Principal Program Lead - Automotive Digital Customer Interface

VW. Two letters. Endless opportunities. A bright future.

Innovation. Sophistication. Optimization. This is our Passion.

Worldwide, the Volkswagen Group has a long tradition of dramatic innovations. The Volkswagen Group with its headquarters in Wolfsburg is one of the world's leading automobile manufacturers and the largest carmaker in Europe. The Group comprises twelve brands from seven European countries: Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Audi, SEAT, ŠKODA, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Ducati, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Scania and MAN. Here in the US, we are blending German engineering with American ingenuity.

At the Innovation & Engineering Center California (IECC), we represent the Volkswagen Group in applied research and development. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, we create bold new ideas for the Volkswagen, Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, Bugatti and Porsche brands. We are a team of engineers, designers, scientists, and psychologists looking to develop innovations for future generations of cars, and to transfer technologies from many industries and research institutions into the automotive domain. Our mission is to drive change, which means we are not only influencing one of the world's largest carmakers, but also the lives of millions of people. Are you ready to join us?

The Principal Program Lead role is focused on Program Management at the ICC. This position will manage project schedules and resources with our internal partners, the internal staff, and tracks results. The incumbent will work as the key interface between the VW Group R&D centers, US affiliates, external partners, and suppliers. In addition, the incumbent is responsible for a large-scale project portfolio, ensuring intellectual properties, and forming strategic partnerships with internal and external entities.

Role Responsibilities

Strategic Portfolio/Resource Management - (35%)

• Manages a portfolio of projects around a particular cluster topic

• Secures and manages internal/external project budget and milestone deliverables for cluster(s)

• Drives strategic planning of cluster roadmap

• Secures intellectual property and develops roadmaps for the cluster(s)

• Leads research and development activities to support cluster(s)

Business Development - (30%)

• Expands research network between Volkswagen Group and local entities

• Secures internal project funding for research initiatives from VW Group partners.

• Transfers ECC project outcomes to internal Volkswagen Group partners and customers.

• Communicates regularly and influences partners in Germany.

• Develops supplier network with local Silicon Valley companies (i.e., prototype design and development).

Technology Development and Management - (30%)

• Presents project/progress reports and presentations to top management, mentors, partners, and project affiliates.

• Conducts research

• Initiates and implements partnerships with external partners (companies, research institutions, universities).

• Transfers technologies and solutions to Volkswagen Group stakeholders

Mentorship - (5%)

• Provide mentorship/guidance to Project Managers/Leads on the team

Qualifications (Skills & Experiences & Education)

Years of Relevant Experience: (Minimum years of experience needed)

• 10 years with a post-graduate degree.
• 8 years or more as a technical project leader or development of technical systems.

Education Requirements:

• Bachelor degree in engineering (Electrical, Electronics, Mechanical, Mechatronics, Chemical, Material, Automotive, etc.)
• Masters in Engineering (Electrical, Electronics, Mechanical, Mechatronics, Chemical, Material, Automotive, etc.) is strongly preferred.

Skills:

• Give clear and unbiased assessment of project status and needs to partners, stakeholders and management.

• Analytical and conceptual thinking - using logic and reason.

• Creative and strategic problem solving mindset - exhibit good judgement in making decisions.

• Able to work in a highly dynamic, multi-disciplinary, time-line bound and target oriented work environment.

• Good people and test resource management - functional and strategic.

• Assertive with excellent communication skills - presentation, written and interpersonal.

• Able to continuously question and challenge the status-quo, always documenting and applying the lessons learned.

• Team player with good collaboration and integration skills - joining people, processes and systems

• Proven influencing and negotiation skills - steer project in order to obtain best outcome

• Able to understand the technical and financial angles of the project - direct team members on best approach to take.

Specialized Skills Desired:

• Product Definition

o Comfortable forming and articulating the big picture on where an industry is headed and creating product roadmaps.

o Prior experience defining a highly technical product as a systems engineer or equivalent

o Experience gathering and organizing requirements and writing functional specifications.

o Adept at diving deep into the weeds with engineers while keeping the product vision in mind.

o Ability to plan/review architectures, technical designs, test strategies, test cases etc.

o Able to understand and engage in market oriented product development

• Project Management

o Proven record of project leadership within the automotive industry

o Has held a project leadership role throughout entire projects (planning, execution, close-out)

o Experience running one or more projects simultaneously.

o Manage timelines, budgets, resource planning, risk etc.

o Able to work in a dynamic, time-line bound and target oriented work environment

• Leadership

o Capable of leading by influence, not authority

o Capable of getting people across levels of an organization aligned behind a common vision

o Effective public speaker - comfortable presenting complex technical information in front of technical and non-technical audiences at all levels of the organization

o Effective at communicating with teams across cultures and in different times zones

o Able to continuously question and challenge the status-quo, always applying the lessons learned

• Curiosity to understand the automotive customer of the future

• German, French and/or Spanish language skills are highly desired

• Prior experience working with a large (global) enterprise organization

Work Flexibility

• Travel is estimated to be 5-10%, as needed within U.S. and overseas.

In Belmont, California, the salary range for this role is $149000 -$210000, depending on education and experience.

Volkswagen Group of America is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We welcome and encourage applicants from all backgrounds, and do not discriminate based on race, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, color, gender identity/expression, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected by applicable laws.

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