Engineering Project Team Leader

Caterpillar Inc.•Lafayette, IN

2d•$128,470 - $192,710•Onsite

About The Position

The Engineering Project Team Leader will lead multiple and complex engineering projects across functions, organizations, products, and value chains, with a primary focus on supporting key New Product Introduction (NPI) programs. This role partners closely with Sales & Marketing, Product Development, Manufacturing, and Value Chain teams to define project scope, coordinate resources, manage schedules and costs, and ensure successful execution of business objectives. The Team Leader provides technical and project leadership, driving cross-functional collaboration, resolving program challenges, and developing high-performing project teams to deliver innovative solutions that meet customer and business needs.

Requirements

A bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or engineering related field
Experience in leading teams and projects
Technical Excellence: Extensive knowledge of a given technology and various application methods; ability to develop and provide solutions to significant technical challenges.
Advises others on the assessment and provision of all technical solutions.
Engages appropriate subject matter resources to effectively resolve technical issues.
Mentors others to enhance their technical competence and its application to achieve more effective technical solutions.
Coaches others in promoting, defining, analyzing, and providing superior technical solutions to business problems.
Provides effective solutions to moderate technical challenges through strong technical competence, effectively examining implications of events and issues.
Assumes accountability for personal technical performance and holds others responsible for theirs.
Influencing Through Expertise: Extensive knowledge of effective influencing tactics and strategies; ability to use these to deepen own expertise and impact or challenge decisions within and outside own organization.
Communicates complex ideas and concepts in a clear and concise manner so that others can understand.
Exhibits depth and breadth of knowledge, skill, and experience in the relevant field.
Provides relevant, timely and objective subject matter/process expertise and key insight regarding multiple client business areas and affiliated fields.
Provides others with information, opportunities, or resources to develop their skills in the area of expertise.
Discards examples of persuasive arguments lacking evidentiary support or impact.
Coaches others to enhance their proficiency regarding the tenets, practices, and examples of the 'trusted advisor' credential.
Team Management: Extensive experience and knowledge of effective team building techniques; ability to form and manage effective teams.
Brings projects to closure and ensures capture of what can be learned from the experience.
Leads the definition of team mission and objectives for a variety of teams.
Employs appropriate techniques for maintaining team enthusiasm, energy, and focus.
Ensures that team members are on board, unified, and moving in the same direction.
Communicates both within the team and to stakeholders.
Learns and utilizes special talents and work styles of team members.
Requirements Analysis: Extensive experience and knowledge of tools, methods, and techniques of requirement analysis; ability to elicit, analyze and record required business functionality and non-functionality requirements to ensure the success of a system or software development project.
Plays an active or leading role in recording and storing requirement documents in various forms.
Ensures the successful completion of all major activities, tasks and deliverables pertaining to the requirement analysis stage.
Supervises the advanced use of requirements analysis tools and services, including prototyping and use cases.
Produces detailed functional and information requirements models and documentation.
Trains others on requirements walkthroughs and quality reviews.
Utilizes automated diagramming tools to ensure traceability of requirements.
Product Design and Development: Extensive experience and knowledge of product features; ability to design, build, and develop a new product, technology, or service from concept through to production.
Develops organizational standards and processes in order to maximize complex product services' efficiency and effectiveness.
Creates and introduces new techniques that expedite or simplify the development process.
Supervises the management of multiple and diverse types of products or services.
Develops proof-of-concept exercises to prove or disprove validity of proposed products.
Advises on the appropriate solutions to complex product design and development problems.
Designs working prototypes of a variety of proposed products or services.

Nice To Haves

Large Engine (Gas or Diesel) experience
Knowledge of NTI and NPI practices
NPI project leadership experience
Strong communication skills, verbal and written, complemented by the ability to craft and deliver technical presentations.
The ability to work or lead multiple projects simultaneously and to make sound priority decisions
Proven agility in navigating ambiguity and leading cross-functional teams through fast-paced, evolving project environments with limited precedent or defined pathway

Responsibilities

Develop project scope to address business challenges and opportunities.
Coordinating resources across the businesses with sales and marketing, product development groups, value chain and manufacturing.
Overseeing project progress and costs; communicating status with stakeholders and participating functional areas; addressing and resolving problems.
Directing project staffing; motivating and developing project team and team members.
Lead planning, coordination, and execution of New Technology Introduction (NTI) and New Product Introduction (NPI) programs and future platform development initiatives.
Manage multiple complex engineering projects involving cross-functional teams, organizations, suppliers, and global stakeholders.
Drive program execution by managing timelines, budgets, risks, deliverables, and key performance metrics.
Provide leadership and direction throughout the product development lifecycle, from requirements definition through validation and market launch.
Collaborate with product strategy, engineering, manufacturing, quality, validation, purchasing, and supply chain teams to ensure successful program outcomes.
Facilitate resolution of technical, operational, and program-related challenges through structured problem-solving and decision-making.
Communicate project status, milestones, risks, and mitigation plans to leadership and key stakeholders including design review and gateways.
Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, accountability, and technical excellence across the project team.