Project Manager Powertrain

Project Manager – Automotive Powertrain 

Role & Responsibilities

• Oversee the end-to-end development of automotive powertrain systems, including ICE, transmissions, Electric Drive Units (EDU), battery systems, and power electronics .
• Lead a multidisciplinary engineering team responsible for the design and development of powertrain components across onsite and offshore locations .
• Establish strong relationships with internal stakeholders and clients to ensure project milestones, quality objectives, and delivery schedules are achieved.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship while driving the resolution of complex engineering challenges.
• Maintain proactive client engagement to identify, assess, and mitigate project risks.
• Identify opportunities for business growth and provide technical and strategic inputs to sales and business development teams.
• Develop comprehensive project plans, conduct regular project/status reviews, and provide technical guidance to cross-functional engineering teams.
• Lead and coordinate global, multicultural engineering teams, including remote team members.
• Optimize engineering resource allocation to ensure balanced workloads and adherence to project timelines.
• Proactively identify resource constraints and manage capacity planning to avoid project delays.
• Lead, motivate, and develop a technical engineering team of up to 25 members .
• Prepare analytical reports covering team performance, technical objectives, project progress, and critical-path activities.
• Address complex technical issues and support engineering teams in developing effective solutions.
• Ensure engineering deliverables meet required quality standards, technical specifications, and design guidelines .
• Promote a culture of innovation, collaboration, continuous improvement, and technical excellence within the powertrain engineering organization.

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

• Strong technical expertise in automotive powertrain architectures, including:
  • Internal Combustion Engines (ICE)
  • Transmissions
  • Electric Drive Units (EDU)
  • Battery Systems
  • Power Electronics
• Proven experience delivering complex automotive engineering projects in global and cross-cultural environments .
• Demonstrated experience leading and developing onsite/offshore and remote engineering teams .
• Strong project management, stakeholder management, and client-facing capabilities.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to communicate complex technical concepts to diverse stakeholders.
• Strong leadership, interpersonal, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to analyze complex engineering problems and drive effective technical solutions.
• Experience in resource planning, project tracking, risk management, and delivery management.

Educational Qualification

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, or an equivalent discipline from a reputed institution/university.

Language Skills

• Business-level Japanese – JLPT N2 or equivalent – preferred.
• Business-level English proficiency.

Experience

• 15+ years of overall experience in Automotive Powertrain Engineering.
• Minimum 6 years of experience in Project Management / Engineering Project Leadership .
• Experience managing global engineering teams and delivering automotive powertrain projects across onsite/offshore environments.