Koch Industries

Product Manager

Koch Industries$100K — $140K *
Telecommunications & Hardware
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical field; business degree acceptable with strong technical experience.
  • Experience in product line management, project management, or engineering within a tech/manufacturing setting.
  • Strong ability to understand and communicate WSS specifications to stakeholders.
  • Proven skills in executing tasks in a matrix organization through influence and communication.
  • Strong data analysis capabilities; ability to distill complex information into actionable insights.
  • Familiarity or quick adaptability to Agile document management and change control systems.

Responsibilities

  • Drive performance of the WSS product line, focusing on portfolio health and financial results via cross-functional collaboration.
  • Manage all lifecycle activities for WSS products, from launch to end-of-life execution.
  • Oversee NPI readiness and commercialization, ensuring alignment on requirements and schedules.
  • Collaborate with R&D/Engineering to ensure manufacturability and product readiness for WSS solutions.
  • Lead issue resolution in production affecting yield, quality, and overall performance metrics.
  • Initiate cost reduction and margin enhancement efforts through analysis and team coordination.
  • Support the creation of customer-facing content and maintain trade-show materials, ensuring data-driven messaging.

Benefits

  • Medical, dental, and vision insurance coverage.
  • Flexible spending and health savings accounts.
  • Life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment insurance, and disability coverage.
  • Retirement plan with company contributions.
  • Paid vacation and time off to promote work-life balance.
  • Educational assistance and potential for additional family support options like infertility assistance and paid parental leave.
Full Job Description
Your Job

Molex is expanding its Wavelength Management (WLM) business and is seeking a Product Line Manager (PLM) for Wavelength Selective Switch (WSS) products to support and grow our portfolio of WSS solutions used in high-density, high-bandwidth telecom and datacom networks (e.g., ROADM/DWDM architectures). In this role, you will drive product line execution and lifecycle discipline, partnering cross-functionally to deliver strong NPI readiness and sustaining production performance (yield, quality, delivery, cost), while contributing to product line profitability through analysis and operational follow-through. The team partners closely with Sales, Technical Marketing, R&D/Engineering, Operations, Finance, and Supply Chain to translate market needs into successful products and sustainable business performance. This role partners closely with the Zhuhai factory team to ensure WSS programs are launched and sustained with high execution rigor and documentation discipline.

You will also partner with the team's leader on data analysis and content development used for customer-facing presentations and recurring trade-show material preparation (attendance not required unless necessary or preferred by the employee).

What You Will Do
  • Own and drive WSS product line performance, including portfolio health, lifecycle management, and financial results through cross-functional execution
  • Manage product lifecycle activities for assigned WSS products, including launch, sustaining, refresh, and end-of-life (EOL) planning/execution
  • Drive NPI readiness and commercialization execution: requirements alignment, schedule tracking, risk management, ramp planning, and handoff to sustaining operations
  • Partner with R&D/Engineering to understand WSS specifications and implications (not expected to be the optical designer) and ensure manufacturability/readiness alignment
  • Lead sustaining production issue resolution impacting yield, quality, delivery, cost, lead time; coordinate RCA/CAPA, containment, and customer-impact mitigation as required
  • Lead cost reduction and margin improvement initiatives using structured analysis (cost drivers, yield impacts, supplier options) and cross-functional follow-through
  • Build business cases/ROI for investments (NPI, tooling, capacity, supplier changes, test capability, etc.) in partnership with Finance and Operations
  • Provide inputs to forecasting and operating plans, partnering with Sales/Operations/Finance; track and communicate KPIs relevant to product line health
  • Shape RFIs/RFQs and customer support content (as needed) by coordinating internal inputs on specs, configuration, readiness, risk, and value positioning
  • Support go-to-market content creation (recurring) by developing data-driven customer presentation materials (charts, summaries, performance/yield/reliability highlights) and maintaining trade-show collateral content (attendance optional)
  • Align cross-functional stakeholders in a matrix organization, facilitating decision forums, action tracking, and stakeholder communication without direct authority over all resources
  • Ensure documentation and change control discipline using Agile (or similar) systems: timely releases, accurate BOM/spec/process documentation, and governance compliance to protect production continuity


Who You Are (Basic Qualifications)
  • Bachelor's degree (or equivalent experience) in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Physics, or closely related technical discipline (business degree considered with strong technical/manufacturing experience)
  • Experience in product line management, project management, program management, operations leadership, or engineering in a technology/manufacturing environment
  • Ability to comprehend and communicate WSS specifications and their implications to engineering and operations stakeholders (and externally when needed)
  • Demonstrated capability to drive execution in a matrix organization through influence, structured communication, and stakeholder alignment
  • Strong data analysis skills and ability to convert complex inputs into clear, decision-ready insights (including customer-ready charts/tables and concise summaries)
  • Proficiency (or ability to ramp quickly) with Agile document management / change control systems


What Will Put You Ahead
  • Familiarity with Molex WSS products, internal processes, and documentation/change control practices
  • Strong working knowledge of DWDM / ROADM systems, including WSS technologies and related optical components
  • Experience supporting RMA workflows, corrective action systems (RCA/CAPA), and manufacturing KPI improvement initiatives
  • Experience building customer-ready technical/marketing content (slides, one-pagers, spec summaries) in coordination with Sales/Technical Marketing
  • Direct exposure to product financials (margin/cost structure), pricing support, and/or investment business cases (tooling, capacity, suppliers, test capability)
  • MBA and/or advanced technical degree (MS/PhD)


For this role, we anticipate paying $100,000 - $140,000 per year. This role is eligible for variable pay, issued as a monetary bonus or in another form.

Any compensation range provided for a role is an estimate determined by available market data. The actual amount may be higher or lower than the range provided considering each candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities, and geographic location. If you have questions, please speak to your recruiter about the flexibility and detail of our compensation philosophy.

Hiring Philosophy

All Koch companies value diversity of thought, perspectives, aptitudes, experiences, and backgrounds. We are Military Ready and Second Chance employers. Learn more about our hiring philosophy here .

Our Benefits

Our goal is for each employee, and their families, to live fulfilling and healthy lives. We provide essential resources and support to build and maintain physical, financial, and emotional strength - focusing on overall wellbeing so you can focus on what matters most. Our benefits plan includes - medical, dental, vision, flexible spending and health savings accounts, life insurance, ADD, disability, retirement, paid vacation/time off, educational assistance, and may also include infertility assistance, paid parental leave and adoption assistance. Specific eligibility criteria is set by the applicable Summary Plan Description, policy or guideline and benefits may vary by geographic region. If you have questions on what benefits apply to you, please speak to your recruiter.

Additionally, everyone has individual work and personal needs. We seek to enable the best work environment that helps you and the business work together to produce superior results.

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About Koch Industries

Koch Industries, Inc. is an American privately-held multinational conglomerate corporation based in Wichita, Kansas. Its subsidiaries are involved in the manufacturing, refining, and distribution of petroleum, chemicals, energy, fiber, intermediates and polymers, minerals, fertilizers, pulp and paper, chemical technology equipment, ranching, finance, commodities trading, and investing. Koch owns Infor, Invista, Georgia-Pacific, Molex, Flint Hills Resources, Koch Pipeline, Koch Fertilizer, Koch Minerals, Matador Cattle Company, i360, and Guardian Industries. The firm employs 120,000 people in 60 countries, with about half of its business in the United States. The company is the largest non-Canadian landowner in the Athabasca oil sands. With annual revenues of $110 billion by 2014, the company is the largest privately held company in the United States. In 2007, it was ranked as the largest privately held company. If Koch Industries had been a public company in 2013, it would have ranked 17th in the Fortune 500. The company was founded by its namesake, Fred C. Koch, in 1940 after he developed an innovative crude oil refining process. Fred C. Koch died in 1967 and his majority interest in the company was split amongst his four sons. In June 1983, after a bitter legal and boardroom battle, the stakes of Frederick R. Koch and William "Bill" Koch were bought out for $1.1 billion and Charles Koch and David Koch became majority owners in the company. Charles owns 42% of the company; trusts for the benefit of Elaine Tettemer Marshall and Elaine's children, Preston Marshall and E. Pierce Marshall Jr., own 16% of the company. The heirs of David Koch, who died on August 23, 2019, own the balance, 42%, of the corporation.
Learn more about Koch Industries
Industry
Founded
1940

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