Silicon NPI Business Process Manager
Cisco · San Jose, United States · 2d ago
Your Impact
As the Silicon NPI Business Process Manager for Silicon One, you will be the chief operational architect responsible for standardizing and scaling how Cisco brings pioneering networking silicon from tape-out through production ramp.
Silicon One represents Cisco's flagship routing and switching silicon architecture. In this role, you will design, deploy, and govern end-to-end operational processes across prototype lot planning, supplier forecasting, supply commits, and phase-gate readiness. A central pillar of your scope will be establishing multi-functional clarity by building, embedding, and actively maintaining RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) frameworks across Silicon Engineering, Product Management, Sourcing, and Manufacturing Operations. Rather than running a single product line, you will establish the institutional framework, playbooks, governance swimlanes, and automated dashboards that empower a team of Supply Chain Program Managers (SCPMs) to implement flawless, predictable new product introductions.
Key Responsibilities
1. Prototype & NPI Build Planning & Supplier Forecast Governance
· Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): Design, implement, and govern SOPs for prototype build planning (engineering samples, EVT, DVT, PVT, and qualification lots) across all Silicon One programs.
· Supplier Forecasting: Establish a unified mechanism for translating engineering build demand into rolling supplier forecasts (foundry wafer starts, OSAT packaging substrates, probe, and final test).
· Closed-Loop Commits: Build and manage closed-loop supply commit processes with external manufacturing partners and foundries to guarantee material availability against aggressive development schedules.
· Clear-to-Build (CTB): Standardize Clear-to-Build methodologies, risk-buy policies, and prototype lot prioritization frameworks across multi-project environments.
2. Multi-functional RACI Architecture & Governance
· RACI Matrices: Architect and maintain comprehensive RACI matrices across the entire pre-production lifecycle, clearly delineating decision rights, achievement sign-offs, and deliverable ownership between SCPMs, Silicon Design Engineering, Sourcing, Product Ops, and Manufacturing.
· Decision Swimlanes: Establish and govern formal blocking issue paths and decision-making swimlanes for critical NPI inflection points (e.g., ECOs, late tape-out shifts, wafer scrap excursions, split-lot trade-offs, and allocation conflicts).
· Governance Audits: Periodically audit, refresh, and align RACI boundaries as organizational structures evolve, ensuring zero ambiguity in multi-functional accountability during fast-paced launch cycles.
3. Supply Chain Readiness Phase-Gate Management & SCPM Enablement
· Phase-Gate Criteria: Define, standardize, and govern phase-gate criteria specific to supply chain readiness for Silicon One products.
· SCPM Toolkits & Playbooks: Build standardized toolkits, playbooks, RACI-aligned checklist sign-offs, and templates that enable peer SCPMs to drive operational readiness and landmark exit approvals with minimal administrative friction.
· Multi-functional Alignment: Partner with Product Management, Silicon Design Engineering, Quality, Sourcing, and Manufacturing Operations to ensure alignment at each achievement gate.
· Continuous Improvement: Institutionalize post-launch retrospectives and continuous improvement loops to capture lessons learned and refine phase-gate rigor.
4. Readiness Metrics, Executive Dashboards & Analytics
· Executive Dashboard Suite: Design, automate, and publish the official Silicon One NPI Readiness Dashboard suite, tracking program health, achievement attainment, wafer cycle-time velocity, and supply commit integrity.
· Metric Governance: Establish and track leading and lagging operational benchmarks, including Achievement & Build Schedule Consistency (%), Clear-to-Build (CTB) Lead-Time Health, Foundry & OSAT Commit-to-Request Accuracy, Yield Ramp Velocity vs. Plan, Handoff Readiness Index, and RACI Sign-off Compliance.
· Executive Readiness Reviews: Synthesize multi-program operational data into executive-level summaries for leadership reviews and business unit executives.
5. Tooling Evolution & Digital Transformation
· Digital Transformation: Drive the digitization of NPI planning by evaluating, automating, and integrating workflows within enterprise ERP/APS systems (e.g., Kinaxis RapidResponse, Oracle/SAP, Power BI, JIRA/Confluence).
· Exception-Based Management: Eliminate manual spreadsheet tracking across SCPM teams by building scalable, automated exception-management mechanisms.
Meet the Team
· Silicon One SCPMs: You will be their operational lead, providing the RACI frameworks, tools, processes, and governance that make their daily program execution seamless.
· Silicon Engineering & Product Management: Aligning tape-out schedules, silicon revision plans, and product roadmaps with supply chain capability and explicit decision rights.
· Global Sourcing & Supplier Management: Synchronizing foundry (wafer fab), substrate, packaging (OSAT), and test hardware supplier forecasts.
· Manufacturing & Sustaining Operations: Establishing clean, contractual handoff criteria and accountability transitions from ramp stabilization into high-volume manufacturing.
· Executive Leadership: Presenting program readiness, portfolio-level risk heatmaps, and mitigation strategies.
Required Qualifications
· Experience: 8–10+ years of experience in semiconductor supply chain, NPI program management, silicon operations, or manufacturing process engineering.
· Semiconductor Domain Expertise: Knowledge of the silicon development lifecycle (tape-out, wafer fab, bump, probe/CP, OSAT assembly, ATE final test, board-level EVT/DVT/PVT).
· Process Architecture & Governance: Experience designing, documenting, and implementing enterprise-wide supply chain operating models, SOPs, and multi-functional RACI frameworks from scratch.
· Analytics & Tooling: Data analytics and dashboard modeling experience (Power BI, Tableau, Advanced Excel, SQL, or Python) with familiarity in ERP/APS platforms (e.g., Kinaxis, SAP, Oracle).
Preferred Qualifications
· Master’s degree / MBA or MS in Supply Chain / Engineering.
· Advanced Semiconductor Technologies: Demonstrated experience in high-performance networking ASICs, advanced packaging (e.g., 2.5D/3D, CoWoS, chiplets), or deep sub-micron process nodes.
· Certifications: Lean Six Sigma, APICS/ASCM (CSCP/CPIM), or PMP certification.
· Matrixed Governance: Direct experience establishing governance and RACI structures in matrixed, high-velocity hardware organizations.
Why Cisco?
At Cisco, we’re revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era – and beyond. We’ve been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint.
Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you’ll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere.
We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.
Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:
The starting salary range posted for this position is $148,500.00 to $193,300.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits.Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.
U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco’s plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks. Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time.
U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco’s policies:
10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees
1 paid day off for employee’s birthday, paid year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco
Non-exempt employees** receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees
Exempt employees participate in Cisco’s flexible vacation time off program, which has no defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use (subject to availability and some business limitations)
80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward from one calendar year to the next
Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members
Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer
For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies.
Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components, subject to the applicable Cisco plan. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays as follows:
.75% of incentive target for each 1% of revenue attainment up to 50% of quota;
1.5% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 50% and 75%;
1% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 75% and 100%; and
Once performance exceeds 100% attainment, incentive rates are at or above 1% for each 1% of attainment with no cap on incentive compensation.
For non-quota-based sales performance elements such as strategic sales objectives, Cisco may pay 0% up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.
The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below:
New York City Metro Area:
$148,500.00 - $234,600.00Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:
$135,400.00 - $215,200.00* For quota-based sales roles on Cisco’s sales plan, the ranges provided in this posting include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined.
** Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.