Technical Program Manager Lead – BIW & Closures

Slate Auto•Troy, MI

19h•Onsite

About The Position

At Slate, we’re building safe, reliable vehicles that people can afford, personalize and love—and doing it here in the USA as part of our commitment to reindustrialization. The spirit of DIY and customization runs throughout every element of a Slate, because people should have control over how their trucks look, feel, and represent them. The Technical Program Manager Lead for Body-in-White (BIW) serves as both the program management authority for BIW and Closures Systems and the Zone Launch Team Lead for the Body Shop, Coatings and Closures zone. This dual accountability makes this role uniquely impactful. In the program management capacity, this person leads the implementation of Slate’s Program Management Operating Model with a lean and continuous improvement mindset, ensuring the Engineering and Manufacturing teams deliver a quality product on time per program deliverables and milestones. As the Zone Launch Team Lead, this person is the neutral integrator who chairs the BIW zone, holds cross-functional accountability, runs the daily cadence at the zone whiteboard, and is the single point of contact to the Launch Integration Lead. She/He will work directly with the cross-functional teams to deliver program excellence aligned with Slate’s corporate objectives.

Requirements

BA / BS Degree in engineering/management discipline or equivalent in experience
10+ years of experience in program management or technical field, preferably in the automotive industry
Excellent communication
Team building and relationship building skills
Demonstrate superior customer communication and service skills
Possess the ability to perform engineering and design process assessments and generate findings and recommendations reports
Ability to lead teams and meetings considering tradeoffs and optimized solutions with attention to detail
Demonstrated ability to operate as a neutral integrator – holding cross-functional teams accountable without direct authority, driving to same-day decisions, and escalating without hesitation when needed
Comfortable operating in a high-cadence, data-driven environment – able to track multiple simultaneous issues across Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, and Supply Chain and drive each to resolution

Nice To Haves

BIW prototype and production manufacturing experience is a plus
Previous assembly plant launch experience preferred
Experience with PLM & ERP systems

Responsibilities

Lead the development of Program Management playbook and structure with a Lean mindset
Single point of ownership for BIW Systems as it relates to program timing, program deliverables, change management, and issues management
Coordinate Beta, DV, PV build events including part buy-off
Champion Hybrid Agile/Waterfall best practices where needed
Engage with Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, and Finance teams to communicate requirements and resolve issues
Define/refine and ultimately manage business processes for efficient execution of the program objectives with a focus on the following areas
Provide program updates on a consistent basis to various stakeholders.
Serve as the neutral integrator and chair of the Body Shop & Coatings Zone Launch Team – holding cross-functional accountability across Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, Supplier Quality, and Production Control
Lead the daily zone stand-up at the zone whiteboard – surface blockers, confirm priorities, assign owners, and ensure nothing sits unresolved for more than one cadence cycle
Own zone-level KPI status across three dimensions – Parts Readiness, Build Readiness, and Quality Readiness – and confirm Go/No-Go for each build event
Escalate cross-cluster issues and unresolved zone issues to the Launch Integration Lead immediately – no waiting, no overnight unresolved issues
Provide end-of-day consolidated zone status to the Launch Integration Lead to support the Executive Night Letter distributed to program leadership daily