Cost Down Program Manager
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About the role
We're hiring a Product Cost Program Manager to serve as the essential strategic link between our Global Supply Management (Commodity Management) and Finance (Cost Analysis) operations. You will be responsible for translating supply chain strategies and key cost-saving initiatives into concrete, measured, and reported financial outcomes. The success of this role ensures the financial integrity and efficient execution of all major supply chain and manufacturing cost programs, directly supporting margin goals across the business. Will also lead SPAN's "should costing" platform, a data-intensive, algorithm-driven application used to estimate how much a product/parts/component should cost, based on materials, manufacturing processes, and market dynamics.
Responsibilities
- Govern NPI Financial Integrity: Coordinate the NPI financial program life cycle, ensuring the
- accurate integration of Global Supply Management's (GSM) market data and sourcing
- strategies into the Cost Analyst's financial models and final product pricing.
- Establish Executive Reporting Cadence: Serve as the single point of contact for synthesizing
- and communicating the financial performance of supply chain initiatives, preparing clear, actionable, and data-backed reports (e.g., COGS variance, savings realization) for senior
- leadership.
- Mitigate Financial & Supply Chain Risk: Oversee the strategic alignment between commodity market analysis and financial forecasting, proactively identifying program risks (e.g., market volatility, geopolitical impact) and partnering with teams to develop and execute mitigation plans.
- Lead cost engineering initiatives across product lines, developing and maintaining financial
- models that support pricing, budgeting, and forecasting.
- Prepare executive-level reports and presentations using Excel/Sheets and PowerPoint/Slides to communicate cost insights, trends, and recommendations.
- Support program management activities, including milestone tracking, risk assessment, and
- cost-performance monitoring across custom mechanical components and manufacturing
- projects.
- Post-Ramp Qualification - leads the qualification of new components, modules, and processes by collaborating closely with engineering to establish timelines, benchmarks, and
- Requirements for qualifying changes to shipping products.
- Drive Cost Optimization - Lead initiatives to close identified savings gaps, set goals for short,
- medium, and long-term savings focusing on COGS, COQ, DFx, and product cost for new and
- sustaining products. Own cost savings strategic thrusts.
- Cross-Functional Leadership - Collaborate with executive sponsors and engineers across
- Design, Manufacturing, and Supplier Engineering. Chair and participate in product cost
- reduction committees and review boards to ensure alignment and progress.
- Project and KPI Ownership - Set and track clear goals, KPIs, and deliverables for product cost
- reduction workstreams. Quantify cost savings, quality impacts, and process adoption metrics.
- Ensure timely and effective execution of product cost reduction projects to deliver results.
- Strategic Influence - Shape the purpose, intent, and approach of product cost reduction
- within the organization. Remove roadblocks, align cross-functional teams, and drive adoption of product cost reduction as a core organizational habit.
- Coordinate with the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) team in planning and executing builds
- Influence Operations, Quality, and Engineering teams on key decisions and drive cross-
- functional teams for the timely execution of projects.
- Lead all communications, upward and downward through the organization, raising key issues and presenting options for resolution with executive teams.
- In conjunction with cross-functional teams (e.g., design, PMO, strategic supply chain), create technology roadmaps for manufacturing processes, DFx tools, cost modeling, etc.
- Own the product vision and roadmap for the "Should Costing" platform
- Collaborate with stakeholders to gather and prioritize product requirements related to: Cost
- modeling, BOM (Bill of Materials), Material cost trends, Manufacturing processes, and
- logistics
- Stay current on market trends in raw materials, global supply chains, a
Benefits
Additional Information
Our Mission SPAN is enabling electrification for all ⚡ We are a mission-driven company designing, building, and deploying products that electrify the built environment, reduce carbon emissions, and slow the effects of climate change. Decarbonization is the process of reducing or removing greenhouse gas emissions, especially carbon dioxide, from entering our atmosphere. Electrification is the process of replacing fossil fuel appliances that run on gas or oil with all-electric upgrades for a cleaner way to power our lives. At SPAN, we believe in: Enabling homes and vehicles powered by clean energy Making electrification upgrades possible Building more resilient homes with reliable backup Designing a flexible and distributed electrical grid
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