Electronic Design & Manufacturing For Bree

PCB Assembly: A 90-Day CTO Plan

Bree, here’s your new Director of Engineering and IT’s first 90 days. What to fix first, where AI pays off soonest, and what the hire should own.

If the Director seat can stay open another quarter, ignore this. If it can’t, the next two minutes are worth it.

What we noticed

A 100% employee-owned electronics manufacturer, growing steadily since 1990, with degreed engineers and assembly under one roof, which is rare among regional EMS providers.

Your Director of Engineering & IT posting went up on October 30, and it asks one person to run engineering, IT, ERP and MES integration, metrics and the long-term roadmap at once.

Your own business Engineering and assembly in one company. That is why the posting asks one person to cover both sides. About EDM page
Your own data An ERP that sees requirements across customers, which buyers and the shop floor both depend on. Supply chain management page
Your team Every employee is an owner, and the posting asks the new Director to coach and keep engineers and IT staff. About EDM page
Your tech Automated robotic test, optical and X-ray inspection feed defect data. The public site runs on WordPress. Testing page

Seen in your stack: WordPress · Elementor · Google Tag Manager · Google Analytics · ERP · MES · automated optical inspection

What your posting asks for

“Day-to-day responsibilities include managing engineering projects, aligning IT systems with manufacturing needs, coordinating cross-functional integration efforts, and ensuring that development activities support operational goals.”
“The director will mentor team members, establish performance metrics, optimize workflows, and drive the adoption of best practices in engineering, software, and IT governance.”
“The role also includes budget management, vendor oversight, risk mitigation, and collaboration with senior leadership on long-term technology roadmaps.”
“Experience with Integration of engineering and IT systems, such as ERP, MES, automation, and data platforms within a manufacturing context.”
“Proven ability to operate on-site in a production environment, balancing strategic planning with hands-on problem solving.”

From your Director of Engineering & IT posting, posted October 30, 2026.

What changes for your new Director of Engineering & IT

Your new Director starts with a plan: where engineering and IT systems don’t yet talk to the production floor, what to measure first, where AI saves your engineers and buyers time soonest, and a clear line between what they own and what a fractional lead can carry while they settle in.

Your new Director of Engineering & IT’s first 90 days

Three phases, each item with the reason it’s there and where that came from.

Days 1 to 30

Learn the floor, the ERP and the test lines

1
Walk the production floor with operations and engineering
The role exists to align IT systems with manufacturing needs. The first month is seeing where they don’t line up.
Source: Director of Engineering & IT posting
2
Draw how ERP, quoting, purchasing and open-order reports connect
Integration of engineering and IT systems is the posting’s core qualification, and your customers already rely on accurate open-order reports.
Source: Director of Engineering & IT posting
3
List every engineering project in flight and who owns it
Managing engineering projects is the first day-to-day duty. One list with owners and dates is the starting point.
Source: Director of Engineering & IT posting
4
Inventory IT vendors, licenses and risks
Vendor oversight, budget and risk mitigation are all named in the role.
Source: Director of Engineering & IT posting

Days 31 to 60

Connect IT to production

5
Review the system architecture against the floor
The posting asks for a software and architecture background in manufacturing applications, so the Director reads how the pieces fit before changing them.
Source: Director of Engineering & IT posting
6
Set the first performance metrics for engineering and IT
Setting metrics is a named duty, and what gets measured first tells the team what matters.
Source: Director of Engineering & IT posting
7
Decide how test and defect data gets captured
Your test lines already track defects. Deciding where that data lives makes it usable for quality and customers.
Source: Testing page
8
Set IT governance and software practices
Best practices in engineering, software and IT governance are part of the role.
Source: Director of Engineering & IT posting

Days 61 to 90

Write the roadmap

9
Write the long-term technology roadmap with leadership
The posting names the roadmap as a joint effort with senior leadership.
Source: Director of Engineering & IT posting
10
Plan the team: who to coach, who to hire
Coaching and retaining engineering and IT staff is a stated skill.
Source: Director of Engineering & IT posting
11
Set the engineering and IT budget
Budget management is part of the job, and the roadmap needs numbers behind it.
Source: Director of Engineering & IT posting

Where AI pays off soonest

Workflows from your own business, in the order they save your team time.

1 Open-order status answered from the ERP
Customers praise accurate open-order printouts. An assistant on your ERP data answers status questions without a buyer pulling a report each time.
Source: Meet the team page
2 Obsolescence alerts with alternate parts suggested
Engineering and purchasing already work together on obsolescence. AI can watch the bill of materials and propose alternates for an engineer to confirm.
Source: Supply chain management page
3 A first-pass design review on incoming boards
You review new customer designs for manufacturability and testability. A drafted first pass lets your engineers start from findings instead of a blank page.
Source: Engineering support page
4 Defect patterns summarized from test data
Inspection and test already log defects. AI can group them by cause and line so the weekly quality review starts from patterns.
Source: Testing page

What the hire owns, and what a fractional lead covers

Your Director of Engineering & IT owns

Engineering projects and the engineering team
IT operations and the systems that serve the production floor
ERP, MES and test-system integration
Performance metrics, workflows and governance
The technology budget and vendors

A fractional lead covers

Where AI pays off on the floor and in purchasing, and what gets built first
An outside review of the ERP and MES integration plan
Data and security choices for the floor systems
This 90-day plan, run alongside the hire until it’s theirs

Your first 90 days of tech leadership, planned

The plan above is yours either way.

Email Kash

We build a handful of these a month, for founders hiring now.

90 days

from the first day to a written roadmap

What to fix first, with the reason
Where AI pays off soonest
What the hire owns and what a fractional lead covers
A roadmap your team can run

Who’s building it

Kash Badami was Chief Architect of a national health information network and closed the CMS deal behind Healthcare.gov’s data infrastructure. He runs his own company on AI today.

Chief Architectof a national health information network for HHS, aligning 23 federal agencies

$27MCMS deal that became core Healthcare.gov data infrastructure

“he was singularly responsible for the company’s single largest customer by revenue - the Center for Medicare & Medicaid within the US Department of Health and Human Services.”

RLRobert Liebowitz, worked with Kash on MarkLogic’s Public Sector team; now First Ascent VenturesLinkedIn recommendation, April 2026
“Kash and I built ERT Credit together in 2021. He took my MVP and turned it into a SaaS that hit $10M ARR in twelve months.”

Jordan Anderson, CEO, PayStreetgobridgehead.ai/about

Electronic Design & Manufacturing sales playbook, in brief

Electronic Design & Manufacturing is a 100% employee-owned electronics manufacturer, growing since 1990, with engineering and assembly under one roof.About EDM page

Its Director of Engineering & IT posting asks one leader to run engineering, IT, ERP and MES integration, metrics and the roadmap.Director of Engineering & IT posting

The first 90 days: walk the floor, draw how ERP, purchasing and test data connect, set the first metrics, then write the roadmap and budget.Director of Engineering & IT posting

AI pays off soonest in open-order answers, obsolescence alerts, first-pass design reviews and defect-pattern summaries.Supply chain management page, Engineering support page, Testing page

Prepared by Kash Badami at Bridgehead · November 9, 2026 · Every source

Questions

Why a fractional lead instead of waiting for the full-time Director of Engineering & IT?

You don’t have to choose. The hire owns the product and the team; a fractional lead covers the AI and software side and runs this plan until it’s theirs, so nothing waits on the search.

What does it cost?

The first engagement is a fixed price, quoted on a call once we’ve seen what you need. After that there’s an optional monthly retainer, and you can stop at any point.

Will it get in the way of the Director of Engineering & IT we hire?

No. The line between what they own and what a fractional lead covers is on this page, and the plan is handed to them to run.

Where does our data live, and is it secure?

In your own accounts. Nothing runs on our side, and every tool or vendor we suggest is reviewed with you before anyone connects it.

Is this only about AI?

No. AI is one part. Most of the first 90 days is the work your posting describes, and the AI items are the ones that save your team time soonest.