Customer Facing Project Manager Jobs in California

We are seeking a Project Manager to support the System Application Engineering (SAE) organization in driving execution excellence across complex, multicustomer, multiregion projects. This role does not replace technical leadership, but instead amplifies SAE Managers and Technical Leads by owning planning, tracking, risk management, crossfunctional coordination, and customer-facing project governance.

The Project Manager will work closely with SAE Managers, Account Teams, R&D, COE, Sales, Quality, and Operations to ensure projects are delivered on time, on scope, and with high quality, while allowing engineering leaders to stay focused on technical delivery and people leadership.

This role reports directly to the SAE Director and is expected to operate with a high level of autonomy and influence across the organization.

Responsibilities:

Project Planning & Execution

• Own endtoend project planning for SAE customer and internal initiatives, including scope, milestones, dependencies, and resource coordination
• Develop and maintain detailed project plans, schedules, and issue/risk logs, aligned with SAE and SE operational standards
• Track execution across presales and postsales SAE projects, ensuring consistent delivery and visibility

CrossFunctional Coordination

• Act as the primary coordination point between SAE, R&D, COE, Sales, Marketing, Quality, and Operations
• Drive clear ownership, accountability, and decision-making cadence across functional boundaries
• Proactively identify misalignments or risks and escalate appropriately to SAE leadership

Customer & Stakeholder Communication

• Support SAE Managers in customer-facing project reviews, status updates, and escalation handling
• Ensure clear, consistent, and professional communication with both internal and external stakeholders
• Prepare executive-ready summaries for leadership and key customers

Risk, Quality & Compliance

• Identify, track, and manage project risks, including schedule, resource, technical handoff, and dependency risks
• Support SAE compliance with ISO / quality processes, including project dashboards, milestone reviews, and required documentation
• Ensure SOW-related project activities are tracked and aligned with agreed scope (working with managers and support staff)

Operational Excellence

• Maintain SAE project dashboards, metrics, and KPIs to improve transparency and decision-making
• Drive continuous improvement of project execution processes, templates, and best practices within SAE
• Support onboarding of new SAE projects, customers, or major programs

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical discipline
• 3+ years of experience in project/program management in a hightech, semiconductor, or systems environment
• Proven experience managing complex, crossfunctional projects involving engineering teams
• Strong understanding of engineering workflows (hardware, software, test, or systems)
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including executive-level reporting
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple parallel projects

Additional Skills Preferred (but not required):

• Experience in semiconductor test, ATE, or system/application engineering environments
• Familiarity with customer-facing engineering organizations
• Project Management certification (PMP, PgMP, Agile, or equivalent)
• Experience supporting global / multi-region teams

Key Success Metrics (First 12 Months)

• Improved on-time delivery and predictability of SAE projects
• Reduced execution load on SAE Managers and Technical Leads
• Clear, consistent, and trusted project reporting for leadership
• Improved crossfunctional alignment and escalation efficiency
• Positive feedback from SAE Managers, Sales, and key customers

Why This Role Matters

As SAE continues to scale in customer complexity, program size, and execution pressure, this Project Manager role enables:

• SAE Managers to focus on people leadership and technical strategy
• Engineers to focus on technical execution
• Leadership to gain better visibility, control, and risk management
• Customers to experience more predictable, professional delivery