Manager of New Product Introduction (NPI)
Position Overview
GTI Energy is seeking an NPI Manager to lead programmatic execution of New Product Introduction initiatives across multiple product lines and customer programs. This role is responsible for driving projects through defined phase gates, coordinating cross-functional deliverables, managing timelines, escalating risks, and ensuring launch readiness from concept through production release.
Key Responsibilities
NPI Program Leadership & Phase Gate Ownership - Lead multiple New Product Introduction programs from concept through pilot build, validation, launch, and production ramp.
Drive projects through structured phase gate milestones with clear deliverables, owners, and due dates.
Maintain overall program plans, timelines, readiness trackers, and critical path schedules.
Ensure cross-functional teams meet commitments required for gate approvals and launch progression.
Facilitate gate review meetings with leadership and stakeholders.
Launch Readiness & Manufacturing Handoff
Ensure manufacturing readiness for new products including labor plans, routings, tooling status, training, work instructions, and material availability.
Support pilot builds, first articles, validation runs, and production ramp plans.
Confirm readiness of ERP data, BOM structures, inventory setup, and production controls.
Coincide successful handoff from development teams into sustained operations.
Risk Management & Escalation
Identify launch risks related to schedule, design maturity, suppliers, quality, capacity, or cost.
Build mitigation plans and drive closure with accountable owners.
Escalate unresolved issues quickly with clear recommendations and decision needs.
Maintain risk registers and executive visibility dashboards.
Customer & Internal Program Communication
Provide regular status updates to executive leadership, commercial teams, and internal stakeholders.
Support customer-facing program meetings where required regarding timelines, readiness, and milestones.
Translate technical complexity into concise business updates and decisions.
Maintain strong communication cadence across all functions.
Continuous Improvement of NPI Process
Improve GTI’s phase gate process, launch governance, templates, readiness checklists, and reporting systems.
Standardize launch metrics and lessons learned processes across product lines.
Reduce missed milestones, late engineering changes, poor handoffs, and launch instability.
Drive scalable NPI systems to support hyper-growth product expansion.
Track and report KPIs including on-time gate completion, launch readiness, engineering release timing, supplier readiness, first pass yield during launch, ramp.
Build executive scorecards for NPI portfolio visibility.
Drive corrective actions when programs fall behind schedule or readiness targets.
Leadership & Influence
Lead through influence across matrixed teams without requiring direct authority over all functions.
Build urgency, ownership, and execution discipline across program stakeholders.
Coach functional teams on launch discipline and accountability expectations.
Serve as a central quarterback for new product execution at GTI.
Required Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Business, or related discipline.
6-10+ years of experience in Program Management, NPI, Product Launch, Operations, Engineering Project Management, or related leadership roles.
Proven experience leading cross-functional product launches or manufacturing transfers.
Strong experience with phase gate processes, milestone planning, and program governance.
Able to manage multiple concurrent projects in fast-paced industrial environments.
Strong communication, organization, and executive presence.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience in modular manufacturing, data centers, power systems, BESS, fabrication, or engineered-to-order products.
Experience working closely with AME, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, and Supply Chain functions.
PMP, Lean Six Sigma, APICS, or related certifications preferred.
ERP / PLM / project management system experience preferred.
Experience in hyper-growth manufacturing environments strongly preferred.