Sr. Technical Program Manager, Cell NPI

The Technical Program Manager (TPM) of the New Product Introduction (NPI) team is responsible for leading product/process changes & supporting development of manufacturing processes for 4680 cell production.

The primary responsibility will be to lead the team in testing and validating systems, parts, & processes involved in cell production and manufacturing development, such as driving trials/builds on pilot/mass-production representative scale, maintaining program roadmaps, leading deep-dive technical challenge forums, & aligning cross-functional members to common program priorities & KPI’s. Kato (Fremont, CA) is a development-heavy site where different programs are at different levels of maturity requiring technical engagement, cross-functional leadership, & lots of coordination. Working with safety, design, manufacturing, quality, production, engineering, and service departments, you will lead cross-functional teams to ensure validation targets have been met for each change/trial/build ahead of scaling a technology or introducing changes into official program roadmaps. Ultimately, you will manage introductions of major coordinated changes into our manufacturing systems and factories through multiple product phases.

• Develop a deep understanding of our product design and manufacturing processes to technically inform impact of changes
• Establish/maintain validation standards, develop testing protocols, lead trial/build/equipment/production readiness, lead data reviews of documented test results to inform conclusions to draw back to respective programs, maintain records
• Lead program trials/builds across different levels of maturity (A/B/C-Phase Builds, Development builds or DOE’s, etc.); coordinate cross-functional effort within our existing manufacturing systems
• Support design and engineering teams in early development trials/builds and scaling of product/process changes from pilot to mass production manufacturing scale
• Support design and process engineers by doing data analysis and understanding how they need to align on managing change
• Analyze and determine the optimal solutions for change coordination with manufacturing, other Tesla plants, and suppliers (including EBOM, MBOM, Change Control, etc.)
• Work with stakeholders to take a vague problem statement, refine the scope of the analysis, and use the results to drive informed decisions

• Degree in Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, etc. or equivalent experience
• 3+ years of experience as a Technical Project/Program Manager in a high-volume manufacturing environment and experience with cross-functional management & being a technical leader
• Experience in New Product Introduction or product/process launches (& associated change management systems & validation methodologies); Experience in early to mature material/product phases
• Ability to problem solve and adjust priorities in a fast-moving and constantly evolving high growth environment and comfort in an environment with unstructured, incomplete, and ambiguous data
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Experience with pilot and/or mass production manufacturing (battery cell manufacturing experience preferred)
• Strong engineering skills and proven track record of exceptional ability (i.e. you personally solved difficult problems that moved the needle on meaningful projects)
• Production Operations Knowledge - has a firm understanding of how complex production lines operate including key items such as industrial workings between facilities/departments, line balance, OEE, error proofing, etc.
• Understanding of how the manufacturing validation process runs in relation to complex new products that stretch across various engineering teams and manufacturing centers/factories (methodology, validation plans, associated KPIs)