Role: Senior Manager, Sustaining & Compliance (Data Center Infrastructure)
Location: Plano, TX / Fremont, CA (5 Days on-site)
Department: Engineering / Quality
Compensation: $170K–$200K base + 15% bonus
Travel: Up to 20%
Position Overview
The Senior Manager, Sustaining & Compliance will lead global RMA operations while driving product qualification, reliability, and regulatory compliance for data center power and cooling systems.
This individual will be responsible for ensuring rapid resolution of field returns, delivering data-driven root cause analysis, and maintaining rigorous industry and regulatory standards. The role has significant cross-functional visibility and will directly influence product performance, reliability, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction across mission-critical infrastructure platforms.
Key Responsibilities
RMA & Service Operations
Own the end-to-end RMA lifecycle, including initiation, validation, failure assessment, repair/replacement, and closure.
Ensure warranty requirements and customer-specific commitments are consistently met.
Drive improvements in turnaround time, service quality, and cost efficiency across global repair networks.
Establish and monitor operational metrics to identify bottlenecks and improve overall RMA performance.
Failure Analysis & Reliability
Lead root cause analysis (RCA) of field failures across electrical, mechanical, and thermal domains.
Identify systemic failure trends and translate field data into actionable product improvements.
Drive corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) in partnership with engineering, manufacturing, quality, and suppliers.
Develop, track, and report key reliability metrics, including MTBF and AFR.
Use reliability data to influence product design, component selection, qualification strategies, and lifecycle improvements.
Product Qualification & Validation
Oversee qualification activities for both new and sustaining data center power and cooling products.
Ensure products undergo robust thermal, electrical, environmental, and reliability validation.
Partner closely with engineering and NPI teams to ensure production readiness and lifecycle quality.
Establish qualification criteria, test plans, acceptance requirements, and validation methodologies.
Support qualification testing including HALT/HASS and other environmental, thermal, and electrical testing.
Compliance & Quality Systems
Ensure products and processes comply with applicable global regulatory and industry standards, including UL, CE, IEC, NEBS, RoHS, and REACH.
Maintain alignment with ISO 9001 requirements and support internal and external audits and certifications.
Manage and maintain regulatory documentation, qualification records, test reports, and compliance evidence.
Partner with engineering and quality teams to proactively address compliance risks throughout the product lifecycle.
Repair & Supplier Management
Oversee external and internal repair partners and establish appropriate testing and acceptance standards.
Monitor supplier quality performance, particularly as it relates to field failures and product reliability.
Work directly with suppliers to resolve recurring quality issues and implement sustainable corrective actions.
Ensure repair processes consistently meet engineering, quality, and customer requirements.
Customer & Cross-Functional Leadership
Serve as a senior escalation point for critical RMA, reliability, qualification, and compliance issues.
Communicate failure analysis findings, corrective actions, and resolution timelines to internal and external stakeholders.
Partner across Engineering, Quality, Operations, Supply Chain, NPI, Service, and supplier organizations.
Translate complex technical findings into clear business and customer-facing recommendations.
Operational Excellence & Team Leadership
Drive continuous improvement initiatives using Lean, Six Sigma, and other structured problem-solving methodologies.
Establish KPIs, dashboards, SOPs, and reporting mechanisms to improve operational efficiency and visibility.
Identify opportunities to improve RMA, qualification, reliability, and compliance workflows.
Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing cross-functional team.
Build a culture centered around accountability, data-driven decision-making, customer focus, and continuous improvement.
Qualifications
Education & Experience
Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related technical discipline; Master’s degree preferred.
7+ years of experience within RMA, quality, reliability, sustaining, or qualification engineering.
Experience within data center infrastructure, power electronics, power systems, or cooling technologies strongly preferred.
3+ years of team leadership or people-management experience.
Technical Expertise
Strong understanding of data center power infrastructure, including PDUs, UPS systems, PSUs, and power shelves.
Knowledge of data center cooling technologies, including air and/or liquid cooling systems.
Hands-on understanding of qualification methodologies including HALT/HASS, thermal, environmental, and electrical testing.
Strong experience with RCA, FMEA, CAPA, and reliability analysis methodologies.
Familiarity with global standards including UL, IEC, CE, and NEBS.
Understanding of product lifecycle quality, sustaining engineering, and field reliability.
Additional Skills
Strong data-driven and analytical mindset.
Proficiency with tools such as Excel, Power BI, SQL, or similar analytics platforms.
Strong leadership, communication, and stakeholder-management capabilities.
Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, highly cross-functional technical environment.
Knowledge of global logistics and reverse supply-chain operations is beneficial.
Six Sigma and/or CQE certification is a plus.
Ability to travel up to 20% as required.
