Head of NPI Operations (all genders)

About tonies:

tonies is the globally leading interactive audio platform for children with more than 10 million Tonieboxes and 125 million Tonies sold. The intuitive and award-winning audio system has changed the way young children play and learn independently with its child-safe, wireless, and screen-free approach. Tonieboxes have been activated in over 100 countries, the content portfolio includes around 1,400 Tonies in several languages. Since its inception,
tonies has achieved significant milestones, including listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in November 2021 as well as a globally present team of over 550 dedicated professionals operating from various countries.

Joining our tonies team means being part of an inspiring mission to create innovative and meaningful experiences for children around the world. Together, we’re shaping the future of play, learning, and imagination.

You as part of tonies:

As the Head of NPI (New Product Introduction), you will take a leading role in defining, building, and driving the NPI function within our Global Product Industrialization organization. Your mission is to ensure smooth, efficient, and transparent product introductions — from concept to ramp-up — while maintaining excellence in quality, cost, and timing.

You will design and implement the NPI process framework along the overarching Product Development and Product Variations Process (PDP), establishing clear governance, alignment, and visibility across functions. To support this, you will build and lead a small, high-performing NPI team and set up a Launch Control Tower that ensures transparency and predictability across all ongoing developments and product changes.

This role is critical in bridging strategy and execution, ensuring every new product and change initiative transitions seamlessly from development to mass production.

Your tasks and responsibilities will include:

• NPI Process Leadership Oversee and harmonize all product change introduction activities (ECOs, ECRs, and product refreshes). Align product changes with portfolio and industrialization strategies to ensure minimum disruption and maximum a structured Change Impact Assessment process linking product, supplier, and operational readiness.

• Launch Control Tower & Transparency Lead the Launch Control Tower, providing a single source of truth for program status, risks, and readiness across all new products and product changes. Develop and manage performance dashboards and early-warning systems to ensure proactive risk identification and mitigation. Drive launch cadence reviews with clear KPIs — on-time delivery, yield, readiness index, and cost compliance — to sustain predictable launch performance.

• Cross-Functional Orchestration & Alignment Act as the operational integrator between Product Development, Industrialization, Supply Chain, Quality, and Procurement. Enable early cross-functional engagement to identify manufacturability, supply, and quality risks. Partner with Product and Portfolio teams to align launches with commercial priorities and lifecycle strategies. Ensure a seamless transition from product development to serial production, in close coordination with Product Management, Industrialization teams and Global Production. Champion end-to-end collaboration routines such as Launch Readiness Reviews, NPI Councils, and Ramp-up Clinics across all stakeholders.

• Product Change & Livecycle Coordination Oversee and harmonize all product change introduction activities (Engineering Change Requests, Engineering Change Orders and product refreshes). Align product changes with portfolio and industrialization strategies to ensure minimum disruption and maximum efficiency. Implement a structured Change Impact Assessment process linking product, supplier, and operational readiness.

• Continuous Improvement & Operational Excellence Identify and eliminate bottlenecks across the NPI and PDP processes. Establish proactive risk management and mitigation routines for launch readiness and production ramp-up. Identify and eliminate bottlenecks in NPI and Product Development Process workflows through Lean and Agile principles. Introduce best-in-class NPI maturity and launch excellence benchmarks based on APQP, PPAP, and hybrid stage-gate models. Establish lessons-learned and design-to-industrialization feedback loops to continuously improve launch performance. Drive cross-site learning and scalability, ensuring global consistence in NPI methodologies and KPIs.

What we are looking for:

Education & Experience

• 7+ years of experience in New Product Introduction, Program Management, or Change Management within a product-driven environment (consumer electronics, toys, automotive, or manufacturing).
• Proven track record in scaling or managing NPI or PDP frameworks in complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
• Strong expertise in project governance, industrialization, and cross-functional orchestration.
• Experience in ramp-up management, supplier readiness, and digital manufacturing tools (PLM, ERP, MES).
• Familiarity with agile and stage-gate methodologies.
• Fluent in German and English, both written and spoken.

Skills & Competencies

• Exceptional cross-functional leadership and influencing skills — able to align diverse teams under a shared launch mission.
• Data-driven decision-making mindset with strong analytical and structured problem-solving capabilities.
• High resilience and adaptability in fast-paced, dynamic environments.
• Deep understanding of manufacturability, supply chain readiness, and cost-to-launch dynamics.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management across functions and cultures.

Why tonies?

• The Tandem Model: Benefit from a clear organizational structure where your role as a facilitator and driver is empowered and respected.
• High-Impact Ownership: Real influence on the global template of a rapidly growing brand.
• Broad Portfolio: The opportunity to manage a diverse roadmap of cutting-edge Operations IT tools beyond the SAP rollout.
• Flexibility: Modern working models and a long-term perspective in a mission-driven, international team.