Hardware Program Manager

Toast creates technology to help restaurants and local businesses succeed in a digital world, helping business owners operate, increase sales, engage customers, and keep employees happy. Toast team is committed to our customers. We’re taking steps to help restaurants navigate these unprecedented times with technology, resources, and community. Our focus is on building the restaurant platform that helps restaurants adapt, take control, and get back to what they do best: building the businesses they love. And because our technology is purpose-built for restaurants, by restaurant people, restaurants can trust that we’ll deliver on their needs for today while investing in experiences that will power their restaurant of the future.

Toast’s Hardware team designs and develops world-class hardware devices in conjunction with our JDM/ODM/CM partners in Asia. We are looking for a Hardware Program Manager to join our HW PMO team in Taiwan, to handle new product development, sustaining and cost-down programs for Toast devices already in production.

In this role, you will keep shipping products healthy and competitive: driving engineering changes, component replacements, and cost-reduction initiatives from idea through validation to mass production. You will work cross-functionally with Hardware Engineering, NPI, HW Ops, Sourcing, Quality, and manufacturing partners to manage schedule, scope, cost, and risk across multiple programs in a fast-moving environment. This is a great opportunity for an early-career program manager to grow within a global hardware organization.

A day in the life (Responsibilities) 

• Lead new Hardware product development program from concept to mass production.
• Creates and executes project plans and revises to meet changing needs.
• Deliver project objectives, including product performance, schedule, cost, and other KPIs.
• Understand Toast's strategic priorities and drive alignment with the cross-functionally to deliver clear project plans. Keep the team focused and ensure commitment and objectives are met.
• Hold teams accountable for their commitments, removing roadblocks to their work. Leverage organizational resources to improve capacity for project work.
• Ensure teams are adhering to Toast standards and best practices
• Manage sustaining engineering activities for in-production hardware products, including ECN/ECO execution, component EOL/last-time-buy responses, alternate part qualification, and field issue follow-up.
• Coordinate validation builds, test plans, and change approvals to ensure changes reach production on time without impacting quality.
• Drive cost-reduction programs with Engineering, Sourcing, and manufacturing partners, from idea collection and feasibility review to validation and production cut-in.
• Identify risks to schedule, quality, or savings, and manage mitigation plans in the project risk register.
• Serve as a key point of contact between JDM/ODM/CM partners and global cross-functional teams (Hardware Engineering, NPI, HW Ops, Quality, Product).
• Run program meetings, publish status reports, and keep program documentation current in Google Workspace, Jira, Confluence, and PLM.

Essential Job Responsibilities

• Project Management  - As a key member in the Hardware team who thinks strategically, you’ll apply your project management knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques for leading a team to bring projects to completion 
• Lead new hardware product development programs through production launch.
• Creates and executes project work plans and revises to meet changing needs.
• Lead project team to deliver project objectives.
• Manage the project risk register and associated mitigation plan.
• Manage suppliers to maintain schedule, and execute all deliverables.
• Leadership - Understand Toast’s strategic priorities and align with the cross functional team with a clear project plan. Keep the team focus and ensure commitment to be met.
• Serve as the primary conduit for projects/programs, between multiple suppliers and global cross-functional teams.
• Hold teams accountable for their commitments, removing roadblocks to their work. Leverage organizational resources to improve capacity for project work.
• Ensure teams are adhering to Toast standards and best practices
• Communication
• Ability to convey information clearly and accurately through various delivery methods, such as email, phone, Slack etc.
• Strong English communication verbal and written.
• Process Improvement
• Help establish and iterate on Hardware and Operation team processes.
• Continuously improve team processes and tools in the spirit of Agile Project Management and lean operations.

What you'll need to thrive (Requirements)

• 6+ years of technical program management experience in consumer electronic products or hardware products.
• Bachelor's degree in engineering or equivalent practical experience.
• Knowledge of Hardware engineering development and manufacturing processes.
• Hands-on experience with program management tools such as MS Project, PLM systems, Jira, and Confluence.
• Strong English written and verbal communication
• Proficiency with Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive).
• Ability to drive tangible results promptly even when the work involves a high level of ambiguity.
• Detail-oriented, well organized, and proactive in following up to closure.
• Strong collaboration and influencing skills.
• Team player and creative thinker with the ability to lead cross-functional teams.
• Ability to support domestic and international travel as needed.
• Understanding Product Development Phase Gate processes, Hardware development processes, ECN/ECO processes.

Bonus Skills

• PMP certification
• Experience working on mobile tablets, Payment/POS devices development.
• Experience in collaborating with cross functional teams in US based companies. 

AI at Toast

At Toast, one of our company values is that we're hungry to build and learn. We believe learning new AI tools empowers us to build for our customers faster, more independently, and with higher quality. We provide these tools across all disciplines, from Engineering and Product to Sales and Support, and are inspired by how our Toasters are already driving real value with them. The people who thrive here are those who embrace changes that let us build more for our customers; it’s a core part of our culture.

Our Total Rewards Philosophy

We strive to provide competitive compensation and benefits programs that help to attract, retain, and motivate the best and brightest people in our industry. Our total rewards package goes beyond great earnings potential and provides the means to a healthy lifestyle with the flexibility to meet Toasters’ changing needs. Learn more about our benefits at https://careers.toasttab.com/toast-benefits.