Senior Director, Program Management - Data Center Custom Silicon

Job Title

Senior Director, Program Management - Data Center Custom Silicon

Role Summary

Lead Qualcomm's Data Center Custom Silicon customer program management organization responsible for execution of external custom silicon engagements for hyperscalers and strategic data center customers. Own the program execution operating system from engagement approval through tapeout, bring-up, qualification, production ramp, and customer acceptance.

Accountable for customer commitment tracking, Plan of Record governance, executive dashboards, cross-functional escalation, risk management, and delivery readiness while driving alignment across Engineering, Product Management, BD, Sales, Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, Legal and customers. This position is expected to comply with the company's onsite work policy; San Diego is the preferred location.

Experience Level

Senior — minimum 10+ years of program management or related experience; senior/executive leadership experience and extensive semiconductor program experience strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Own program execution and deliverables for external custom silicon programs. Key responsibilities include:

• Lead the Program Management organization for custom silicon engagements across hyperscaler and strategic accounts.
• Define and manage Plans of Record: schedules, budgets, resources, deliverables, milestones, risks, and dependencies.
• Run program execution cadence: weekly reviews, commitment reviews, risk reviews, escalations, and executive updates.
• Build and maintain executive dashboards for senior leadership showing program health, commitments, milestones, risks, and required decisions.
• Translate customer asks into committed scope, execution plans, constraints, risks, and decision points in partnership with cross-functional stakeholders.
• Establish a single source of truth for program health across tapeout, bring-up, validation, qualification, production readiness, and ramp.
• Partner with Product Management, BD, Sales, Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, Legal and Quality to align commercial and execution realities.
• Drive disciplined risk management and timely, structured escalation with clear options and recommended decisions.
• Standardize program management processes, templates, dashboards, operating reviews and best practices across CSG customer programs.
• Hire, develop, and lead a team of Program Managers to ensure consistent execution discipline and customer readiness.
• Represent program status to internal executives and, where appropriate, to external customer stakeholders.

Requirements

Must-have skills and experience required to perform the role:

• 10+ years of program management or related experience in technical environments.
• Proven experience executing complex semiconductor or hardware programs with cross-functional stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to build executive dashboards and communicate clearly with EVP/CEO/CFO and customer executives.
• Strong program governance skills: schedule and budget control, milestone management, and decision tracking.
• Deep understanding of risk management and escalation processes across scope, schedule, technical, supply and financial risks.
• Experience partnering with Engineering, Product, BD/Sales, Operations, Supply Chain, Finance and Legal to drive decisions and delivery.
• Proven people leadership and ability to lead without direct authority in a matrixed environment.
• Technical fluency to assess design closure, verification, silicon bring-up, validation and production ramp readiness.

Nice-to-have:

• Extensive experience (many years) managing custom silicon, ASIC/SoC, AI accelerator, networking or data center infrastructure programs.
• Experience with advanced process nodes, advanced packaging, HBM, high-speed interfaces, or AI infrastructure products.
• Experience linking program execution to NRE, contractual deliverables, revenue timing and production commitments.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field is required. A Master’s degree in Engineering, Business, or a related field is preferred. (The posting also requires significant program management experience.)

About the Company

Company: Qualcomm

Headquarters: San Diego, California, United States

Qualcomm is a global leader in semiconductor and telecommunications equipment, specializing in mobile technologies and innovations. Known for its Adreno GPUs, the company provides solutions enabling advancements in mobile gaming, AI, VR/AR, and autonomous driving. Qualcomm's cutting-edge technology and commitment to high-performance, power-efficient designs drive the evolution of mobile graphics and connectivity worldwide.