Coherent

NPI Lead

Coherent$100K — $130K *
Manufacturing & Automotive
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Physics, Materials Science, or related technical discipline
  • 7+ years of experience in product development or related fields
  • Strong technical background in NPI and technical program management
  • Proven leadership in cross-functional project management
  • Familiarity with phase-gate and product lifecycle processes

Responsibilities

  • Lead NPI programs through full phase-gate process
  • Develop and maintain program plans and milestone trackers
  • Coordinate product transitions from development to production
  • Organize and lead various technical reviews
  • Identify risks and implement mitigation plans
  • Support development activities including troubleshooting
  • Partner with teams to enhance manufacturability and process efficiency

Benefits

  • Opportunity to lead high-impact projects
  • Exposure to cross-functional teamwork
  • Involvement in the product development lifecycle
  • Focus on continuous improvement and technical problem-solving
  • Emphasis on safety and quality standards compliance
Full Job Description
Job Description

Key Responsibilities
  • Lead NPI programs through the full phase-gate process; Serve as the central coordination point between PLM, R&D, Engineering, Quality, Operations, Manufacturing Engineering, and Supply Chain to align priorities, actions, and timelines.
  • Develop and maintain program plans, milestone trackers, action registers, risk assessments, and status updates to ensure visibility and accountability.
  • Coordinate the transition of new products, processes, or technical capabilities from development into production, ensuring readiness for manufacturing, quality, documentation, and operational support.
  • Organize and lead phase-gate reviews, readiness reviews, technical reviews, and post-launch lessons learned.
  • Identify technical, manufacturing, quality, and schedule risks early; drive mitigation plans with the appropriate functional owners.
  • Support development and technical activities where needed, including experiment planning, data review and technical troubleshooting
  • Partner with Engineering and Operations to improve manufacturability, repeatability, yield, process capability, cycle time, and overall production readiness.
  • Ensure required documentation is created, reviewed, and released, including specifications, process documentation, test requirements, control plans, technical drawings or equivalent documentation, and qualification records.
  • Track launch and readiness metrics, communicate program status to stakeholders and leadership, and escalate barriers when needed.


Experience and Qualifications
  • Bachelor's degree or higher in Engineering, Physics, Materials Science, or related technical discipline.
  • Typically requires a minimum of 7 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree; or 5 years and a Master's degree; or a PhD with 3 years experience; or equivalent experience.
  • Strong technical background with experience in product development, process development, manufacturing engineering, NPI, or technical program management.
  • Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional projects across R&D, PLM, Engineering, Quality, Operations, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain, and customer-facing teams.
  • Experience with phase-gate, product lifecycle, qualification, manufacturing readiness, or design transfer processes.

Strong communication, organization, risk management, data analysis, and independent execution skills, with the ability to support technical troubleshooting and continuous improvement

Safety Requirements

All employees are required to follow the site EHS procedures and Coherent Corp. Corporate EHS standards.

Quality and Environmental Responsibilities

Depending on location, this position may be responsible for the execution and maintenance of the ISO 9000, 9001, 14001 and/or other applicable standards that may apply to the relevant roles and responsibilities within the Quality Management System and Environmental Management System.

About Coherent

Coherent, Inc. is a global leader in providing laser-based solutions to a broad range of commercial and scientific research customers. The company designs, manufactures, and markets lasers, laser-based systems, precision optics, and related accessories for a diverse group of customers. Coherent's markets include scientific research, OEM components and instrumentation, microelectronics, materials processing, and life sciences. The company's products are used in a wide range of applications. Coherent was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.
Learn more about Coherent
Size
5,085 employees
Market Cap
$4.6 billion
Industry
Net Income
-$419.7 million
Founded
1966
5 Year Trend
+27.8%
Revenue
$1.2 billion
NASDAQ

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