Sr Manager, PLM Operations

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Position Summary:

The Senior Manager - PLM Strategy & Operations is responsible for leading Illumina’s Product Lifecycle Management strategy and operations in India, with accountability for advancing the PLM capability roadmap, strengthening enterprise change governance, and enabling scalable product lifecycle execution across business functions. This role leads a small PLM strategy team and a larger PLM operations team, connecting long-term business priorities with practical operating models, process transformation, data readiness, and disciplined execution.

The position partners closely with R&D, Supply Chain, Quality, Manufacturing, IT, MDM, Solution Architecture, Data Architecture, and other enterprise stakeholders to translate business needs into PLM strategy, transformation priorities, and measurable outcomes. The role is expected to operate with strong strategic problem-solving, executive-level influence, cross-functional alignment, and the ability to define the future state for PLM capabilities while ensuring operational excellence in day-to-day delivery.

Changes to individual responsibilities may occur due to business needs, and other related duties may be assigned.

Scope of Responsibilities:

• Own and evolve the PLM strategy and multi-year roadmap for the India organization, aligned with enterprise objectives, product lifecycle priorities, operational needs, and digital transformation goals.

• Lead both PLM strategy and operations teams, including a small senior strategy team and a larger operations organization, while building capability, accountability, and execution discipline across the function.
• Define future-state PLM capabilities, operating models, governance mechanisms, and process improvement priorities that enable scalable, compliant, and efficient product lifecycle management.
• Partner with cross-functional leaders across R&D, Supply Chain, Quality, Manufacturing, IT, MDM, Solution Architecture, and Data Architecture to align business intent, change impact, data readiness, implementation priorities, and adoption outcomes.
• Lead complex problem solving across ambiguous business, process, data, and technology challenges where solutions require enterprise thinking, prioritization, stakeholder alignment, and structured decision-making.
• Drive transformation initiatives that simplify change management, improve data quality, strengthen configuration governance, reduce process friction, and increase business value from PLM platforms and related enterprise systems.
• Establish portfolio and governance frameworks to prioritize PLM initiatives, manage risk, sequence investments, and ensure clear linkage between roadmap priorities, measurable outcomes, and enterprise value realization.
• Influence senior stakeholders and cross-functional partners through strategic recommendations, business cases, trade-off analysis, and clear communication of risks, dependencies, and decision points.
• Champion responsible adoption of digital capabilities, automation, analytics, AI/LLM opportunities, and process mining to improve PLM effectiveness, operational productivity, user experience, and decision support.
• Ensure day-to-day PLM operations remain effective, compliant, and service-oriented while progressively shifting the organization from transactional execution to strategic capability ownership.
• Develop talent, mentoring senior professionals and people leaders, strengthening succession depth, and building a high-performing organization capable of supporting both current operations and future-state transformation.
• Represent the PLM function in enterprise forums, audits, transformation reviews, and leadership discussions, ensuring the function is viewed as a strategic business partner and not only an operational support team.

Required Experience and Capabilities:

• Demonstrated ability to define strategy, build roadmaps, solve complex enterprise problems, and translate business priorities into actionable transformation plans.
• Strong understanding of PLM processes, change management, item and BoM lifecycle, configuration management, data governance, and cross-functional product lifecycle execution.
• Experience leading managers, senior professionals, and large operational teams while also guiding strategy, transformation, and capability-building initiatives.
• Proven ability to influence senior leaders and cross-functional stakeholders in complex, matrixed environments without relying solely on positional authority.
• Experience developing governance models, business cases, KPI frameworks, value realization measures, and operating rhythms that connect strategy to execution.
• Working knowledge of PLM platforms, ERP interactions, MDM concepts, solution architecture, data architecture, automation, analytics, and emerging digital capabilities preferred.
• Ability to balance near-term operational performance with longer-term capability building, organizational maturity, and future-state design.

Experience/Education:

• Typically requires a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Life Sciences, Information Systems, Business, Operations, or a related discipline, with a minimum of 12 years of progressive experience in PLM, operations leadership, enterprise transformation, product lifecycle management, business process architecture, MDM, digital strategy, or related functional environments.

We are a company deeply rooted in belonging, promoting an inclusive environment where employees feel valued and empowered to contribute to our mission. Built on a strong foundation, Illumina has always prioritized openness, collaboration, and seeking alternative perspectives to propel innovation in genomics. We are proud to confirm a zero-net gap in pay, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or race. We also have several Employee Resource Groups (ERG) that deliver career development experiences, increase cultural awareness, and offer opportunities to engage in social responsibility. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer committed to providing employment opportunity regardless of sex, race, creed, color, gender, religion, marital status, domestic partner status, age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, pregnancy, military or veteran status, citizenship status, and genetic information. Illumina conducts background checks on applicants for whom a conditional offer of employment has been made. Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable local, state, and federal laws. Background check results may potentially result in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment. The background check process and any decisions made as a result shall be made in accordance with all applicable local, state, and federal laws. Illumina prohibits the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the application and interview process. If you require accommodation to complete the application or interview process, please contact [email protected]. To learn more, visit: https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost.pdf. The position will be posted until a final candidate is selected or the requisition has a sufficient number of qualified applicants. This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship.