Head of Silicon Operations

The purpose of this role is to deliver technically and commercially successful projects for Sondrel by means of leading and expanding the Silicon Operations team. You will be managing all NPI requirements and improvement in silicon operations. Manage the post production services (yield improvement, test reduction, RMA). Enable Company to win turnkey product supply business with customers. Introduce new turnkey products into manufacture, ensuring their qualification and release. Volume delivery of quality products to customers on time and hitting cost targets.

What you will be doing

• Controlling delivery of projects to milestone dates and budget from design release, through NPI, production release, volume ramp up, sustained manufacture and eventually to end of life.
• Managing communication to project stakeholders (customers,  sales team, Field engineering, Program Managers, Sondrel leadership team).
• Line management of Silicon Operations team (recruitment, coaching, development, retention).
• Relationship management for suppliers (foundries, OSAT, test house, Qual Labs…).
• Contribute to Company Sales activities representing Sondrel NPI capability.
• Management of supply chain partners to support NPI (New Product Introduction) of turnkey products, during every phase on the product lifecycle:
• Project Development (Working alongside the silicon design team, develop the packaging, test and qualification solutions for the product to ensure its smooth introduction to volume manufacture).
• Tape-out and mask manufacture.
• Prototype fabrication and assembly.
• Test development and release.
• Product qualification and characterisation.
• Production release (forecasting, demand management, build instructions, WIP tracking, lot monitoring, yield improvement.
• Ongoing manufacturing support ( RMA Management).
• Expansion of systems in support of NPI and supply chain management (for example, forecast and MRP spreadsheets).
• Post-sales interfacing to customers, as required, in support of Sondrel commercial team to ensure that revenue ramps are achieved.
• Provide support services to Sondrel commercial team to win customer projects for full turnkey ASICs . This will involve meetings and calls with pre-sales potential customers with analysis and written documentation to support commercial proposals relating to turnkey product supply. Early engagement with the Solutions Architects team to ensure alignment during the architecture phase so to meet agreed customer and supply chain requirements.

What you will bring

Essential

• A bachelor’s degree/masters or PhD in a relevant subject.
• Extensive project/NPI management/post production experience (wafer manu, tapeout, packaging, test, qualification yield).
• Well-developed interpersonal, commercial awareness and motivational skills.
• Proven capability as a problem solver with an ability to work individually or as part of a team.
• Able to evaluate issues and define solutions and provides advice and guidance to less experienced team members.
• Able to contribute to technical team and departmental discussions.
• Solid technical background with understanding of IC supply chain ecosystems.
• Excellent client-facing, internal communication and conflict management skills.
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office.

Desirable

• Management, project management and business/operational qualifications (CMgr, MBA, PMP or Prince certification – any of).
• Proven working experience in operations /supplychain management in the IC design sector.
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Project and Jira.
• Good appreciation of a variety of project management methods and tools – waterfall, V model, agile etc.

Who you are

• You have a positive outlook and ability to share this with team even in challenging circumstances.
• You have excellent leadership and negotiation skills and the ability to manage successfully.
• You’re self-organised and have the ability to respond to changing priorities quickly with excellent time management skills.
• A team player with the ability to guide and mentor more junior team members.
• You have the ability to work under pressure with solid organisational and problem solving skills.
• You’re self-motivated and adaptable to competing requirements.
• You’re able to work under own initiative with excellent attention to detail.
• You have a willingness to travel on a regular basis.

Where you will work

We have offices in both Theale and Bristol. Our Headquarters is based in Theale where you will be located around plenty of country pubs in the area, golf courses, fishing lakes, good cycle and walking routes. Our Bristol office is modern, open plan complex located by the intersection of the M4 and M5.

Why Sondrel

At Sondrel we are encouraged to think differently, take on innovate and challenging projects and we’re trusted to make independent decisions to progress our own careers in the way that we want. We pride ourselves on being specialists in what we do, collaborative in our approach and we’re hugely passionate about driving the technology for SoC design.

We have teams across the globe which means there is opportunity for both domestic and international travel and the chance to network with some of the most highly skilled and knowledgeable engineers in the industry. Sondrel allows you to enjoy your work by having an autonomous environment built on trust, dependability and integrity as well as having a hybrid work environment catered to individual needs.

As we continue to grow, we are looking for bright individuals who are proactive in what they do, enjoy a challenge and have a desire for continuous learning experiences because, at Sondrel, no two days are ever the same.

What you get

• Competitive salary
• Company pension scheme
• Discretionary annual company bonus
• 25 days paid annual holiday + bank holidays
• Hybrid, flexible work arrangements
• Opportunity to travel both domestically and internationally

Inclusion

Sondrel are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We recruit people from varied backgrounds because it makes our team stronger, and we provide an inclusive workplace because growing in partnership is what makes our team great. We do our best to provide fair opportunities to everyone and we want to hear what you need to grow with us.

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