Sr. Director, Strategic Program Management

Job Description

Purpose

Lead enterprise-wide delivery coordination for strategic customers with multiple products, business groups, and functions. Ensures delivery on commitments, maintains a single company-wide view of risk, and resolves cross-functional issues with speed and clarity. Responsible for integrated delivery, risk management, visibility across the company for multiple product lines, and customer satisfaction.

Primary Scope

• Stand up and run the integrated operating cadence for assigned strategic customers
• Create and maintain a single cross-company delivery plan
• Maintain one consolidated view of milestones, dependencies, risks, and customer-critical issues
• Drive escalation and resolution of issues that cut across organizational boundaries
• Ensure customer commitments are pressure-tested internally and tracked rigorously
• Provide executive leadership with a clear, honest view of health, risk, and actions needed
• Serve as the internal quarterback for strategic customer delivery, especially during ramps, launches, and periods of elevated execution risk
• Act as the bridge between General Management, Supply Chain, Operations, and Sales teams.
• Facilitate regular communication between teams to allocate constrained resources
• Provide a unified view of the customer internally and will be the final source of truth for cross-business execution
  
  

What This Role Owns

• Integrated customer delivery plan
• Cross-company governance cadence
• Risk register and mitigation tracking
• Anticipate cross-functional, cross-business unit issues and can convene stakeholders to problem solve and manage the escalation process internally and with the customer
• Continuous awareness and ability to articulate the state of the customer
• Alignment around customer priorities, tradeoffs, and recovery plans
• Internal accountability for “no surprises”
  
  

Success measures

• On-time delivery to customer commitments
• Early identification of risks and reduction of “late surprises”
• Speed of cross-functional issue resolution
• Accuracy and credibility of executive/customer status reporting
• Customer escalation frequency and severity
• Revenue-at-risk visibility and recovery effectiveness
• Leadership confidence that Coherent is operating as one company on strategic accounts
  
  

Qualifications And Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required
• Minimum 10 years of leadership experience in B2B technology program management, operations, or product management roles, with significant exposure to hardware or industrial products. Experience in the laser, photonics, or related high-tech industry is highly preferred
• Lead culturally and technically diverse internal stakeholders across regions
• Able to drive outcomes without direct authority
• Proven success in planning and executing strategic relationships
• Prior experience in a leadership role is expected. This could include leading a product marketing function or team, managing cross-functional initiatives, or mentoring program managers/ staff and should have the ability to influence and drive teams
• A results-oriented mindset is required, with a focus on customer satisfaction
• Senior program leader with strong executive presence
• Comfortable operating across sales, operations, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, quality, and service
• Strong judgment under ambiguity and pressure
• Excellent at executive communication, issue framing, and escalation management
• Experience with large strategic customers, complex ramps, NPI/transfers, supply-constrained environments, or multi-site delivery programs preferred
• Proven ability to lead through change, drive operational efficiencies, and scale services in high-growth environments
  
  

Skills & Other Requirements

• Strategic thinker with strong analytical skills
• Excellent written/verbal communication; skilled in presentations and simplifying technical info
• Strong program management; capable of handling multiple initiatives and timelines
• Proven cross-functional collaborator; able to lead and build consensus in matrix teams
• Data-driven decision maker; proficient in using analytics to measure and optimize performance
• Flexible and available to support operations across multiple time zones
  
  

Working Conditions

• This position is onsite
• Will require occasional off-site meetings or travel
• Interaction with team members and external contacts is a regular part of the job
  
  

Culture Commitment

Ensure adherence to company’s values (ICARE) in all aspects of your position at Coherent:

Integrity – Create an Environment of Trust

Collaboration – Innovate Through the Sharing of Ideas

Accountability – Own the Process and the Outcome

Respect – Recognize the Value in Everyone

Enthusiasm – Find a Sense of Purpose in Work

Coherent Corp. is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.

If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at talentacquisition@coherent.com .

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About Us

Coherent is a global leader in lasers, engineered materials and networking components. We are a vertically integrated manufacturing company that develops innovative products for diversified applications in the industrial, optical communications, military, life sciences, semiconductor equipment, and consumer markets. Coherent provides a comprehensive career development platform within an environment that challenges employees to perform at their best, while rewarding excellence and hard-work through a competitive compensation program. It's an exciting opportunity to work for a company that offers stability, longevity and growth. Come Join Us!

Note to recruiters and employment agencies: We will not pay for unsolicited resumes from recruiters and employment agencies unless we have a signed agreement and have required assistance, in writing, for a specific opening.

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