Lead Customer Program Manager

<div class="content-intro"><p><strong>About MISUMI Americas</strong></p> <p>MISUMI Americas, a division of MISUMI Group, is a leading provider of standard, configurable, and custom manufacturing solutions. By integrating a vast catalog of components with a world-class digital manufacturing platform, MISUMI Americas empowers engineers and procurement teams to accelerate innovation across the entire product lifecycle. With operations in the San Francisco Bay Area and Chicago, the company serves as a vital partner for the most innovative companies in the Americas.</p></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong><strong data-start="154" data-end="169">**Work Hours:</strong> 7:30 PM – 3:30 AM IST, Monday through Friday (aligned with US Eastern business hours)**</strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Impact in this Role</strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">At Fictiv/MISUMI Americas, we are building the operating system for custom mechanical parts and assembly - enabling Fortune 500 companies to scale production across India, Mexico, China, and the US. We deliver highly complex, high-quality hardware for autonomous vehicles, surgical systems, industrial robots, and beyond.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Lead Customer Program Manager is a people leader role within the Customer Program Management team. You will build, manage, and grow a team of CPMs who are responsible for owning customer programs and projects end-to-end - from initial scoping and kickoff through delivery, escalation management, and long-term account health.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This role sits at the intersection of three disciplines: customer success, project management, and manufacturing expertise. Your team’s job is to be the trusted partner for our customers - understanding their manufacturing needs deeply, keeping programs on track, and ensuring every commitment we make is one we keep. Your job as Lead CPM is to make sure your team does that exceptionally well, consistently.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You will coach and develop your team, set standards for how programs are run and how customers are managed, resolve escalations, and partner cross-functionally to remove blockers. You bring both the credibility of deep program management and manufacturing experience and the leadership maturity to develop others and elevate the team around you.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You will report to the Manager of Customer Program Management. This role has a hybrid model (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in office, Thursday and Friday remote).</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>What you will be doing</strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>1. Team Leadership &amp; People Management</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Directly manage a team of Customer Program Managers (Junior to Mid Level), owning their performance, development, and day-to-day effectiveness</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Set clear goals and performance expectations for each direct report; conduct regular 1:1s and formal reviews</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Build structured development plans for each team member, identifying skill gaps, creating growth opportunities, and actively coaching toward them with the goal of accelerating each individual's potential, not just managing their current performance</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Serve as the first line of escalation for your team: step in on complex programs, difficult customer situations, or cross-functional blockers as needed</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Create and maintain onboarding frameworks, training materials, and capability-building resources for new and growing CPMs</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Actively participate in recruiting, interviewing, and onboarding new team members as the team scales</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Foster a high-accountability, high-support team environment rooted in the MISUMI Americas values: Not Afraid to Fail, Empowerment, Open to Change, Speed / Bias Toward Action, and Grit</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>2. Customer Program &amp; Project Oversight</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Maintain visibility across your team’s full portfolio of customer programs and projects - monitoring health, tracking risks, and ensuring nothing falls through the cracks</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Set and uphold team standards for how programs are planned, communicated, and executed: scope management, change control, risk identification, and status reporting</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Step in directly on strategic, high-complexity, or at-risk customer accounts to guide recovery, lead customer conversations, or provide senior presence</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Partner with Sales and Account Management to ensure smooth program onboarding, renewals, and escalation resolution</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Champion a consistent customer experience across the team - ensuring customers always have a responsive, knowledgeable, proactive point of contact</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>3. Customer Success &amp; Relationship Management</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Model and coach a customer success mindset within the team: proactive communication, anticipating needs, building trust, and driving long-term account health</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Ensure the team is measuring the right things - on-time delivery, customer satisfaction, escalation rate, response time - and improving over time</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Guide your team in navigating difficult customer conversations: how to deliver bad news, manage expectations, and turn friction into stronger relationships</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Build relationships with senior customer stakeholders on key accounts; represent the CPM team in strategic customer interactions as needed</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>4. Supply Chain &amp; Customer Operations</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Maintain a working understanding of supply chain operations - supplier management, lead times, procurement constraints, and fulfillment workflows - to help your team navigate program risks and set accurate customer expectations</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Oversee customer operations health across the portfolio: order management, delivery performance, issue resolution timelines, and escalation response</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Partner with Supply Chain, Operations, and Quality teams to resolve cross-functional blockers affecting customer programs and ensure your team has the right internal connections to act effectively</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Coach your team to think beyond program execution - understanding how supply chain and operational decisions upstream directly impact customer experience downstream</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Identify systemic supply chain or operations issues that recur across programs and work with leadership to address root causes, not just individual incidents</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>5. Team Effectiveness &amp; Execution Consistency</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Stay close to how standards and tooling are evolving across the CPM team, and make sure your team is aligned, trained, and applying them consistently</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Own adoption. When new processes or tools are introduced, drive uptake within your team - close gaps, address resistance, and follow through until it becomes standard practice</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Coach individuals toward stronger execution habits. Where gaps are recurring, treat them as a development opportunity before escalating</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Keep a pulse on execution quality across your team's programs and bring that ground-level visibility into broader team conversations about what is working and what needs attention</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Experience</strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Required</span></strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">7–13 years of total work experience, with a minimum of 5 years managing customer-facing programs or projects in a fast-paced hardware product development or contract manufacturing environment</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related field&nbsp;</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Minimum 2 years in a team lead, senior lead, or people management role with direct reports - owning performance reviews, development plans, and day-to-day team management</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Proven track record of running complex, multi-stakeholder customer programs end-to-end, with full accountability for scope, cost, timeline, and customer satisfaction</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Direct experience working with US-based or European-based customers from India on a US business hours schedule</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Preferred</span></strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Experience at a contract manufacturer, digital manufacturing platform, or hardware supply chain company</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Exposure to low-volume / prototype builds and high-mix, high-velocity manufacturing environments</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Familiarity with the hardware product development lifecycle: EVT, DVT, PVT, MP</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Experience with CRM/ERP tools (Salesforce, Odoo), project management tools (Jira, Asana), and data platforms like Sigma</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Core Skills &amp; Competencies</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">People Leadership: Demonstrated ability to build, manage, and grow a team; sets clear expectations, holds accountability, invests in development, and creates a culture of performance and support</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Customer Success Mindset: Deep instinct for what makes customers stay, grow, and refer; coaches the team to be proactive, solutions-oriented, and relationship-driven</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Project &amp; Program Management: Strong command of program fundamentals - scope, risk, timeline, change management - and the ability to set and enforce standards across a team</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Manufacturing Expertise: Enough technical depth to guide the team through complex manufacturing decisions, support difficult customer conversations, and build credibility with engineering and operations</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Communication: Exceptional written and verbal English; able to communicate at the right level for the audience - from a customer VP to a junior CPM to an internal engineering team</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Judgment &amp; Escalation: Knows when to delegate, when to coach, and when to step in directly; trusted by the team and by leadership to make the right call</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Agility, Adaptability &amp; Grit: Thrives in fast-paced, ambiguous environments; sets the tone for the team when things get hard</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Data-Driven: Use metrics to evaluate team performance, catch risks early, and drive continuous improvement</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Individual Coaching &amp; Development: Goes beyond performance management:&nbsp; actively invests in helping each team member realize their potential faster; identifies what holds people back, creates the right conditions, and adjusts coaching style per individual</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Agility / Succeeding in the Fictiv Environment: Fictiv moves fast, changes direction often, and rewards people who figure things out without waiting to be told; the right candidate has thrived in environments like this, they do not need certainty to act, do not wait for a perfect process to exist, and are energized rather than frustrated by ambiguity and pace</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">People Skills in a Non-Hierarchical Culture: Fictiv's culture is direct, candid, and non-hierarchical; traditional command-and-control or deferential work styles do not fit</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Lead CPM must be comfortable giving and receiving direct feedback, speaking up in cross-functional settings, pushing back with data, and empowering their team to do the same, regardless of seniority or title in the room</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Urgency &amp; Firefighting Under Pressure: Able to stay effective and keep the team grounded when multiple things are on fire simultaneously; knows how to triage, reprioritize quickly, and help the team navigate constant urgency without burning out or dropping the ball</span></li> <li style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Converts chaos into clarity for the people around them</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Interested in learning more?&nbsp; We look forward to hearing from you soon.</strong></span></p><div class="content-conclusion"><p>We’re actively seeking teammates who:</p> <ul> <li>Bring diverse perspectives and experience to our culture and company.&nbsp;</li> <li>Excel at being part of a strong, empathetic team.</li> <li>Thrive in an environment emphasizing respect, honesty, collaboration, and growth.</li> <li>Have an ‘always learning’ mindset that celebrates learning, not just wins.&nbsp;</li> <li>Help us continue to build a world-class organization that values the contributions of all of our teammates</li> </ul> <p>We encourage applications from members of underrepresented groups, including but not limited to women, members of the LGBTQ community, people of color, people with disabilities, and veterans.</p></div>