Principal NPI Planner

Shanghai Shi, China · Suzhou-Wuxi · 8+ years experience · Posted Oct 10, 2026

At a glance

The Principal NPI Planner will drive material and production readiness for new hardware products, managing the lifecycle from early engineering builds through manufacturing ramp. This role coordinates across engineering, operations, and procurement to ensure PCBA components, assemblies, and build schedules align with program milestones.

Own PCBA planning activities through production ramp readiness.
Build and maintain detailed build plans covering BOM readiness, material availability, purchase orders, supplier commitments, and production milestones.
Track planning-system transactions, inventory, shortages, and material status to keep builds on schedule.
Support order fulfillment against internal and external demand.
Support local manufacturing activities and resolve execution issues.
Partner with hardware engineering, operations, procurement, and contract manufacturing teams to align demand, supply, and execution plans.
Coordinate PCBA readiness across component suppliers, PCB and assembly partners, and test or manufacturing teams.
Monitor work-in-progress, finished goods, configuration changes, and handoffs into sustaining or high-volume manufacturing.
Identify material shortages, supplier constraints, capacity gaps, and schedule risks to drive mitigation plans.
Prepare status reports, readiness assessments, and escalation materials for program and operations reviews.

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Engineering, Operations, Business, or a related field.
8+ years of experience in NPI planning, supply chain planning, production planning, or manufacturing operations.
Experience in PCBA hardware manufacturing, specifically within electronics assembly and contract manufacturing environments.
Strong working knowledge of material requirements planning, supply-demand planning, inventory management, and supplier coordination.
Experience building and managing detailed schedules across multiple cross-functional stakeholders.
Advanced Microsoft Excel skills.
Hands-on experience with ERP or MRP systems.
Strong analytical and communication skills.

Experience supporting new product introductions for data center or AI infrastructure products.
Familiarity with PCBAs, bills of material, approved vendor lists, engineering changes, component lifecycle management, and manufacturing readiness gates.
Experience working with global suppliers, contract manufacturers, and manufacturing partners in Asia.
Experience creating planning dashboards, shortage reports, and data-driven operating metrics using Microsoft tools.
Ability to influence cross-functional teams, manage competing priorities, and drive timely resolution in a high-growth environment.