Department Manager (Design)

Job Title

Department Manager (Design)

Role Summary

Lead the sustaining product engineering team responsible for the health of released wafer/foundry-based products and power modules in high-volume production. Own product stability across wafer fab, module assembly, and production test, and partner with Test Engineering, Operations, Quality, Reliability, and external foundry/OSAT partners.

Experience Level

Senior - requires substantial semiconductor experience (see Requirements); typically 10+ years in product/test/manufacturing with leadership experience in high-volume production.

Responsibilities

Drive product health, data-driven detection of issues, and corrective actions across wafer, assembly, and test.

• Lead sustaining product engineers to resolve production issues (yield excursions, test escapes, reliability problems) and close corrective actions (8D, 5-Why).
• Establish and maintain product health dashboards and KPIs (yield, DPPM, test cost, cycle time, scrap, return rates) with owners and thresholds.
• Use SPC, parametric trend analysis, and cross-process correlation to detect excursions early and prioritize highest-impact issues.
• Own product-side execution of production test strategy for wafer sort and module final test, including coverage, guardbands, limits, and test conversions.
• Drive yield and cost improvements through analytics, test optimization, multisite and automation efforts.
• Serve as technical interface to foundry, OSATs, assembly, and equipment suppliers for sustaining issues, qualifications, and corrective actions.
• Manage PCNs/ECOs and manufacturing transfers to minimize production disruption; support reliability testing and EOL activities.
• Build, mentor, and standardize sustaining product engineering practices across sites and product lines; support headcount and budget planning.

Requirements

Must-have skills and experience for success in this role.

• 10+ years semiconductor experience in Product Engineering, Test Engineering, or Manufacturing, with significant experience in high-volume production.
• At least 5 years leading teams and managing multi-site or multi-region teams cross-functionally.
• Demonstrated use of data analytics (SPC, yield and parametric analysis, trend and correlation analysis) to identify issues and drive measurable improvements.
• Strong working knowledge of ATE and production test methodologies, yield analysis, failure analysis, and root-cause methods.
• Practical understanding of wafer fab, assembly/packaging, and test flows; experience working with OSATs, external manufacturers, and ATE/equipment suppliers.

Preferred / Nice-to-have

• Experience with power modules or power packaging (IGBT/SiC/GaN modules, power stages, PMICs) and module assembly failure modes.
• Experience with foundry interfaces, wafer parametric data, and test conversions/ATE platform strategy.
• Proficiency with data-analysis and dashboarding tools (examples: JMP, Spotfire, Python/SQL, Power BI, Tableau) and automation of monitoring.
• Familiarity with PCN/ECO processes, SPC systems, and reliability requirements for automotive, industrial, or data-center applications.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related technical field required; Master's degree preferred. (No other degrees, certifications, or equivalent-experience language was specified.)

About the Company

Company: Renesas

Headquarters: Hitachinaka, Japan

Renesas is a global leader in embedded semiconductor solutions, providing high-quality products across automotive, industrial, infrastructure, and IoT sectors. With over 22,000 employees in more than 30 countries, the company focuses on scalable solutions that enhance user experience and drive innovation while committed to sustainability and energy efficiency.