Program Manager

JOB DESCRIPTION

Responsible for the overall management of current production seating programs and the launch of future programs. Manages periodic engineering changes, customer and supplier related issues, service parts, warranty improvement, and overall program profitability. Responsible for the effective execution of the overall PLUS process and achieving 0-0-100-100-30 launch performance. 

- Leadership: Lead the Simultaneous Development Team (SDT) and represent it in a professional way to the customer and Adient management. Motivate the team to meet commitments to the established timing. Build team technically and personally through mentoring and coaching. Resolve conflicts between team members, departments and the customer. Negotiate with internal and external groups, vendors and customer. Ability to identify the root cause of a problem, develop corrective action plans and lead the team to an effective resolution.

- Simultaneous Development Team (SDT) Management: Act as the central communication point for the SDT to ensure that each SDT member is aware of their deliverables and timing commitments at all times. Establishes the SDT meeting cadence and monitors attendance to assure the correct team members are present at each meeting. Creates agenda, schedules meetings and keeps the meeting on task. Provides team information needed to perform tasks. Actively includes suppliers as a member of the team.

- Scope Management: Communicate the impact of scope changes to the customer and SDT in a timely manner in terms of cost, timing, product, quality of execution and impact on the program. Publish and maintain the customer SOW and SSOWs and ensure all scope changes are captured in the documents. Manage the risk of engineering changes and keep management informed of significant changes and their effect on the program. Ensure that financial performance is protected and enhanced by customer driven engineering changes.

- Financial Roadmap & Financial Reporting: Schedules Finance SDT meetings once a month to ensure focus on financial performance. Meet the financial targets of the program and manages Financial Roadmap dates, action and cost. Solid financial base to understand how to utilize the SDT to impact financial measures and the relationship between financial measures. Works closely with the commerical team to drive improved profitability. 

- Timing: Effectively manages overall program timing for key program activities. Creates and manages open issues list that is clear and concise with due dates and deliverables. Leads the SDT in effective risk management techniques to ensure timing commitments are met.

- Product: Facilitates weekly change management meeting. Meet applicable product requirements including specifications, functional expectations and FMVSS requirements for any engineering changes. Supports manufacturing plant in resolving any product related issues. Works closely with engineering to bring VA/VE ideas to the customer.

- Customer Satisfaction: Fosters an effective personal working relationship with appropriate customer contacts. Maintain Adient and personal credibility with customer. Recognized by customer as key contact for program oversight. Meets dates and commitments via customer open issues list which directs team for prompt responses. Communicate with data for engineering changes with cost, quality and timing impact. Gain internal consensus on engineering changes prior to communicating to customer. Archive and retain key customer correspondence and documents. Maintain regular contact with customer to communicate problems early. Does not avoid difficult issues or decisions. Understand customer’s organization and procedures in detail.

- Global Management Skills: Function in a different culture while matching his/her interpersonal style to the culture they are working in. Has awareness and respect for different cultures. Demonstrate an interest in other cultures.

PRIMARY LOCATION

Torihama Technical Center