Director of New Product Introduction (NPI)

The Company

Halo Industries, Inc., a pioneer in manufacturing innovation with light-based technologies, seeks a highly skilled New Product Introduction (NPI) leader to join our dynamic team. Our proprietary advancements replace traditional processes with novel light-based equivalents, offering higher quality, lower cost, and enhanced functionality. As we rapidly expand our operations, we are looking for a leader to establish a highly effective NPI organization.

This NPI organization will include supply chain and manufacturing. Supply chain includes supply chain management and material handling. Manufacturing includes build, integration, and test phases of prototype and pilot systems. The Director of NPI will also oversee the critical partnerships with Contract Manufacturers (CMs). These CMs will provide design, documentation and manufacturing services for non-core technologies.

The Opportunity

The Head of NPI will play a critical role in the transfer of next-generation laser wafering tool designs from R&D to Tool and Wafer Volume-Manufacturing, by verifying the overall product record, prototype and pilot tool design, and pilot tool production system. This is a new position, which will be responsible for the hiring and leadership of a team of supply chain, manufacturing and NPI engineering resources. Supply chain resources will qualify and manage supplier performance and internal material handling. Manufacturing resources include build, integration and test technicians. NPI engineers will collaborate with R&D engineers during the New Product Development (NPD) and NPI phases to optimize the tool design and the manufacturing processes.

The successful candidate will assume NPI ownership, working with suppliers, systems, hardware, and software engineering teams to prevent and resolve sourcing, build, integration and test challenges.

Core responsibilities of the position:

Leadership

• Build and lead a team to execute sourcing and manufacturing of prototype and pilot tools. Manufacturing includes building, integration and testing to verify functional acceptance test criteria are met. The scope of tools includes individual wafering stations, networked stations, and complete wafer processing lines.
• The Head of NPI is responsible for driving process improvements,executing the Operations Strategy, and serving as the primary Subject Matter Expert in tool production activities.
• The Head of NPI will also collaborate across departments, including R&D, Quality, Supply Chain, Facilities and EH&S.
• This position plays a key part in cultivating a culture of operational excellence as we scale and transition new tools to pilot- and volume-wafer-production facilities.
• The Head of NPI will take on NPI ownership including planning, staffing, training and retaining of resources for supply chain and manufacturing to support operational plans.

NPI Engineering

• Represent the NPI production organization in design reviews and partner with responsible engineers to evaluate designs for cost, producibility, inspectability, serviceability, consistency, quality and reliability.
• Prevent and resolve design flaws, including hardware and software interface/communication mismatches.
• Prevent and resolve NPI process bottlenecks and drive systemic improvements based on methodical root cause analysis.
• Optimize documentation of build, integration and test procedures.
• Continuously evaluate manufacturing processes to identify opportunities for continuous improvements.
• Assure quality of software testing and validation methods and techniques.
• Travel to customer sites as required to support product introduction or local site support
• Travel may be required up to 10% of the time.

Supply Chain Management & Pilot Manufacturing

• Work with CMs and stakeholders from different departments to ensure alignment on NPI plans, while building strong lines of communication within Halo Industries, and with CMs.
• Support performance management and improvement efforts for suppliers and CMs, including supplier business reviews.
• Coordinate engineering change order activity with suppliers, NPI teams and other functional groups.
• Assess and mitigate risks associated with NPI, including supply chain, CMs, and NPI manufacturing.
• Improve integration and manufacturing processes, including work instruction development.
• Report progress on all activities related to NPI manufacturing programs.
• Maintain a safe and 5S-organized work environment that promotes employee health and compliance with EHS standards, including laser safety protocols and handling of chemicals.

Requirements

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical or electrical engineering, or related technical field
• Minimum of eight (8) years of experience in manufacturing of complex equipment, with at least four (4) years in a management role.
• Experience / Proficiency in buying, material planning, master scheduling, and forecasting.
• Experience in Program Management, Problem Solving, Continuous Improvement, Manufacturing, Quality Systems know-how, e.g. ISO-9001, APQP, PPAP.
• Experience with 3D CAD and 2D Drawings (Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing (GD&T))
• Experience with ERP and PLM tools, preferably NetSuite ERP and Arena PLM.
• Experience working in the integration of complex electrical and mechanical components, systems, and assemblies

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in mechanical or electrical engineering, or related technical field
• Certified Six-Sigma Black Belt or Certified Manufacturing Engineer (SME CMfgE)
• Proficiency to manage resources, including time, budget, personnel and stakeholders. .
• Experience building a world-class NPI team: recruit, develop, engage and retain talent.
• Strong people management skills
• Experience working with laser systems and laser safety protocols
• Strong problem-solving and troubleshooting skills.
• Excellent communication skills in verbal, written, and electronic formats across all levels of the organization.
• Strong presentation skills, capable of delivering presentations to a diverse audience.
• Develop dashboards and communication tools which convey NPI metrics, timelines and status.
• Strong customer focus and commitment to customer satisfaction.
• Proficiency working in a clean room environment with safety gear.

Benefits

• Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Retirement Plan (401k, IRA)
• Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
• Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
• Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)
• Free Food & Snacks
• Stock Option Plan
• Short Term & Long Term Disability
• Base salary $200,000 - $220,000

AdditionalInformation

We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all team members feel valued and supported. We welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds, including those from underrepresented communities in STEM. If you meet most of the qualifications and are excited about this opportunity, we encourage you to apply.

Qualification

Bachelor's Degree