Belcan Workforce Solutions are currently looking for a Vehicle Platform Lead to work with our Commercial Vehicle client based in Warwickshire.
The Vehicle Platform Leader guides the vehicle line platform team to orchestrate activities to delivery vehicle projects and platforms from concept through to series production, including the cost, quality and timing objectives. The role pro actively measures and assures that the platform team fulfil the functional requirements, and that key stakeholders are aligned.
- Department Function: Plan, measure, affect and report the delivery of new product projects and platforms to ensure objective targets for cost, time and quality are achieved. Be the hub of project information and its communication, interfacing across all departments. Provision process and governance controls to support all stakeholders in achieving project objectives.
- Role Function: Lead the platform team to control the platform projects and deliver objectives. Marshall responsibility and activity across the platform team, ensuring task balance and progression. Represent the R&D Operations function and interface with all stakeholders within the project.
- Timing: Control and monitor the project timing, using the master schedule to measure and report status at regular review forums. Plan readiness activity with all stakeholders for project checkpoint and gateway events.
- Finance: Support all stakeholders to define and achieve investment and variable cost targets, and report project finance information throughout the project.
- Platform Governance: Key role responsibility for planning readiness and lead delivery of all project gateway events, including the schedule of information and previews, and reporting and registering the outcome, key decisions and actions.
- Product Definition: Orchestrate maintenance of the product development letter (PDL), by requesting, assessing and publishing stakeholder information as prescribed by milestone criteria.
- Change Control: Own definition of the product change content using a change matrix to identify carry over, modified and new parts. Ensure alignment to the PDL and BoM at all phases.
- Concerns: Lead the platform team to operate the engineering concerns system and liaise with the concerns coordinator to assure progression and timely decision making to support project QCD.
- Engineering Releasing: Lead the platform team to plan and track the engineering release timing schedule for all phases of the project using purposive reviews with each engineering commodity group. Support the BoM analysts in assuring timely progress of ERN completion and moderate when issues arise.
- Bill of Material: Guide the BoM engineer to collate, review and report the product BoM status and all measures that inform the project and wider business.
- Commodity Progression: Deploy sufficient process control to guide, enable and measure the commodity and attribute engineering functions to deliver the product criteria during the requisite phases of the project as defined by the product development process.
- Risk Register: Maintain the project risk register and orchestrate adequate cadence of reviews to ensure that risk awareness and mitigation plans are complete and updated to support evaluation reviews.
- IPR: Monitor platform related IPR process implementation at the requisite stages of the project, including both infringement risk assessments and patent protection submission opportunities.
- Process & Standards: Support the R&D Operation function in the evaluation, creation/registration and maintenance of existing and new engineering processes and standards commensurate with continuous evolution of the R&D function to meet the present and future product strategy.
- Prototype Build: Lead the platform team to support the prototype function with planning to deliver prototypes to meet project timing, budget and objectives.
Essential Qualifications:
Degree level education in an engineering field or relevant experience as listed below:
- Automotive
- Mechanical
- Electrical
- Project / Programme Management
Essential Skills:
- Minimum of 3 years recent experience in a new product project/programme team function
- Robust knowledge of product development process, and the core activities through a new product Platform
- Knowledge of core project financial control
- Proficient in generating timing plans, and leading and measuring activity delivery
- Pro-active approach to progressing work streams, identifying issues and proposing solutions and decisions
- Experience leading others in a project, product or engineering environment
- Strong communication skills to interact with all departments, using a variety of written and verbal mediums
- Proficient in interpreting both technical and commercial information
- Ability to work in a startup environment, recognise the opportunity to add value, including the generation of appropriate processes and standards from previous experience and knowledge harvested
- Competent user of all office software commensurate with the functions of project management
Additional Skills:
- Vehicle electrification product experience
- Previous role within a commodity (component) or attribute (testing) engineering department
- Experience working with/within a commercial function
- Familiar with PLM and ERP systems as a provider, user or customer
This vacancy is being advertised by Belcan.
