Head of Technical Element Program Management

Job Description

Are you a strategic hardware program leader ready to deliver the next generation of physical and embedded technology that powers digital play?

Join the LEGO® Group’s Creative Play Lab and contribute to inventing ground-breaking new play opportunities and never-seen-before creative experiences by ensuring the flawless delivery of our most complex physical and technical elements! This role is critical to scaling our technology execution capabilities across the product portfolio.

The Mission & Team Context

As the Head of Technical Element Program Management, you will lead the team focused on project management and delivery for embedded devices in high volume, reporting directly to the Head of Play Delivery.

You will work in lock-step with our Hardware Engineering Capability and Operations team to deliver innovative devices and embedded technology.

Core Responsibilities

Strategic Program & Process Leadership

• Ensure World-Class Execution Today: Immediately focus on executing our current technical element programs on time and in world-class quality and at scale.

• TDP/Waterfall Governance: Help define, implement, and improve our current standardized program methodology, specifically the TDP (Technology Development Process), a classical Waterfall/Phase-Gate model across all hardware-focused programs. Drive preparation and review of all milestones.

• Drive collective agreement among multifunctional leadership teams, balancing the interest between engineering, product, and manufacturing, and ensuring alignment across critical stakeholders.

• Establish collective KPIs and metrics to measure the health, velocity, and predictability of technical element programs against established stage-gates and milestones.

• Oversee the portfolio of technical element programs to ensure alignment with strategic business goals, managing inter-dependencies and resource allocation across multiple projects.

Delivery Oversight & Execution

• Lead the overall delivery of complex, highly coupled technology systems programs, ensuring they deliver within the agreed frames of time, cost, quality, and scale.

• High Volume Focus: Lead the program transition from development to high volume manufacturing of consumer electronics products, managing external partners and production risks.

• Drive optimization of the development cycle time for physical and embedded technology systems within the established phase-gate structure.

• Oversee critical program risks (identification and mitigation) and lead change control processes for significant scope and feature changes.

People Leadership & Capability Scaling

• Line Management: Lead, mentor, and coach a team of Program Managers focused on technical elements, fostering a culture of high performance, accountability, and strong technical delivery. This role is a key driver in defining the future ways of working and team structure as we scale the team over the next years.

• Fulfill comprehensive people leadership responsibilities, including workforce planning, recruitment, performance & reward management, coaching, mentoring, and conflict resolution.

• Act as a subject matter expert and sparring partner for your team on advanced program management practices.

What We Are Looking For

• Must have an in-depth understanding and proven expertise in managing complex hardware programs using a classical Waterfall/Phase-Gate methodology (such as TDP, NPI, or similar).

• High Volume Manufacturing Experience: Must have hands-on experience in bringing consumer electronics products from development into high volume manufacturing environments.

• Min 10 years of hands-on technical project and program management experience in consumer electronics, robotics/mechatronics, or complex technology systems.

• 5+ years’ experience in people leadership including hiring, on-boarding, performance & reward management, coaching & mentoring.

• Operations Focus: Solid experience in bringing technology solutions to scale by actively dealing with Operations Factory teams as receiving party, including deep insight in manufacturing and test processes.

• Technically savvy and must be able to have educated discussions with the team and stakeholders about cost, quality and scaling. Preferably also in interface areas outside the hardware area.

• Strong strategic and holistic thinker with attention to detail.

• A can-do attitude, entrepreneurial spirit with passion for new technologies and to drive innovation.

• Strong collaboration and stakeholder management skills.

• Ability and willingness to travel as necessary (approx. 20-30 days per year).

Applications are reviewed on an ongoing basis. However, please note we do amend or withdraw our jobs and reserve the right to do so at any time, including prior to any advertised closing date. So, if you're interested in this role we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

What’s in it for you?

Here is what you can expect:

Family Care Leave - We offer enhanced paid leave options for those important times.

Insurances – All colleagues are covered by our life and disability insurance which provides protection and peace of mind.

Wellbeing - We want our people to feel well and thrive. We offer resources and benefits to nurture physical and mental wellbeing along with opportunities to build community and inspire creativity.

Colleague Discount – We know you'll love to build, so from day 1 you will qualify for our generous colleague discount.

Bonus - We do our best work to succeed together. When goals are reached and if eligible, you'll be rewarded through our bonus scheme.

Workplace - When you join the team you'll be assigned a primary workplace location i.e. one of our Offices, stores or factories. Our hybrid work policy means an average of 3 days per week in the office. The hiring team will discuss the policy and role eligibility with you during the recruitment process.

Children are our role models. Their curiosity, creativity and imagination inspire everything we do. We strive to create a diverse, dynamic and inclusive culture of play at the LEGO Group, where everyone feels safe, valued and they belong.

The LEGO Group is highly committed to equal employment opportunity and equal pay and seeks to encourage applicants from all backgrounds (eg. sex, gender identity or expression, race/ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, age and religion) to apply for roles in our team.

The LEGO Group is fully committed to Children’s Rights and Child Wellbeing across the globe. Candidates offered positions with high engagement with children are required to take part in Child Safeguarding Background Screening, as a condition of the offer.

Thank you for sharing our global commitment to Children’s Rights.

Just imagine building your dream career.

Then make it real.

Join the LEGO® team today.