Technical Program Management Role in Semiconductor Industry

In the semiconductor industry, Program management is essential for successful product development. Program management is the process of leading a project from start to finish, involving planning, organizing, and managing resources to achieve a specific goal. It involves activities such as budgeting, scheduling, risk management, quality assurance, resource allocation, communication, and problem-solving. Program Managers are responsible for overseeing the project from initial planning and design to completion, ensuring that all deadlines and objectives are met. It requires close collaboration between multiple teams, including Silicon engineering, IP Vendors, platforms, Software development, Package, Board development, foundry, and Manufacturing teams. Project managers are responsible for maintaining clear communication among different teams and ensuring that all necessary resources with design teams like compute, disk space, EDA Tools, and all the infrastructure are allocated and utilized properly as a lot of costs are associated with these resources. Program Managers are ultimately responsible for the success of the project and are accountable for any issues that arise.

The Project Environment in Program Management refers to the external and internal factors that can affect the project's success. It includes the project's stakeholders, the organization's culture, the economic and political environment, the project's resources, and the project's timeline. The project environment is crucial for successful project management as it influences the project's budget, timeline, and quality.

Technical Program Management is the practice of leading and managing complex engineering projects and initiatives with interdependent components. It involves working with cross-functional teams to ensure successful project completion within a fixed timeline and budget. Technical program managers are responsible for all aspects of the project, including developing project plans

Platform Program Management is a process of managing and optimizing the development and delivery of platform products. It involves overseeing the entire lifecycle of a platform, from conception and design to implementation, maintenance, and support. By managing all activities related to the platform, platform program managers can ensure that the product is being developed in a way that meets the needs of customers and the overall business objectives.

Software Program Management is managing the development, maintenance, and use of software, including application and system software. It involves the planning, scheduling, and controlling of software engineering activities, which includes software requirements, design, coding, testing, and deployment. It is an integral part of software engineering and includes activities such as configuration management, quality assurance, and project management.

Manufacturing program management is a process of planning, controlling, and coordinating the activities required to develop and manufacture a product. This includes managing the resources, such as personnel, materials, equipment, and technology, needed to complete the project. Manufacturing program management also includes monitoring and controlling the progress of the project, ensuring that it is completed on time and within budget.

The other important similar role usually in product-based companies is Product Management. Product management involves managing the product portfolio to ensure that products meet customer needs and are competitive in the marketplace. This includes developing product roadmaps, setting product strategy, and working with marketing, engineering, and other departments to ensure that products are launched on time and meet customer expectations. Product managers also work with suppliers and partners to ensure that the necessary components, materials, and technologies are available to support the product. Product managers must also be aware of regulatory and compliance requirements, manage the risk associated with product launches, and ensure that products meet safety and quality standards. They must also monitor industry trends and customer feedback, and work with the engineering team to ensure that products remain competitive. In addition, product managers must be able to develop and execute product launch plans and be able to communicate product features and benefits to customers.

The Program starts from the Program concept to inception. In this stage organization’s vision of the idea or concept, studying the business case and understanding the broad requirements, undertaking a feasibility study to know whether the project is worth taking up, analyzing cost vs benefits, taking a strategic decision outlining the plan of action, work on approach or roadmap, and project startup by broadly defining its purpose and scope, the justification for initiating it and getting enough information to confirm that the project should proceed.?At the start of the program, the Program Manager is responsible for conducting discussions with all the functional leads and the required stakeholders,?setup communication channels, scheduling calendars for recursive meetings, creating Infrastructure email alias, Jira tenant, SharePoint, Wikis, Stakeholder map, Escalation Stakeholders POCs with PDL, Managing IP and tool License Status of External IP vendors, PDS POC assignments, Disk, Compute consolidated requirements with the help of IT, PDS?IT alignment for?Infra, repo, disk space creation, etc. Participate in Technical reviews activities and completion plan, create a checklist for open items???????

During the Planning phase Program Manager require to create project development and execution plans with well-defined objectives, a schedule with milestones, and measurable success criteria. Identifies tasks, determines dependencies, assesses costs, identifies and assigns specific resources, and communicates expectations to team members. Understands the technical concepts, architecture, systems, development methods, and disciplines associated with the defined projects applies the knowledge to deliverables, and leverages it to accelerate project completion. Define Key matrices?( KPI) for the project,?Resource alignment with Key teams with the project schedule, Update High-Level Project Plan.

During Program execution Program Manager is required to monitor progress against schedule and determine and take remedial action as appropriate, Coordinates and prioritize utilization of resources with other functions, Keep the project on track; effectively work through challenges with functional areas and executive management. Lead the project team in complex technical and non-technical problem solving; Establish the project priorities, direction, and decisions within the defined scope of the projects; Ensure risks are defined, communicated, and addressed through mitigation plans; Regularly presented and provide written communication for plans, risks, status and decisions to varied audiences from functional areas to executive management; Has decision making authority at the project level; Leads the project team and is a key interface to the project or contributors; Works on or delegates, as appropriate, problems/tasks in delivery of specific objectives or general goals; Develops solutions to problems by exercising judgment and discretion; Implements program management BKM's as defined by the PMO; Demonstrated success in inspiring and leading highly functional cross-organization teams that consistently execute with velocity and quality; Ability to balance resources effectively to the project needs and make trade-off recommendations with the big picture view to executive management. Balancing the competing project constraints Scope, Cost, Schedule, Quality, Resources, and Risks throughout the program.

Communication and stakeholder Management is an important responsibilities of the Program Manager. Program Manager requires to develop and maintain communication plan, program development activities communication to stakeholders, Publish program weekly update,?conduct design engineer meetings and send updates, conduct meetings with IP vendors and send updates, Portfolio update to Product core team; Ability to synthesize complex technical and business information into clear and concise messages. Proven leadership and ability to manage highly matrixed teams by the influence; Conduct CCBs for any change control, Contribute to Newsletters, etc, Publish Milestone review QC, TI?review plan timely, send announcements on key Milestones like an intermediate millstone, tape-in/out, PowerOn start Exit, PRQ etc. Program Managers require to work closely with all the stakeholders through formal and informal communication. The ultimate goal is to update all the required folks in a timely manner?to show the progress of the program and highlight any risk associated with the program at any stage of execution.

Monitor and control in program management in semiconductor design is the process of measuring progress against the program plan and taking corrective action when deviations from the plan are detected. It involves measuring progress according to the program plan, comparing actual progress to planned progress, Identifying potential risks, taking corrective action when necessary, Re-evaluating the program plan when necessary, and reallocating resources based on requirements. communicating changes to stakeholders and ensuring that all objectives are met on time and within cost and defining quality metrics.

Quality review and signoff are important part of project management because it ensures that the project meets the quality standards and requirements set out in the project plan. Quality review and signoff help to ensure that the project is completed on time, within budget, and meets all of the customer's expectations. Quality reviews and signoffs also help to ensure that the project team is aware of any issues that need to be addressed and help to keep all stakeholders informed on the progress of the project. Quality review and signoff also help to provide documentation of the project for future reference. Program Manager requires to conduct a Technical exit review ( all functions TRs), Conduct an architecture specification document review at each milestone, milestone governance reviews Perform SoC IP Compliance Audits, IP3?reviews?with IP stakeholders, fusa implementation plan review, Security Key Review with the Security team, memory reviews, Die file and Package review, Conduct?QC?review plan, Review test pattern delivery plan MVE sign-off, Sign-off quality checklist and review all domains, Tape-in exit reviews with the program management team.

Program closure is achieved by archiving all the important data related to the program, Clean-up Project Management Infrastructure, Communicate Project Closure, Close program accounts, and conducting and documenting lessons learned Sessions.?Help the team to document all the learnings, publish papers, file Patent, etc, recognize all the key contributors?

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within the content are solely the author's and do not reflect the opinions and beliefs of the company.

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