Director, Engineering Program Management

Nextgen Technologies Inc; Fremont (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Nextgen Technologies Inc in Fremont, CA seeks a Director of Engineering Program Management to lead planning, coordination, and execution of development builds, testing activities, and experimental programs.

The role requires strategic leadership, exceptional communication, and the ability to manage multiple workstreams, identify risks, and drive clear execution plans across engineering, manufacturing, quality, and supply chain.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Project Management, or related technical field.
• 15+ years of project management or engineering program coordination experience, including startup exposure.
• Experience managing engineering development projects involving prototype builds, testing, and validation.
• Strong understanding of engineering development processes and product lifecycle management.
• Proven ability to manage multiple concurrent projects and priorities.
• Demonstrated ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive accountability without direct authority.
• Strong written and verbal communication, including executive-level reporting.
• Experience with PM tools such as Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Jira, Azure DevOps, or similar.

Responsibilities

• Develop and manage integrated project schedules for engineering development, testing, and validation activities.
• Coordinate engineering builds across multiple teams, ensuring materials, resources, documentation, and dependencies are aligned.
• Plan and manage engineering test schedules while balancing priorities, resources, and program timelines.
• Track configurations, build revisions, hardware/software versions, and engineering change status.
• Coordinate sub-assembly, product, and system-level testing activities.
• Ensure test data is collected, organized, traceable, and available for engineering review.
• Develop dashboards, status reports, and executive-level summaries covering progress, risks, issues, and key metrics.
• Lead project meetings, build readiness reviews, test readiness reviews, and milestone reviews.
• Identify project risks and schedule impacts and proactively drive mitigation plans.
• Drive accountability across engineering teams and functional managers for milestones, action items, and deliverables.
• Resolve cross-functional blockers and maintain alignment across engineering, manufacturing, quality, and supply chain.
• Establish clear priorities, decision-making processes, and accountability across engineering teams.
• Improve project management processes, reporting methods, and engineering execution practices.
• Identify organizational and process gaps and drive improvements.

Skills

Project management

Cross-functional leadership

Executive communication

Planning and scheduling

Risk identification and mitigation

Process improvement

Organizational facilitation

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Project Management, or related technical field

Master’s degree in Engineering, Project Management, or related field

Tools

Microsoft Project

Smartsheet

Jira

Azure DevOps

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

About the Role

We are seeking a highly organized and results-driven Director, Engineering Program Management to lead the planning, coordination, and execution of engineering development builds, testing activities, and experimental programs.

This is a high-impact leadership role responsible for coordinating complex engineering activities across multiple teams, ensuring prototype builds, validation testing, and data collection are executed on schedule and aligned with program objectives.

The ideal candidate is an exceptional communicator and strategic program leader who can manage multiple workstreams, drive accountability, identify risks, and translate engineering priorities into clear execution plans.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and manage integrated project schedules for engineering development, testing, and validation activities.
• Coordinate engineering builds across multiple teams, ensuring materials, resources, documentation, and dependencies are aligned.
• Plan and manage engineering test schedules while balancing priorities, resources, and program timelines.
• Track configurations, build revisions, hardware/software versions, and engineering change status.
• Coordinate sub-assembly, product, and system-level testing activities.
• Ensure test data is collected, organized, traceable, and available for engineering review.
• Develop dashboards, status reports, and executive-level summaries covering progress, risks, issues, and key metrics.
• Lead project meetings, build readiness reviews, test readiness reviews, and milestone reviews.
• Identify project risks and schedule impacts and proactively drive mitigation plans.
• Drive accountability across engineering teams and functional managers for milestones, action items, and deliverables.
• Resolve cross-functional blockers and maintain alignment across engineering, manufacturing, quality, and supply chain.
• Establish clear priorities, decision-making processes, and accountability across engineering teams.
• Improve project management processes, reporting methods, and engineering execution practices.
• Identify organizational and process gaps and drive improvements.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Project Management, or a related technical field.
• 15+ years of project management or engineering program coordination experience, including experience in an early-stage or startup technical environment.
• Experience managing engineering development projects involving prototype builds, testing, and validation.
• Strong understanding of engineering development processes and product lifecycle management.
• Proven ability to manage multiple concurrent projects and competing priorities.
• Demonstrated ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive accountability without direct authority.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including executive-level reporting.
• Experience with project management tools such as Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Jira, Azure DevOps, or similar platforms.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Engineering, Project Management, or a related technical field.
• Experience in aerospace, automotive, robotics, consumer electronics, industrial equipment, or other complex engineering environments.
• Experience with engineering change management (ECN/ECO) and configuration management.
• Experience managing engineering development projects in ambiguous or evolving product environments.
• Experience with Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems.
• PMP, CAPM, Agile, or other project management certification.

Desired Skills

• Strong planning and scheduling
• Analytical and problem-solving skills
• Cross-functional leadership
• Stakeholder management and influence
• Executive communication
• Risk identification and mitigation
• Process improvement
• Strong organizational and facilitation skills
• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced engineering environment

What Success Looks Like

In this role, success means:

• Delivering engineering development builds and testing activities on schedule.
• Providing accurate visibility into project status, risks, and dependencies.
• Improving coordination and execution across engineering teams.
• Driving accountability for milestones and deliverables.
• Enabling leadership to make informed decisions through clear reporting and actionable metrics.
• Establishing scalable processes and operating rhythms for engineering execution.
• Improving organizational efficiency by identifying and addressing structural and process gaps.

This is a high-impact, high-visibility opportunity for an experienced engineering program leader who excels at operating in ambiguity, influencing without authority, and connecting strategy to execution across multiple teams.