Staff Technical Program Manager, Test Engineering (Change Management)

About the role

The Staff Technical Program Manager, Test Engineering (Change Management) is responsible for leading the technical evaluation, validation, and deployment of changes impacting manufacturing test systems, including customer-driven firmware updates (e.g., BMC, BIOS, switch firmware), test scripts, and infrastructure.

This is a highly technical role requiring strong system-level understanding to assess risk, define validation strategies, and ensure safe integration into production. You will work closely with internal engineering teams to evaluate change impact and drive execution, while providing structured technical feedback and recommendations to customer-facing teams. A key focus of this role is enforcing process discipline and ensuring changes are deployed with minimal risk to production stability.

What You’ll Do

• Own end-to-end change management for test engineering, including customer-driven firmware updates, test scripts, and infrastructure changes.
• Perform technical impact assessments across test systems and manufacturing environments, identifying risks, dependencies, and potential failure modes.
• Define and drive comprehensive validation plans (functional, regression, stress, system-level) to ensure changes are production-ready.
• Partner with customer-facing teams to evaluate incoming changes, providing clear technical feedback on risk, validation scope, and deployment readiness.
• Drive cross-functional execution across test, IT, firmware, manufacturing, and quality teams; align on scope, timelines, and success criteria.
• Enforce change control processes, validation gates, and release readiness criteria, holding teams accountable for execution quality and completeness.
• Ensure all changes are deployed with minimal disruption to production, maintaining operational stability and continuity.
• Lead post-validation reviews and monitor post-release performance; drive root cause analysis and corrective actions when issues arise.
• Act as the escalation point for technical and process gaps, driving resolution and improving change management discipline.
• Continuously refine validation frameworks and change management processes to improve predictability, scalability, and risk control.

What You’ll Bring

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 6+ years of relevant experience in technical program management, test engineering, systems engineering, or a related technical role.
• Strong technical background in manufacturing test systems, test infrastructure, and system-level validation.
• Hands-on experience or deep familiarity with firmware and platform components (e.g., BMC, BIOS, networking/switch firmware).
• Proven ability to assess technical risk, identify failure modes, and define effective validation strategies.
• Experience developing and executing structured validation plans for system, firmware, or infrastructure changes.
• Maintaining clear and thorough documentation throughout the test engineering lifecycle, including risk assessments and technical specifications.
• Demonstrated ability to drive accountability across teams, enforcing process rigor and ensuring high-quality execution.
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to operate in fast-paced, production-critical environments.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to translate technical findings into clear recommendations for non-technical or customer-facing stakeholders.
• Proficiency in project management tools (e.g., Jira, Asana, MS Project) and documentation platforms (e.g., Confluence, SharePoint).

Preferred Skills:

• Experience with change management or release management in manufacturing or production environments.
• Familiarity with hardware/software integration testing.
• Knowledge of risk management frameworks (e.g., FMEA, change control, validation gating).
• Experience supporting global teams and complex deployment environments.
• PMP, Agile, related program management certification, or advanced degree (e.g., Master’s) in a relevant field.

ZT Systems assesses market data to ensure a competitive compensation package is created for all our employees. The typical base salary for this position is expected to be around $93,000 to $140,000. If hired, the final base salary will be determined on an individual basis taking into consideration experience, skills, knowledge, education and/or certifications.

Base salary is just one component of ZT Systems total rewards philosophy. We take pride in offering a wide range of benefits and perks that appeal to the variety of needs across our diverse employee base. Other rewards may include bonus, paid time off, generous 401k match, tuition reimbursement, wellbeing resources, and more.

We are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this opportunity but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

At ZT Systems, a Sanmina Company, you’ll get to do work you are proud of alongside smart, passionate people. Every day, there are opportunities to collaborate with the best in the industry to design, build, and deliver impactful solutions to world-class customers. Along the way, you will gain hands-on experience in a fast-paced environment that’s challenging, rewarding, and career-defining.

A culture built around our values we work hard and think fast. We view challenges as opportunities—to do better, push harder, and be faster than we were the day before. When we fail, we learn from it and move on together. And when we succeed, we use the momentum to go even further. We create value with everything we do, building the foundation of today—and transforming the future of tomorrow.

Join ZT Systems and help us build technology infrastructure that connects the world.

What We Offer
At ZT Systems, a Sanmina Company, we believe that investing in our people is key to our continued growth and innovation. When you join our team, you’ll gain access to a comprehensive and inclusive benefits package designed to support your well-being, financial security, and professional development—both now and in the future.

Compensation & Financial Security

-Competitive base salary

-Performance-based annual bonus eligibility

-401(k) retirement savings plan

-Tuition reimbursement for eligible education programs

Health & Wellness

-Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with access to leading providers

-Mental health resources and employee wellness support programs-

-Company-paid life and disability insurance

Time Away & Work-Life Balance

-Paid time off (PTO) and company-paid holidays

-Parental leave and family care support programs

Growth & Purpose

-Structured training programs and on-the-job learning opportunities

-Matching gifts and volunteer programs to support causes you care about

These benefits are available to eligible employees and are designed to grow with you as your career evolves. Full benefits and eligibility varies by work location. Learn more about our benefits here.

ZT Group Int’l. is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. ZT Systems provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

Please be aware that certain positions may require the applicant to either 1) be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or 2) be eligible to obtain an export control license or license exception from the Bureau of Industry and Science & U.S. Department of Commerce. All offers of employment will be conditional subject to the foregoing.