Senior Manager - NPI

Own the end-to-end New Product Introduction (NPI) process, from design transfer to stable commercial production. Lead cross-functional stage-gate reviews, ensuring products progress only when readiness criteria for cost, quality, supply, and operational execution are met, delivering successful launches on time and in full.

This role provides leadership and governance for the NPI portfolio, owning launch outcomes, stakeholder alignment, and stage-gate decisions. While the NPI Planner manages operational execution across materials, capacity, builds, and inventory, this role is accountable for overall NPI success and commercialization readiness.

NPI process ownership

• Define, run and continuously improve the stage-gate NPI process (concept, design, prototype, pilot, ramp, release to mass production), including gate criteria, templates and governance.
• Run the NPI portfolio: intake, prioritization and resource allocation across concurrent projects.
• Own the handover from Technology to Operations and the transition to steady-state manufacturing.

Cross-functional evaluation and gate decisions

• Chair NPI gate reviews with R&D, Quality, Regulatory, Manufacturing Engineering, Sourcing, Supply Chain, Finance and Commercial.
• Assess each product for manufacturability, test and quality readiness, supplier readiness, compliance, cost and launch risk.
• Make or escalate go / no-go / conditional-go recommendations with documented risks and mitigations.

NPI delivery

• Own schedule, budget, scope and risk for each project; maintain the master NPI plan and critical path.
• Drive risk management and resolve cross-functional conflicts quickly.
• Manage contract manufacturers and key suppliers for pilot builds and ramp, where applicable.

Cost, quality and supply readiness

• Agree target cost, yield and first-pass quality with Finance, Quality and Manufacturing; track the gap to target at every gate.
• Ensure the NPI Planner’s material, capacity and build plans support each gate date and launch volume.
• Ensure change control, BOM and documentation are complete and released before production.

Lead NPI Portfolio & Performance Management

• Maintain the consolidated NPI roadmap and publish dashboards covering project health, milestone adherence, launch readiness, action closure, and post-launch performance.

Lead Export Readiness for NPI PLanning

• Lead cross-functional alignment and close coordination with Export teams to establish inventory strategies, distribution networks, capacity plans, and market-specific supply requirements for successful export launches.
• Govern the transition of NPI projects into business-as-usual export operations, ensuring seamless handover, supply continuity, and service reliability across all destination markets.

Leadership and stakeholder management

• Lead, coach and develop the NPI team; set objectives and manage performance.
• Report on project status, risks and decisions to senior leadership and the executive team.
• Capture lessons learned after each launch and feed them back into the process.

• Graduate degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations, Business Administration, or a related discipline. 
• Post Graduate Degree or MBA in Supply Chain, Operations Management, or Business Management will be an added advantage
• 10-12 years of Supply Chain experience with strong exposure to NPI, Planning, Product Lifecycle Management, Project Management, or Supply Chain Transformation. 
• Proven experience in leading cross-functional NPI, commercialization, innovation, or product-transition programs. 
• Strong understanding of Demand Planning, Supply Planning, Inventory Management, Capacity Planning, S&OP, and phase-in/phase-out processes. 
• Demonstrated ability to influence stakeholders and drive accountability across Marketing, Sales, Procurement, Manufacturing, Logistics, Finance, Quality, and Regulatory teams. 
• Strong project management, risk management, analytical, and problem-solving capabilities, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent launches.