Job Description:
Position Title: Staff Engineering Program Manager
Location & Work Arrangement: Fremont, CA. | Hybrid
Travel Requirements: internationally roughly once a year
Job Summary
We are seeking a Staff Engineering Program Manager to lead complex power conversion programs from product definition through validation, manufacturing release, and production ramp. The role brings engineering, systems integration, product management, supply chain, manufacturing, quality, compliance, and commercial teams together to deliver reliable products that meet performance, cost, and schedule goals.
The ideal candidate has a proven track record leading power conversion hardware programs with globally distributed teams, managing complex dependencies, and driving decisions across organizational boundaries.
Key Responsibilities
- Own the integrated program plan, including scope, milestones, dependencies, budget, risks, resource and priority conflicts, and recovery plans.
- Ensure clear, consistent communication across time zones, enabling effective decision-making across international teams.
- Lead cross-functional execution from product definition through design, prototype builds, validation, manufacturing release, and production ramp.
- Partner with engineering leads to frame technical decisions, assess program impacts, and resolve cross-functional dependencies.
- Align globally distributed internal teams, suppliers, and manufacturing partners on priorities, deliverables, and decisions.
- Drive product readiness, including bill of materials maturity, drawing and documentation readiness, factory testing, and production capacity.
- Present to senior leadership and communicate program health, risks, tradeoffs, and decisions.
- Establish effective program practices across teams and mentor others in program planning, risk management, and cross-site execution.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering, a related technical field, or equivalent experience; a master’s degree is preferred.
- 10-15+ years of relevant experience, including leading complex technical hardware programs through development, validation, and manufacturing scale-up.
- Experience working with international, cross-functional teams and external partners.
- Ability to influence stakeholders and drive decisions in fast-paced, matrixed environments.
- Experience with program management and reporting tools such as Jira, Confluence, Power BI, or equivalent.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with solar, energy storage, microgrids, or utility-scale equipment.
- Grid-connected systems, protection, power quality, and site integration.
- Experience managing programs with high voltage, high power, or significant certification requirements.
- Design for manufacturing, supplier qualification, bills of materials, change control, and factory test.
- Product verification, reliability testing, and applicable safety or certification processes.
Nextpower offers a comprehensive benefits package. We provide health care coverage, dental and vision, 401(K) participation including company matching, company paid holidays with unlimited paid time off, generous discretionary company bonuses, life and disability protection and more. Employees in certain positions may be eligible for stock compensation. All plans are in accordance with relevant plan documents. For more information on Nextpower’s benefits please view our company website at www.nextracker.com.
Pay is based on market location and may vary based on factors including experience, skills, education and other job-related reasons. The annual salary range for this position is $190,000 to $205,000 (eligible in California).
