Senior CMF Development Engineer (Program Management)

LOCATION: Suzhou/Shenzhen, China

Here are some of the EXCITING things you’ll get to do:

CMF Program Leadership

• Lead CMF development activities across multiple global product programs from concept through mass production.
• Build and maintain CMF schedules, milestones, deliverables, risk registers, decision logs, and action plans.
• Drive timely cross-functional decisions and ensure clear ownership, escalation paths, and closure of open issues.
• Integrate CMF deliverables into overall product development, tooling, validation, and production timelines.
• Prepare concise program updates, risk assessments, and recommendations for leadership reviews.

CMF Technical Development & DFM

• Translate CMF and Industrial Design intent into feasible color, material, finish, texture, artwork, and decoration solutions.
• Lead CMF feasibility reviews and DFM assessments covering appearance, performance, cost, tooling, process capability, and scalability.
• Review ID specifications, colorways, prototypes, engineering builds, limit samples, and production samples.

1. Apply working knowledge of plastics, coatings, metals, textiles, molding textures, printing, film, and decorative processes.

Execution, Quality & Supplier Management

• Partner with suppliers and factories to develop, evaluate, validate, and industrialize CMF solutions.
• Drive color matching, texture development, decoration trials, sample reviews, cosmetic standards, and CMF sign-off readiness.
• Identify execution risks early and lead structured troubleshooting, corrective actions, and follow-up through closure.

Ensure CMF output meets approved design intent and defined quality, reliability, cost, and schedule requirements.

Global Collaboration & Communication

• Act as a key CMF interface across China, US, regional teams, and global suppliers throughout the product development cycle.
• Lead cross-functional CMF reviews, supplier meetings, workshops, and executive updates in clear and professional English.
• Communicate technical tradeoffs and recommendations clearly to design, engineering, product development, quality, sourcing, and leadership stakeholders.
• Build alignment across cultures and functions while protecting design intent and enabling practical manufacturing execution.

Support continuous improvement of CMF workflows, specifications, standards, lessons learned, and knowledge management.

You are Expected:

• Fluency in English and Mandarin, both written and spoken, with the confidence to lead meetings and present to global stakeholders.
• 5+ years of experience in CMF development, CMF engineering, product development, manufacturing engineering, or a related field.
• Proven project management capability, including planning, prioritization, schedule management, risk tracking, and issue resolution.
• Strong knowledge of colors, materials, finishes, plastics, coatings, metals, textiles, textures, and decorative manufacturing processes.
• Experience working directly with global suppliers, factories, and cross-functional product development teams.
• Ability to assess CMF feasibility and communicate tradeoffs involving design intent, quality, cost, timing, performance, and scalability.
• Familiarity with CMF standards and tools such as Pantone, NCS, SPI, YickSang, Mold-Tech, color measurement, and visual approval methods.
• Strong presentation, facilitation, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills across cultures and organizational levels.
• Ability to work with urgency, manage ambiguity, and deliver multiple programs on time without compromising critical quality requirements.
• High attention to detail in color application, surface quality, cosmetic appearance, documentation, and approval traceability.
• Experience with NPD/NPI, tooling development, engineering builds, validation, supplier readiness, and mass-production launch is preferred.
• PMP certification or formal project management training is a plus.

Education/Certifications/Affiliations

• Bachelor's degree in Industrial Design, Materials Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Polymer Engineering, Product Design, or a related field; a Master's degree is a plus.

Travel Requirements

• Be flexible for domestic and international travel to suppliers, factories, and global team locations.