Manger Pre-Engineering

Job description

**Key Responsibilities** **1. Team Leadership & Pre-Engineering Process Ownership** - Lead, mentor, and develop a team of pre-engineering executives, setting clear priorities, workload allocation, and quality standards for customer data review and engineering package preparation. - Own and continuously improve the pre-engineering process (data review, DFM/DFA checks, BOM validation, engineering release) to reduce turnaround time and eliminate downstream production issues. - Establish standardized checklists, templates, and review gates for pre-engineering readiness across all new product introductions. - Define and track team KPIs data review TAT, right-first-time engineering release rate, open query ageing, and post-release issue rate and drive corrective actions. **2. Customer & Engineering Data Governance** - Own the review and sign-off of customer packages (BOM, Gerber, schematics, assembly drawings, ECNs) for completeness, consistency, and manufacturability prior to NPI release. - Act as the technical escalation point for complex data discrepancies, design ambiguities, or manufacturability risks, coordinating directly with customer engineering teams where required. - Ensure robust configuration and revision control of BOMs, drawings, and ECNs across the NPI lifecycle in the ERP/PLM system. **3. DFM/DFA & Manufacturability Leadership** - Drive rigorous Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA) reviews on new PCB layouts and assembly drawings, ensuring yield, cost, and process risks are identified and resolved before build. - Partner with Process Engineering and Industrial Engineering to validate component placement, panelization, fixture/tooling, and line-balancing implications of new designs. - Provide structured technical feedback to customers and internal design teams on component selection, footprint standards, and design-for-cost opportunities. **4. Cross-Functional & Program Management** - Represent Pre-Engineering in NPI program reviews, providing status, risk, and readiness updates to the Head NPI and customer program teams. - Coordinate with Sourcing, Quality, and Production Planning to align part availability, qualification status, and capacity with new product introduction timelines. - Support prototype, pilot, and first-article build readiness reviews, ensuring all pre-engineering checkpoints are closed and signed off before release to production. - Drive root cause analysis and corrective/preventive actions for pre-engineering-related escapes impacting production or quality. **5. Continuous Improvement & Capability Building** - Identify and implement tools/automation (e.g., BOM–Gerber cross-check scripts, DFM checklists, dashboarding) to improve pre-engineering accuracy and speed. - Build technical capability within the team through structured training on design data standards, IPC requirements, and manufacturability principles. - Benchmark pre-engineering practices against industry standards and drive adoption of best practices across the NPI function. **Technical Knowledge & Skills** - Strong expertise in PCB design data: Gerber files, schematics, BOMs, assembly drawings, and ECN/ECO processes, with the ability to independently resolve complex data issues. - Deep understanding of PCBA manufacturing processes (SMT, THT, assembly, testing) and their interaction with design decisions. - Proven experience with DFM/DFA methodologies and structured design review processes. - Working knowledge of CAM/CAD tools (e.g., Genesis, CAM350, Valor, or equivalent) for Gerber/BOM review and DFM analysis. - Strong command of ERP/PLM systems for BOM structuring, part master management, and revision control. - Solid understanding of IPC standards (IPC-A-610, J-STD-001, IPC-600) and their application to design and manufacturability reviews. - Proficiency in MS Office (advanced Excel) for data analysis, tracking, and management reporting. **Additional Preferences** - Experience managing pre-engineering or NPI teams in an EMS environment serving automotive, industrial, medical, or aerospace customers. - Direct experience interfacing with customer engineering teams on design queries and data clarifications. - Exposure to component sourcing, alternate part qualification, and obsolescence management processes. - Familiarity with Lean/WCM principles as applied to NPI and engineering release processes. **Behavioural & Leadership Competencies** - Strong people-leadership skills with the ability to build, coach, and motivate a technical team. - Excellent stakeholder management skills — able to engage confidently with customers, plant leadership, and cross-functional teams. - High analytical rigor combined with sound judgment in resolving ambiguous technical data issues. - Strong ownership mindset with the ability to drive process discipline and accountability across the team. - Effective planning and prioritization skills to manage multiple concurrent new product introductions. - High integrity, attention to detail, and commitment to quality and continuous improvement.