Prototype Program Lead

Stellantis•Auburn Hills, MI

12d

About The Position

The Prototype Program Lead will help build and lead the Design & Manufacturing of Advanced Demonstrators (DMAD) team in North America. DMAD supports innovation across Group entities and regions, enabling upstream research as well as downstream development and industrial activities. The team focuses on advanced prototyping through specifications, full-stack engineering, multidisciplinary expertise, cross-functional project management, rapid prototyping, technical integration, and agile execution. The role has managerial and operational responsibility for a team that typically includes 5 to 10 employees plus contractors. The lead is accountable for resources and results, primarily within a local or regional scope, and serves as custodian of regional standards and reference frameworks. The position requires a forward-looking strategic vision across programs, projects, serial-life activities, or engineering standards.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering.
At least 8 years of work experience in the automotive industry.
Experience in BIW transformation, vehicle architecture and synthesis, and prototyping processes.
Ability to lead meetings in English.
Proven leadership and cross-functional team coordination skills.
Excellent problem-solving and technical decision-making abilities.
Experience managing engineering risks, requirements, and validation activities.
Strong communication and stakeholder management capabilities.
Ability to work in fast-paced and evolving development environments.

Responsibilities

Lead the team by defining priorities and ensuring expected results and deliverables are achieved.
Ensure team deliverables meet quality and relevance expectations in line with project milestones.
Direct activities and processes to meet departmental performance objectives across Quality, Cost, Delivery, and Performance, including value optimization, mass reduction, and complexity reduction.
Supervise outsourced deliverables by checking the robustness of input data, assessing deliverable quality, and driving continuous improvement plans.
Anticipate staffing requirements in line with project and deliverable schedules.
Manage workload and define internal and external resources needed to support and execute programs; manage external resources to achieve deliverables.
Develop and maintain knowledge of key suppliers when applicable, and establish operational plans for using their capabilities and expertise.
Participate in structured problem-solving activities, including Problem Resolution and DFSS, and maintain best practices through lessons learned across regions and global teams.
Define team standards and manage and verify their application across projects.
Use competitive benchmarking in collaboration with the Global Technical Team when relevant.
Develop standards in cooperation with methods and expert teams.
Coach and support team members and develop required competencies through training and mentoring.
Conduct individual performance reviews, regular one-to-one meetings, and competency assessments.
Define and monitor individual training plans.
Implement and lead safety initiatives aligned with team activities, including shop-floor safety walks.
Provide guidance and direction to team members.
Share strategic vision when requested by management and contribute to strategy discussions with internal and external partners.
Cooperate with internal and external stakeholders and build and manage relationships with external service providers.