PRINCE, PMI-ACP, CSM, CSPO.
