Program Manager Manufacturing Excellence

Program Manager – Manufacturing Excellence & Operations Integration

Location: Gray, Tennessee Company: Industrial Electronics Services (IES) LLC Reports To: Senior Program Manager (primary reporting relationship) Functional Partnership: Director of Operations Employment Type: Full-Time, Exempt

About Industrial Electronics Services (IES)

Industrial Electronics Services (IES) LLC is a leading Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider delivering end-to-end solutions throughout the product lifecycle, including design support, prototyping, New Product Introduction (NPI), manufacturing, testing, fulfillment, and aftermarket support. IES serves highly regulated and mission-critical industries including Aerospace, Defense, Medical, Transportation, Energy, Communications, and Industrial markets where quality, reliability, traceability, and execution excellence are essential.

Position Summary

This is a challenging hybrid role at the center of IES’s transformation. It combines customer-facing program leadership with hands-on manufacturing excellence and will help shape how the organization grows, scales, and executes in the years ahead.

The Program Manager is a member of the Program Management Team under the leadership of the Senior Program Manager. At the same time, the role works closely with the Director of Operations to strengthen manufacturing processes, improve operational efficiency, and support scalable growth initiatives across the organization.

Serving as the critical link between customer expectations and operational execution, the Program Manager leads customer programs from opportunity qualification and launch planning through full-rate production and delivery, while maintaining strong, long-term relationships with customers and internal stakeholders. The role ensures customer commitments are aligned with technical feasibility, supply chain readiness, manufacturing capability, capacity requirements, and overall business objectives.

The position is an ideal next step for a high-performing Manufacturing or Process Engineer seeking to expand into strategic program management, operational leadership, and business integration, while maintaining a strong connection to the production floor and continuous improvement. Success requires technical manufacturing expertise, program management skills, data-driven decision-making, and the ability to influence and drive change across all levels of the organization.

Strategic Purpose of the Role

This position was intentionally designed to bridge Program Management and Manufacturing Operations. The Program Manager serves as the bridge between the external customer and the production floor, and as the central coordination point between:

• Customers

• Sales and Business Development

• Engineering

• Supply Chain

• Quality Assurance

• Manufacturing Operations

• Executive Leadership

Key Responsibilities

1. Program Management Leadership

• Lead customer programs from opportunity qualification through production launch and ongoing lifecycle management.

• Serve as the primary operational and technical interface for assigned customers, building strong long-term relationships.

• Develop and maintain program plans, schedules, milestones, deliverables, resource requirements, and risk mitigation plans.

• Ensure customer requirements are clearly defined, documented, validated, and executable.

• Coordinate cross-functional activities between Supply Chain, Quality, Manufacturing, and Operations.

• Facilitate program reviews and status meetings with customers and internal stakeholders.

• Monitor program performance against cost, quality, schedule, delivery, and customer satisfaction objectives.

• Escalate critical issues and drive timely resolution of program challenges.

• Provide regular updates to customers and internal leadership throughout the program lifecycle.

2. Opportunity Qualification & Pre-Sales Support

• Partner with Sales and Business Development teams to evaluate new business opportunities.

• Assess manufacturing feasibility, capacity requirements, technical risks, and operational readiness.

• Validate customer expectations against organizational capabilities.

• Participate in customer discussions, technical reviews, and proposal development activities.

• Support quoting processes through accurate assumptions regarding manufacturing costs, timelines, and resource requirements.

• Ensure opportunities align with strategic business objectives and profitability targets.

3. New Product Introduction (NPI) Leadership

• Coordinate and lead all NPI activities from prototype through production release.

• Lead manufacturing readiness reviews and manage NPI schedules, action items, and deliverables.

• Ensure engineering documentation, BOMs, routings, work instructions, and manufacturing packages are complete and accurate.

• Drive cross-functional alignment before customer commitments are finalized.

• Monitor launch performance and implement corrective actions when needed.

• Ensure successful transition from development to repeatable production processes.

4. Manufacturing Excellence & Operational Improvement

In partnership with the Director of Operations and leveraging a manufacturing engineering background, the Program Manager will:

• Support initiatives that improve manufacturing efficiency, productivity, quality, and throughput.

• Evaluate manufacturing readiness throughout program planning and launch activities.

• Improve manufacturing workflows, resource utilization, and process documentation.

• Participate in capacity planning and production readiness initiatives.

• Lead or support Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement projects.

• Drive root cause analysis and corrective action efforts.

• Promote process standardization and operational best practices across manufacturing functions.

5. Design for Manufacturability (DFM) & Engineering Collaboration

• Participate in Design for Manufacturability and manufacturability reviews.

• Collaborate with Engineering to improve manufacturability, quality, and cost-effectiveness.

• Assess process requirements during product development and launch.

• Support risk assessments, PFMEA activities, and manufacturing validation efforts.

• Facilitate communication between customer engineering teams and manufacturing personnel.

6. Supply Chain Integration

• Partner with Purchasing and Supply Chain teams to assess material availability and sourcing strategies.

• Evaluate supply chain risks and mitigation plans, including long-lead-time components and material constraints.

• Support alternate source qualification efforts when necessary.

Program Manager – Manufacturing Excellence

• Ensure supply chain readiness aligns with production requirements and customer commitments.

• Contribute to improved inventory planning and material flow effectiveness.

7. Risk Management & Problem Resolution

• Identify operational, technical, quality, schedule, and supply chain risks early.

• Develop mitigation plans and contingency strategies.

• Lead structured problem-solving initiatives utilizing methodologies such as:

- 8D

- 5 Why Analysis

- Fishbone Analysis

- FMEA

• Drive corrective and preventive action effectiveness.

• Escalate critical issues while maintaining customer confidence and operational stability.

8. Organizational Transformation & Process Scalability

As the role evolves, the Program Manager will play an active part in transforming the organization:

• Help strengthen and mature the Program Management function.

• Establish standardized, scalable program execution methodologies.

• Improve communication and collaboration between commercial and operational functions.

• Build repeatable systems, tools, and processes that support long-term growth.

• Reduce operational and supply chain risks and improve execution consistency and profitability.

• Enhance customer experience and confidence through more predictable execution.

• Champion change and help teams adopt new ways of working.

Required Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor’s Degree in:

- Manufacturing Engineering

- Industrial Engineering

- Mechanical Engineering

- Electrical Engineering

- Or a related technical discipline

Experience

• 3 years of experience in Manufacturing Engineering, Operations Management, or related leadership roles.

• Experience within Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS), PCB Assembly, Aerospace, Defense, Medical Device, Industrial Electronics, or similarly regulated industries.

• Proven experience supporting New Product Introduction (NPI) and production launch activities.

• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional teams and customer programs.

• Experience managing manufacturing or operational improvement initiatives.

Technical Skills

• Strong understanding of electronics manufacturing operations.

• Knowledge of SMT, PCB Assembly, Box Build, System Integration, and Test Operations.

• Experience with Lean Manufacturing principles and continuous improvement methodologies.

• Understanding of Six Sigma and Statistical Process Control (SPC).

• Familiarity with ERP/MRP systems.

• Ability to interpret engineering drawings, schematics, specifications, and Bills of Material.

• Strong project management and risk management capabilities.

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and business reporting tools.

Preferred Qualifications

• IPC-A-610, IPC J-STD-001, or related IPC certifications.

• Knowledge of ISO 9001 and AS9100 quality systems.

• Experience with manufacturing process validation and qualification.

• Experience with customer-facing program leadership roles in an EMS environment.

• Experience driving change or organizational improvement initiatives.

What Success Looks Like

Success will be demonstrated by aligning customer expectations, engineering feasibility, supply chain readiness, and manufacturing capability into a repeatable model that drives profitable growth for IES.