Position SummaryThe New Product Introduction (NPI) Materials Program Manager owns global material planning, strategic procurement, and supply chain execution for advanced mechanical, electrical, and electromechanical components. This role supports early-stage hardware builds, engineering prototypes, and Supplier Build Readiness (SBR) phases. Acting as the critical operational bridge between hardware engineering and a global manufacturing footprint, this position ensures seamless product launch velocity, risk mitigation, and 100% material continuity.
Key ResponsibilitiesNPI Material Planning & Procurement- Prototype to Production Execution: Manage end-to-end material planning, purchasing, and order execution to support and execute NPI and Special Build Requests (SBR) across company-owned and Contract Manufacturer (CM) production sites.
- Long-Term Demand Planning: Drive purchase order (PO) placement and long-term order forecasting for quarterly requirements based on engineering schedules, and build matrices specific to New Product Introduction (NPI) and supporting the transition to mass production.
- Clear-To-Build (CTB) Management: Maintain, audit, and manage multiple complex clear-to-build (CTB) trackers, forecast trackers, and material status documents to aggressively flag and mitigate component shortages.
- Financial Reconciliation: Partner with corporate accounting to drive the invoice reconciliation process, ensuring accurate resolution for POs, receipts, and invoices under ownership.
Supplier Coordination & Logistics- Ecosystem Orchestration: Coordinate with a broad, international supplier base to ensure material readiness, manage long lead times, and maintain build continuity for all NPI-related activities.
- Drop-Shipment Integration: Manage complex global drop-shipment logistics for new component revisions; coordinate with CMs to validate receiving, manage Inspection Report (IR) processing, align Purchase Order/Sales Order (PO/SO) workflows, and guarantee precise fulfillment.
- Forecasting: Support granular forecasting and supply planning for complex sub-assemblies and cable configurations, including quarterly forecast sharing, shipment tracking, and order management.
Program & Cross-Functional Execution- Timeline Synchronization: Partner closely with Commodity Managers, Program Management, and Engineering Leads to manage component schedules, factory build timelines, and physical material readiness across multiple new parallel hardware programs.
- Engineering Liaison: Support all NPI-related purchasing requests, NPI related tooling expenditures, and tactical operational needs for the Hardware Engineering, Reliability, and Manufacturing Engineering teams.
- Governance & Rhythm: Lead and participate in recurring critical operations reviews, including CM NPI alignment meetings, executive dashboard reviews, and technical supplier coordination meetings.
What We're Looking ForRequired Qualifications- Experience: 5+ years of experience in supply chain, materials management, or procurement program management within a high-tech hardware, semiconductor, or electronics manufacturing environment.
- NPI Expertise: Demonstrated experience managing NPI materials across a multi-supplier ecosystem, tracking mechanical, precision-machined, and electromechanical components.
- Systems Proficiency: Strong proficiency with top-tier Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems (NetSuite preferred).
- Contract Manufacturing Literacy: Direct experience working with international contract manufacturing partners, electronics manufacturing services (EMS), and drop-shipment logistics.
- Advanced Analytics: Ability to build and maintain complex data tracking tools (CTB trackers, forecast sheets, order status dashboards); advanced MS Excel/Google Sheets skills are mandatory.
- Cross-Functional Leadership: Proven ability to lead and drive cross-functional alignment across Engineering, Operations, Quality, and external supplier teams independent of day-to-day supervision.
- Technical Literacy: Ability to read, interpret, and audit product Bills of Materials (BOMs).
- Strategic Execution: Strong problem-solving skills, critical thinking capabilities, and attention to detail for everyday tactical execution.
- Education: Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Supply Chain Management, Operations Research, or a highly quantitative field preferred.
Preferred Qualifications- Industry Background: Experience in LiDAR, robotics, autonomous systems, machining, or advanced sensor hardware industries.
- Financial & Cost Auditing: Familiarity with Costed Bill of Materials (CBOM) reviews, standard costing processes, and pricing alignment for pre-production hardware assemblies.
- Global Exposure: Experience managing international suppliers, particularly with manufacturing corridors in Asia.
- Hybrid Operations: Background supporting both early-stage NPI/prototyping and active sustaining/mass production builds simultaneously.
The base pay will be dependent on your skills, work experience, location, and qualifications. This role may also be eligible for equity & benefits. ($120,000 - $150,000)
We acknowledge the confidence gap at Ouster. You do not need to meet all of these requirements to be the ideal candidate for this role.
