Staff NPI Engineer

About the role

The Staff New Products Introduction Engineer is responsible for leading manufacturing readiness for product launch in manufacturing. The scope of responsibility covers the end‑to‑end production process of new products (material preparation, assembly, and shipment preparation).

Responsibilities

• Lead the review of NUDD analysis across products, platforms and customers to determine manufacturing readiness requirements for NPI launch sites and global factories.
• Identify “disruptor” products and engage manufacturing engineering & operations management to develop unique processes and procedures that enable rapid launch of new products, platforms, or customers across multiple sites.
• Interpret engineering specifications and translate product topographies into manufacturing work instructions.
• Lead the action plan between manufacturing and design teams to resolve any conflicts between product requirements and factory capabilities.
• Drive the global manufacturing readiness review process to evaluate the technical status of various NPI programs as they are transferred to each global production site.
• Serve as a subject‑matter expert and contribute to the review and selection of products as candidates for global transfer.
• Leverage structured risk analysis methods such as NUDD, PFMEA, and DFM to develop iterative process‑readiness plans that progressively strengthen manufacturing capability, repeatability, and efficiency (CRE).
• Lead lab efforts to identify, triage, and resolve launch issues to quickly harden new products and processes.
• Lead manufacturing readiness reviews across new products, platforms, or customers to drive factory readiness between buildings and global sites.
• Set the direction and plan for manufacturing readiness by balancing factory capabilities and customer requirements.
• Provide technical support to manufacturing engineering and training teams during SOP development.
• Drive optimization of assembly processes by providing key insights to issues and improvement areas for SOPs.
• Utilize learnings to drive process improvements for the management systems between manufacturing and NPI.
• Lead analysis of manufacturing KPIs for new products to derive key insights into launch readiness.
• Drive cross‑functional teams supporting NPI to make targeted improvements to design, assembly, and test processes to achieve KPI targets.
• Identify, measure, and analyze new KPIs as business focus areas change.
• Lead review and analysis of lessons‑learned summaries from new product or platform launches to derive optimization efforts and create risk‑mitigation plans for upcoming products or platforms.
• Drive cross‑functional collaboration between manufacturing and design to improve product health by utilizing historical data and developing prescriptive plans to accelerate time‑to‑market.
• Represent manufacturing in report‑outs to business and technical teams across the organization.
• Determine new communication pathways and metrics required to present for new products, platforms, and customers.
• Lead product design analysis with NPI and manufacturing engineers by reviewing historic DFM and PFMEA scores across new products and platforms.
• Set thresholds for new components to determine acceptability of design or assembly.
• Collaborate with manufacturing engineering and design teams to optimize product design and assembly processes.
• Lead evaluation of key product performance issues and coordinate technical and operational resources to identify, evaluate, and execute solutions across sites.
• Utilize learnings to drive preventive actions and continuous‑improvement projects across products, platforms, and customers.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline (mechanical, electrical, or industrial preferred).
• 5+ years of relevant experience in an engineering role.
• Fluency with manufacturing systems and process design concepts.
• Growth mindset with a commitment to continuous learning.
• Proven ability to perform effectively in a demanding environment with changing workloads and deadlines.
• Experience in manufacturing environments.
• Experience with continuous improvement/lean programs.
• Experience with Microsoft Office tools (Outlook, Excel, and Word).

Pay

The typical base salary for this position is expected to be between $93,000 and $136,400 annually. Final base salary will be determined individually based on experience, skills, knowledge, education, and/or certifications.

Benefits

• Performance‑based annual bonus eligibility.
• 401(k) retirement savings plan.
• Tuition reimbursement for eligible education programs.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with access to leading providers.
• Mental health resources and employee wellness support programs.
• Company‑paid life and disability insurance.
• Paid time off (PTO) and company‑paid holidays.
• Parental leave and family‑care support programs.
• Structured training programs and on‑the‑job learning opportunities.
• Matching gifts and volunteer programs to support causes you care about.

About ZT Systems

ZT Systems, a Sanmina Company, offers a collaborative environment where engineers design, build, and deliver impactful solutions to world‑class customers. The culture emphasizes hard work, fast thinking, continuous learning from failures, and leveraging momentum from successes to drive innovation. Employees gain hands‑on experience in a fast‑paced, rewarding, and career‑defining setting while contributing to technology infrastructure that connects the world.