Senior Project Manager Technology \& Operation

Purpose of the role

The Project Manager -- Technology and Operations plays a key role in driving cross-functional projects that bridge product development, industrialization, and customer-facing technical deliveries. The role ensures efficient execution of technology, supply chain, and NPI (New Product Introduction) programs by coordinating activities across R&D, Operations, suppliers, and global customers. The Project Manager is responsible for ensuring that poLight’s innovative TLens® technology is successfully transferred from prototype to qualified, manufacturable, and customer-approved products.

The role requires excellent customer interaction skills, ensuring that technical information, risks, and expectations are communicated clearly and professionally. The Project Manager must be service minded, proactive, and capable of building strong relationships with international customers and partners to secure smooth project execution.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead cross-functional projects within Operation, including industrialization, qualification, and manufacturing transfer.

• Manage NPI processes from prototype through validation, ramp-up, and release to mass production

• Coordinate technical alignment between Operations and R&D to ensure smooth transition from development to production.

• Collaborated closely with external manufacturing partners, and communicated schedules, risks, and progress clearly and professionally.

• Lead customer-related technical deliverables

• Develop and maintain project plans, milestones, risk assessments, and change-control processes.

• Drive continuous improvement across processes, tools, and project execution methodology

• Provide regular reporting to management, highlighting status, risks, opportunities, and recommended countermeasures.

• Ensure professional and service oriented customer handling, including clear expectation management and structured follow up

• Build strong working relationships with customer engineering teams and act as a trusted technical counterpart.

Preferred Qualifications

• M.Sc. in engineering within electronics, optics, mechanics, semiconductors, MEMS or similar fields

• Experience in project management within technology industries.

• Experience with NPI or industrialization.

• Understanding of manufacturing processes, production transfer and qualification workflows.

• Experience collaborating with external manufacturing partners, suppliers and customers.

• Strong planning, coordination, and analytical skills with ability to manage complexity.

• Strong communication skills across engineering, operations, and customer teams.

• Comfortable working with international customers and suppliers; international travel expected.

Preferred Skills:

• Strong leadership abilities with the capacity to motivate, guide, and influence cross functional teams---even without direct authority.

• Excellent organizational skills, capable of managing multiple priorities and parallel activities in a dynamic environment.

• Advanced analytical and problem solving skills, applying a structured and data driven approach.

• Clear and effective communicator, able to translate complex technical and quality issues to both technical and non technical audiences.

• Capable of building strong relationships across the organization and with external partners

• Proactive and structured, skilled in risk management and timely issue resolution.

• Strong teamwork mindset.

• Strong customer facing skills with the ability to build trust, manage expectations, and handle complex technical discussions professionally.

• Service minded and self driven, able to operate independently while maintaining high standards in communication and delivery.