James Stape Email & Phone Number

Austin, Texas Metropolitan Area

Austin, Texas, United States

As Group Program Manager (Project Management Office), manage complex global development programs owning product cost, scope, KPIs, schedule, budgets, quality, and technical scope for $200K to $25M projects. Lead a product development program organization and guide a team of nine Project Managers concepting, designing, developing, integrating, and testing complex products, systems, and technologies. Improved engagement and success by implementing career development, coaching, and bonus and compensation planning. Guide cross-functional stakeholder communication to uncover opportunities, drive innovative solutions, and streamline roadmap changes, release plans, and delivery status.Highlights:➥ Accelerated long-term business success by defining the PMO vision and mission, and united senior leadership and cross-functional teams to adopt the PMO vision, align internal initiatives, and drive success.➥ Enhanced Semiconductor test system (STS) RF capabilities to increase sales across $30M accounts leading a project team of eight from inception to release and coordinating with cross-functional teams to optimize delivery.➥ Integrated agile best practices and Azure DevOps to optimize product delivery; created a cross-functional R&D team to analyze business needs, gather requirements, execute pilot projects, and evangelize enterprise adoption.

Austin, Texas, United States

Partnered with world-class teams to develop program cost, schedules and milestones, define technology roadmaps, and deliver innovative new RF products. Defined, allocated, and maximized multi-million-dollar annual budget.Highlights:➥ Led a team of up to 25 top engineers in developing the NI Vector Signal Transceiver product line.➥ Maximized success for several products managing multiple HW development projects from $200K to $5M; planned and executed project budget, scope, stakeholder engagement, delivery, and manufacturing launch.➥ Managed a team of 25 to deliver PXIe-5841 product release overseeing a $5M people and prototype budget. Developed plans to improve product capabilities and leveraged Agile methodologies to drive team efficiency.➥ Guided a critical SC2250 project release into the NI sales channel leading a team of 10 to create a customer-centric design, optimizing product features and capabilities, and improving packaging, quality, and shipping.

Austin, Texas, United States

Oversaw projects to improve RF performance validation and calibration process (adjustment and verification) to optimize product releases for VST2 (5840). Developed LabVIEW and Teststand code to validate several PCBs and modules.Highlights:➥ Improved RF Test System designs by developing test procedures supporting customer specifications and defining calibration algorithms to ensure manufacturing warranty performance.➥ Boosted success for the PXIe-5840 product line by designing and implementing manufacturing code PCB and module functional tests to examine Linearity, Return Loss, LO Leakage, and Image Rejection.➥ Resolved critical issues within complex hardware systems leveraging a VNA TDR measurement to identify return loss performance failures in PXIe-5840 SMA connectors as a result of improper soldering and assembly.➥ Monitored health over program delivery by proactively addressing and resolving roadblocks to enable product success that included driving calibration changes to proactively address major production issues.➥ Selected to manage a global 6-month project in Malaysia leading Penang engineering team to reprioritize project timelines and communicate critical updates to stakeholders. Created WLAN AZ Module screening test. >Optimized efficiency for large test stations by remotely managing risks and eliminating barriers. >Championed program/project management, launch plans, change management, and organizational dynamics by coordinating Penang training.

Shanghai City, China

Managed global project initiatives gathering customer requirements, designing software and hardware systems, performing validation, and deploying systems into global manufacturing lines.Highlights:➥ Leveraged engineering and business acumen to drive improvements in engineering quality and productivity by validating and developing WTS system calibration procedures (code) used to calibrate 2K+ systems, overcome issues, and monitor data trends across multiple manufacturing sites in China.➥ Developed and debugged LabVIEW, WLAN, and Bluetooth test suites to optimize consumer electronic testing (EVM, BER, ACLR, etc.). Managed project planning, milestones, stakeholder communications, and delivery.➥ Maximized efficiency and support for multiple large system deployments (1K+ systems) providing guidance and training to China’s leadership team on Analog/RF technical issues.➥ Hired and trained engineers charged with troubleshooting system failures at customer manufacturing sites.

Austin, Texas Metropolitan Area

Improved RF product lifespan by removing end of life parts, implementing additional features based on customer recommendations, and addressing hardware design changes based on customer escalations.Highlights:➥ Managed validation and verification (V&V) initiatives for the switch combiner module used within the Wireless Test System. Executed improvements to RF shielding and gain circuits. ➥ Created calibration and verification code which was adopted to measure product performance.➥ Established global best practices and training to resolve critical issues and ensure successful product releases.

Austin, Texas Metropolitan Area

Provided advanced technical support for customers, sales team, and engineers. Introduced business plans and processes to reduce customer issues and optimize product support.Highlight:➥ Influenced product design improvements by analyzing field failures and identifying trends.

Austin, Texas Metropolitan Area

Provided technical support, led customer product training, and created concepts to demonstrate NI tools and capabilities.Highlight:➥ Led a team of 10 engineers in optimizing the customer experience, analyzing critical product data, and delivering actionable insights to improve product performance, revenue growth, and long-term success.