Project/Program Design Senior Manager

Renesas Electronics; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Renesas Electronics Corp. in Austin, TX seeks an experienced PMO leader to establish and head the PMO for its automotive semiconductor power management group, driving governance, program execution, and cross-functional alignment across design, development, validation, and production.

The role emphasizes functional safety governance (ISO 26262, SOTIF), stage-gate processes, and risk visibility with dashboards and reviews.

Qualifications

• Deep automotive semiconductor experience.
• Mature program/portfolio management expertise.
• Strong functional safety knowledge (ISO 26262, SOTIF).

Responsibilities

• Establish and lead the PMO organization with defined vision, governance, processes, tools, and team structure.
• Build a team to support 15-25 concurrent programs across design, development, validation, and production.
• Implement portfolio management governance with quarterly reviews and resource allocation.
• Track program status, risks, dependencies, and critical path with dashboards and steering reviews.
• Drive functional safety governance across the portfolio aligned to ISO 26262 and SOTIF.
• Identify, track, and mitigate program risks including functional safety and compliance.
• Ensure on-time and on-budget delivery of design-ins and production ramps.
• Foster cross-functional collaboration across Engineering, Operations, Quality, Finance, and Customer teams.
• Define KPIs and reporting cadence for PMO performance.

Skills

Program management

Portfolio management

Risk management

Functional safety

Cross-functional leadership

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Program Management Office (PMO) leader to establish and lead the PMO function for our large automotive semiconductor power management group. In this role, you will drive portfolio governance, project execution excellence, and cross-functional alignment across a complex ecosystem of product development programs, manufacturing ramps, and operational initiatives. You will implement best-in-class program management practices with strong emphasis on functional safety governance and risk management, establish disciplined stage-gate processes that embed functional safety review and compliance tracking, drive on-time and on-budget delivery, and ensure visibility and accountability across the entire program portfolio. This role requires deep automotive semiconductor experience, mature program/portfolio management expertise, strong functional safety knowledge (ISO 26262, SOTIF), and the ability to coordinate effectively with engineering, operations, quality, functional safety, finance, and customer teams.

Responsibilities

Establish and lead the PMO organization: Define PMO vision, governance structure, processes, tools, and team composition. Build a team of program managers and coordinators capable of supporting 15-25 concurrent programs across design, development, validation, and production phases. Develop PMO operating standards and playbooks aligned with automotive industry best practices.

Implement portfolio management and governance: Establish portfolio-level governance including quarterly portfolio reviews, go/no-go decision frameworks, and resource allocation processes. Create visibility into program status, risks, dependencies, and critical path items across all active programs. Ensure alignment between portfolio strategy and business objectives.

Drive program execution excellence: Partner with program leads and cross-functional teams to establish clear milestones, deliverables, dependencies, and success criteria for each program. Implement stage-gate processes aligned with product development lifecycle. Track program health (schedule, budget, scope, quality, risk) with real-time dashboards and regular steering reviews.

Manage schedule, budget, and resource allocation: Establish robust program estimating and planning processes. Monitor budget execution and spending forecasts across the program portfolio. Manage resource conflicts and allocation optimization to maximize efficiency and minimize bottlenecks. Escalate critical resource or budget constraints to leadership.

Drive functional safety governance and compliance across program portfolio: Establish functional safety management processes aligned with ISO 26262 and SOTIF requirements. Ensure functional safety reviews are embedded in stage-gate processes and design milestones. Track functional safety metrics including ASIL classifications, safety case development, and FMEA/FTA completion. Collaborate with functional safety and quality teams to ensure compliance evidence is generated and maintained throughout program lifecycle. Ensure functional safety risks are elevated and managed with appropriate rigor.

Identify, track, and mitigate program risks including functional safety and compliance risks: Establish enterprise-wide risk management processes including risk identification, quantification, mitigation planning, and tracking. Facilitate cross-functional issue resolution for critical program blockers. Proactively escalates high-impact risks and interdependencies that threaten schedule, cost, quality, or functional safety objectives. Maintain risk dashboards that highlight functional safety risk status prominently.

Drive on-time, on-budget delivery of design-ins and production ramps: Lead programs through critical transition phases including customer design-ins, pilot production, and volume ramp. Ensure NPI (New Product Introduction) processes are executed with discipline. Build accountability for delivery commitments and establish metrics that track on-time delivery performance across the portfolio.

Build cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder alignment: Facilitate effective communication and alignment across Engineering, Design, Manufacturing, Operations, Quality, Finance, Supply Chain, and Customer Success. Resolve conflicts and trade-offs with transparency and accountability. Serve as central hub for program information and status communication.

Establish metrics, reporting, and continuous improvement: Define KPIs for program portfolio health (on-time delivery, schedule variance, budget variance, risk resolution, quality metrics). Establish reporting cadence and dashboards for executive, functional, and cross-functional stakeholder groups. Drive continuous improvement in PMO processes and tool effectiveness.

Job Description

We are seeking an experienced Program Management Office (PMO) leader to establish and lead the PMO function for our large automotive semiconductor power management group. In this role, you will drive portfolio governance, project execution excellence, and cross-functional alignment across a complex ecosystem of product development programs, manufacturing ramps, and operational initiatives. You will implement best-in-class program management practices with strong emphasis on functional safety governance and risk management, establish disciplined stage-gate processes that embed functional safety review and compliance tracking, drive on-time and on-budget delivery, and ensure visibility and accountability across the entire program portfolio. This role requires deep automotive semiconductor experience, mature program/portfolio management expertise, strong functional safety knowledge (ISO 26262, SOTIF), and the ability to coordinate effectively with engineering, operations, quality, functional safety, finance, and customer teams.

Responsibilities

• Establish and lead the PMO organization: Define PMO vision, governance structure, processes, tools, and team composition. Build a team of program managers and coordinators capable of supporting 15-25 concurrent programs across design, development, validation, and production phases. Develop PMO operating standards and playbooks aligned with automotive industry best practices.

• Implement portfolio management and governance: Establish portfolio-level governance including quarterly portfolio reviews, go/no-go decision frameworks, and resource allocation processes. Create visibility into program status, risks, dependencies, and critical path items across all active programs. Ensure alignment between portfolio strategy and business objectives.

• Drive program execution excellence: Partner with program leads and cross-functional teams to establish clear milestones, deliverables, dependencies, and success criteria for each program. Implement stage-gate processes aligned with product development lifecycle. Track program health (schedule, budget, scope, quality, risk) with real-time dashboards and regular steering reviews.

• Manage schedule, budget, and resource allocation: Establish robust program estimating and planning processes. Monitor budget execution and spending forecasts across the program portfolio. Manage resource conflicts and allocation optimization to maximize efficiency and minimize bottlenecks. Escalate critical resource or budget constraints to leadership.

• Drive functional safety governance and compliance across program portfolio: Establish functional safety management processes aligned with ISO 26262 and SOTIF requirements. Ensure functional safety reviews are embedded in stage-gate processes and design milestones. Track functional safety metrics including ASIL classifications, safety case development, and FMEA/FTA completion. Collaborate with functional safety and quality teams to ensure compliance evidence is generated and maintained throughout program lifecycle. Ensure functional safety risks are elevated and managed with appropriate rigor.

• Identify, track, and mitigate program risks including functional safety and compliance risks: Establish enterprise-wide risk management processes including risk identification, quantification, mitigation planning, and tracking. Facilitate cross-functional issue resolution for critical program blockers. Proactively escalates high-impact risks and interdependencies that threaten schedule, cost, quality, or functional safety objectives. Maintain risk dashboards that highlight functional safety risk status prominently.

• Drive on-time, on-budget delivery of design-ins and production ramps: Lead programs through critical transition phases including customer design-ins, pilot production, and volume ramp. Ensure NPI (New Product Introduction) processes are executed with discipline. Build accountability for delivery commitments and establish metrics that track on-time delivery performance across the portfolio.

• Build cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder alignment: Facilitate effective communication and alignment across Engineering, Design, Manufacturing, Operations, Quality, Finance, Supply Chain, and Customer Success. Resolve conflicts and trade-offs with transparency and accountability. Serve as central hub for program information and status communication.

• Establish metrics, reporting, and continuous improvement: Define KPIs for program portfolio health (on-time delivery, schedule variance, budget variance, risk resolution, quality metrics). Establish reporting cadence and dashboards for executive, functional, and cross-functional stakeholder groups. Drive continuous improvement in PMO processes and tool effectiveness.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of program and portfolio management experience in semiconductor, automotive electronics, or related complex product development environments.
• Demonstrated experience establishing and leading PMO organizations with responsibility for 10+ concurrent programs across design, development, validation, and production phases.
• Deep understanding of automotive product development processes, NPI methodologies, design-in cycles, volume production ramps, and supplier management in automotive supply chains.
• Proven expertise in establishing stage-gate processes, project governance