Senior NPI Engineer

Sydney · Alexandria, AUS (SYD-11) · 5+ years experience · Full-time · Onsite · Posted Oct 12, 2026

At a glance

The Senior NPI Engineer acts as the programmatic lead for new product entry across the undersea portfolio, managing the transition from design to production.
This role involves defining production readiness, managing cross-functional schedules, and establishing standardized processes for manufacturing transfers.
The position operates in a fast-paced, resource-limited environment, requiring the ability to influence without authority and drive complex programs to completion.

Own the end-to-end NPI plan and readiness schedule for assigned programs.
Define and assess production readiness of product engineering, including gate entry and manufacturing baseline maturity.
Run cross-functional NPI planning forums to align engineering outputs with production system inputs.
Align internal production scope including quality plans, inspection instructions, work instructions, and tooling.
Drive gate and Manufacturing Readiness Review (MRR) readiness.
Represent Production at the Change Control Board to evaluate changes against the build schedule.
Run DFx reviews to surface manufacturability opportunities and provide feedback to design.
Publish standardized guidance for engineering inputs, production-readiness checklists, and gate-stage DFX criteria.
Own factory-to-factory transfer for new production sites.
Resolve emergent multi-site NPI issues and track risks, issues, and actions.

Bachelor of Science in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Mechatronic, Industrial or Process Engineering, or a related technical field.
5+ years of experience in a manufacturing environment, including direct involvement in New Product Introduction or design-to-production transition.
Demonstrated ownership of a product moving from engineering definition into a production environment against a committed date.
Strong programme and schedule management skills with the ability to drive cross-functional work to a deadline.
Technical credibility to interrogate engineering releases including drawings, BOMs, configuration, and change records.
Working knowledge of manufacturing and quality systems, engineering change workflows (ECR/ECO), and BOM/PLM structures.
Outstanding communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to influence without direct reporting authority.
Willingness and ability to travel internationally as required.
Ability to obtain and maintain an Australian Government Security Clearance.

Experience in the defence, aerospace, maritime or other highly regulated industry.
Experience supporting a first-of-type or prototype-to-rate production transition.
Exposure to multi-site or multi-jurisdiction manufacturing, including export-control and design-localisation considerations.
Experience with eBOM-to-mBOM release flow and manufacturing baseline definition.
Experience working with international teams and navigating cultural differences.