Project Manager, Automotive Propulsion & Global Delivery

About the role

The Project Manager is a critical leadership role ensuring customer alignment, delivery excellence, and high-performance team management within a fast-paced automotive environment. You will lead and manage a multi-country engineering and delivery team across automotive propulsion systems (PRS) domains, including E-Drive, Transmission, and Driveline systems.

This role requires a technically grounded leader who acts as the primary point of contact for the customer and is stationed regularly at client sites to maintain high visibility. You are responsible for the entire project lifecycle—from building the team’s capability to optimizing global project margins and ensuring technical deliverables meet the highest quality standards. You will navigate the Detroit automotive ecosystem, bridging the gap between high-level commercial strategy and the day-to-day execution of complex propulsion engineering tasks.

Responsibilities

• Team Performance: Lead and manage a multi-country team, driving accountability and ownership of all PRS delivery activities.
• Capacity & Talent: Build the required team based on capacity and capability requirements, leading local hiring and recruiting strategy efforts.
• People & Culture Focused: Serve as a mentor by training and coaching the team while managing disciplinary actions when necessary.
• Development & Retention: Act as the Performance Review Lead, executing upskilling assignments and "attrition defense" to maintain team continuity.
• Enabling Functions: Serve as a concierge to internal functions including HR, I.T., Finance, and Payroll to ensure uninterrupted team productivity.
• Operational Management: Review and approve timesheets and ensure back-office installed capacity is managed effectively.
• Technical Guidance: Provide support across E-Drive, Transmission, and Driveline engineering, supporting SMEs in resolving complex technical challenges.
• Execution Accountability: Accountable for task execution and delivery, ensuring both On Time Delivery (OTD) and First Time Right (FTR) metrics are achieved.
• Quality & SQS: Responsible for Project Quality Scores and SQS (Supplier Quality Score) improvement and action planning.
• Standardization & RETEX: Drive continuous improvement through structured governance, local process standardization, and RETEX (Return of Experience) management.
• Primary Interface: Provide weekly project progress reports to Client Program Managers/Directors and conduct regular alignment meetings on requirements and priorities.
• Customer Satisfaction: Support the Key Account Manager (KAM) in maintaining the client commercial relationship and ensuring satisfaction.
• Risk & Escalation: Proactively manage risks, escalations, and action closures to keep programs on track.
• Change Management: Coordinate change management (CCD, CN, PER, ICD) and ensure consistency in requirements and practices across programs.
• Margin Optimization: Responsible for the optimization and reporting of global project margins (GM%).
• PO Management: Responsible for requesting and renewing client Purchase Orders (POs) and managing intercompany POs.
• Financial Tracking: Review and approve global invoicing and delivery notes, while tracking PO fund depletion.
• Commercial Growth: Identify and execute upselling opportunities, including new positions and level increases for existing staff.

Requirements

• Required Skills & Experience — Education: Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Computer, or Mechanical Engineering (or equivalent).
• Required Skills & Experience — Professional Tenure: 10+ years of automotive engineering experience, specifically within Propulsion Systems.
• Required Skills & Experience — Leadership Experience: Proven track record of managing large engineering teams (typically consisting of 30+ members).
• Required Skills & Experience — Industry Context: Deep experience working with OEMs within the Detroit automotive ecosystem.
• Required Skills & Experience — Technical Knowledge: Solid understanding of the DV/PV development lifecycle and propulsion systems such as E-Drive, Transmission, or Driveline.
• Required Skills & Experience — Communication: Excellent leadership and stakeholder management skills, with proficiency in reporting via Google Suite and MS-Office.
• Preferred Skills & Experience — Engineering Design: Experience working within and/or overseeing core Design Release Engineering (DRE) activities.
• Preferred Skills & Experience — Manufacturing Knowledge: Familiarity with design for manufacturing processes and coordinating assembly with manufacturing engineering.
• Preferred Skills & Experience — Systems Integration: Direct experience with system components integration, cost-value analysis, and competitive vehicle benchmarking.
• Preferred Skills & Experience — Quality Standards: In-depth knowledge of FMEA, DVP&R, and root cause analysis for pre-production build issues.