Sr NPI Manufacturing Planner

Shift

Day shift (regular hours).

Job Description

The Sr NPI Manufacturing Planner is responsible for planning and scheduling complex new products as they transition from design into manufacturing. This individual develops realistic production plans for products with little or no historical manufacturing data by evaluating product design complexity, manufacturing process requirements, material readiness, capacity constraints, and execution risks. The role serves as the primary planning interface between Product Engineering, Fab Manufacturing, Operations, Supply Chain, and Production teams to ensure new products are planned accurately the first time and achieve predictable cycle times, delivery commitments, and factory performance. This position requires a deep understanding of probe‑card manufacturing, including PCB technologies, MLOs, spring technologies, assembly processes, test requirements, qualifications, and release activities.

Key Responsibilities

• New Product Planning: Own planning and scheduling of new product introductions from design release through production launch; assess manufacturing complexity of new designs; create planning assumptions based on PCB, MLO, spring, build sequence, qualification, engineering readiness, material lead times, and factory capacity; develop expected cycle‑time models; identify schedule risks early and drive mitigation plans.
• Manufacturing Flow Expertise: Become an expert in end‑to‑end probe‑card manufacturing flows; understand critical‑path operations across Fab, PCB sourcing, MLO sourcing, spring fabrication, assembly & test, qualification, and shipment; translate product design attributes into manufacturing execution requirements; maintain planning standards for major product families and technology platforms.
• Cross‑Functional Coordination: Partner closely with product engineering, process engineering, Fab manufacturing, supply chain, production supervisors, and program managers; participate in product readiness and productization reviews; ensure planning assumptions reflect actual factory capability and constraints; drive issue resolution when readiness gaps impact schedule commitments.
• Advanced Planning & Analytics: Develop data‑driven models to improve planning accuracy for new products; analyze historical cycle times, touch labor, yield performance, product complexity factors, and bottleneck behavior; build complexity‑based planning methodologies that improve forecast accuracy; continuously improve planning parameters used within ERP/MRP systems.
• Factory Integration: Work directly with Fab manufacturing to understand capacity limitations, equipment constraints, queue behavior, and process variability; reconcile factory reality with system‑generated schedules; support SIOP and capacity planning activities for new technology ramps.

Preferred Qualifications & Experiences

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• Minimum of 5 years of related experience (or 3 years with a Master’s degree, or a PhD without experience).
• Experience in manufacturing planning, supply chain, operations, industrial engineering, or NPI.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing process flows and capacity planning.
• Experience planning products with high variability and limited historical data.
• Strong analytical skills and proficiency with Excel, ERP/MRP systems, and data analysis tools.
• Ability to influence cross‑functional teams and leadership.
• Experience in semiconductor or probe‑card manufacturing.
• Knowledge of PCB technologies, MLO manufacturing, MEMS and probe technologies, spring fabrication processes, and productization/NPI processes.
• Exposure to Factory Physics concepts and bottleneck analysis.
• Experience building planning models and cycle‑time prediction methodologies.

Success Measures

• New‑product schedule accuracy.
• First‑pass planning accuracy versus actual cycle time.
• Reduction in launch schedule misses.
• Improved on‑time delivery for complex NPI products.
• Improved capacity visibility and constraint identification.
• Increased confidence in customer commit dates for first‑time builds.

Skills

• Analytical Thinking
• Business Operations
• Capacity Planning
• Communication
• Cross‑Functional Collaboration
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
• Manufacturing
• Microsoft Excel
• MRP Systems
• New Product Introduction (NPI)
• Supply Chain