NPI Technical Program Manager

About Forterra

At Forterra, we are unleashing autonomy at scale to transform the battlefield. Our mission is to build the foundational platforms that enable an intelligent ecosystem to coordinate, adapt, and execute with speed and precision even in the uncertainty and disruption of modern conflict. In an era marked by rapid technological change and evolving threats, we design for flexibility, survivability, and operational dominance.

Forterra delivers weapons, sensors, and battlefield effects through integrated autonomous networks reaching operational areas faster, safer, and without placing human lives at risk. Our systems operate with distributed control, dynamic routing, and real-time responsiveness, enabling sustained advantage across complex mission environments.

About the role

Forterra is seeking a manager to lead our New Product Introduction (NPI) efforts within the production operations organization. This role is critical in ensuring that new products are seamlessly integrated into our production processes, meeting all quality, cost, and delivery targets. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in manufacturing engineering and project management. You will be responsible for interfacing with Engineering and associated project Cross-Functional-Teams (CFTs) to ensure that internal customer demands are met during the concepting and prototyping development phases and bridging the hand off to the production teams to ensure that products are optimized for efficiency and scalability. Your role will involve close collaboration with design, quality, supply chain, and production teams to ensure that new products meet all necessary specifications and standards. You will also be responsible for identifying and mitigating risks, troubleshooting issues, and continuously improving our NPI processes. This is a high-impact role that requires a strategic thinker with excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to drive projects to successful completion. If you are passionate about manufacturing engineering and have a proven track record in NPI, we would love to hear from you. 

What you'll do

• Recurring Bill of Material (BOM) analysis as the BOM matures throughout the product’s development lifecycle. BOM analysis includes identification of long lead items and coordination with Supply Chain. 

• Evaluate BOM and coordinate with Supply Chain and Engineering to determine Make/Buy strategy. 

• Facilitate coordination with Supply Chain and Engineering in placement of purchase requisitions throughout the product development prototyping and pilot build activities. 

• Analyze inventory availability in the ERP system and provide requests to Warehouse and Buyers to procure and/or allocate materials for Prototype and Pilot builds. 

• Support purchase orders to include, following-up and providing status to engineering, and assisting in response to vendor questions. 

• Manage and issue work orders to support prototype and pilot builds. Partner with finance to ensure that Work Order and Material transfer coding in the ERP system are allocated to appropriate financial accounts. 

• Participate in design reviews and Configuration Change Control Board and execute PLM system tasks. 

• Participate in observation of prototype and pilot builds to capture manufacturing build notes and identify design for manufacturability, assembly, test, and quality challenges. Coordinate observations with design and manufacturing engineering. 

• In coordination with Manufacturing Engineering identify any special equipment needed for production (e.g., load fixtures, assembly fixtures, other unique tools). Ensure that equipment is procured within appropriate lead times. 

• Participate and provide content for product lifecycle gate reviews. 

• Develop and provide KPIs for performance effectiveness of the NPI process. 

Minimum Qualifications