Senior Program Manager, Manufacturing Operations

Responsibilities

• Own the master program plan for new facility bring-up, including milestones, dependencies, critical path, and risk register, from site selection through ramp to full production
• Coordinate site selection activities, working with real estate, legal, and finance teams to evaluate candidate locations against cost, labor, logistics, and regulatory criteria
• Manage relationships and negotiations related to local and state incentives (tax abatements, grants, workforce development funds), partnering with legal and finance to track commitments and compliance obligations
• Drive facility bring-up activities including permitting, construction oversight coordination, utility and infrastructure readiness, and equipment install scheduling
• Lead manufacturing readiness planning: equipment qualification, process validation, staffing and training plans, safety certification, and quality system readiness
• Run regular cross-functional program reviews, surfacing risks, resolving blockers, and escalating decisions to leadership with clear options and recommendations
• Build and maintain program dashboards and status reporting for executive stakeholders
• Manage relationships with external partners including general contractors, equipment vendors, local government agencies, and economic development organizations
• Develop contingency plans for schedule, budget, or supply chain risks, and adjust the program plan as conditions change
• Document lessons learned and build repeatable playbooks to streamline future facility launches

About the role

This role requires someone who can build structure across highly ambiguous, fast-moving workstreams, and who is comfortable coordinating engineering, finance, legal, HR, and supply chain teams toward a shared timeline without having direct authority over any of them.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of program or project management experience, with direct experience standing up new manufacturing facilities, lines, or large capital projects
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex, multi-workstream programs involving internal teams and external partners simultaneously
• Working knowledge of manufacturing readiness concepts: equipment qualification, process validation, EHS/safety compliance, and quality systems
• Strong financial acumen, with experience building and tracking capital budgets, forecasts, and incentive-related financial commitments
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence and align engineering, finance, legal, HR, and operations leaders without direct authority over them
• Prowess in building structure and clarity in ambiguous, fast-moving environments
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including experience presenting to senior leadership
• Willingness to travel frequently to the facility site during active build-out phases (travel expectations vary by program phase, potentially 30-50%)

Bonus Qualifications

• Familiarity with site selection processes and economic incentive negotiation
• Experience in a relevant manufacturing vertical (e.g., EV/battery, electronics, hardware)
• Familiarity with lean manufacturing or Six Sigma methodologies
• Prior experience working directly with state or local economic development agencies
• PMP certification or equivalent program management training
• Experience with program management tooling (e.g., MS Project, Smartsheet, Monday.com, or similar)