REGIONAL PLATING PROCESS ENGINEERING MANAGER Summary/Objective Responsible for the long-range direction of Samtec Asia Pacific Plating Engineering new capabilities and technology. The Regional Plating Process Engineering Manager will work with global engineering and manufacturing leadership to direct strategic development, standardization, optimization, and implementation of plating processes supporting connector and high-speed cable manufacturing operations. This person will develop and maintain relationships with equipment suppliers, chemical vendors, and industry partners to support rapidly growing manufacturing requirements while ensuring compliance with quality, environmental, safety, and cost objectives. Success in this role requires deep expertise in plating process engineering, strong leadership capabilities, proven process development experience, and the ability to bridge U.S. headquarters standards with local Asian and global manufacturing execution realities. Essential Functions / Responsibilities • Execute the company's plating technical roadmap and lead all aspects of plating process engineering throughout Asia Pacific. • Lead company in emerging plating technology • Evaluate emerging plating materials and surface-engineering technologies, including nanoparticle-enhanced coatings, advanced alloys, functional surface treatments, and next-generation metallization solutions for future manufacturing applications. • Lead internal plating process engineering teams throughout Asia to optimize plating performance, process capability, throughput, yield, and manufacturing efficiency. • Establish standards and best practices for precious and base metal plating processes, including gold, palladium nickel, nickel, silver, tin, and selective plating applications. • Drive innovation in plating chemistry, selective plating technologies, process automation, material utilization, and cost reduction initiatives. • Lead process development and optimization activities related to cleaning, activation, plating, rinsing, post-treatment, and automated inspection systems. • Identify, develop, and manage strategic relationships with plating equipment suppliers, chemical vendors, and technical partners throughout Asia. • Develop qualification and validation plans for new plating equipment, chemistries, process technologies, and manufacturing capabilities. • Lead troubleshooting activities related to adhesion failures, porosity, plating thickness variation, discoloration, solderability, whisker formation, corrosion resistance, and product reliability. • Direct process control initiatives utilizing SPC, DOE, process capability analysis, and advanced manufacturing analytics. • Partner with Product Engineering, Quality, Operations, Manufacturing Engineering, and Supply Chain teams to ensure plating processes meet customer requirements and reliability specifications. • Support new product introductions through plating process development and manufacturing readiness activities. • Ensure environmental, health, safety, wastewater treatment, and regulatory compliance across all regional plating operations. • Provide leadership to plating process engineering departments in a manner that supports the company's culture, mission, and values. • Understand connector and high-speed cable industry plating technologies and evaluate emerging technologies for future implementation. • Acts as a good steward of Samtec resources.

10+ years of experience in plating process engineering, process development, or manufacturing engineering. • 7+ years of experience managing and leading engineering teams. • Demonstrated expertise in plating processes supporting connector, cable, semiconductor, or electronic component manufacturing. • Extensive experience with gold, palladium nickel, nickel, silver, tin, and selective precious metal plating technologies. • Strong knowledge of electrochemistry, surface finishing, metallurgy, plating chemistry control, and corrosion mechanisms. • Experience with high-volume manufacturing environments and process standardization across multiple facilities. • Strong knowledge of Statistical Process Control (SPC), Design of Experiments (DOE), Lean Manufacturing, and Six Sigma methodologies. • Ability to actively communicate, inspire, and motivate all levels of staff. • Ability to think and act strategically and proactively. • Strong writing, presentation, project management, and problem-solving skills. • Demonstrated ability to manage multiple regional manufacturing sites and cross-functional teams. • Must be able to sit for 90 consecutive minutes.