JOB DESCRIPTION: Program Manager – Automotive
Department Program Management Reports To VP Business Development FLSA Classification Exempt Position Type Full-Time
Position Summary:
The Program Manager is responsible for leading assigned automotive programs from award and planning through development, launch, production stabilization, and ongoing change management. The role owns program timing, deliverables, risk management, financial performance, and customer communication, while providing account-management support for assigned customers. This position leads cross-functional execution with Engineering, Quality, Production, Scheduling, Purchasing, Supply Chain, Finance, and Management to ensure customer requirements are translated into clear plans, decisions, and on-time deliverables. The Program Manager serves as the primary escalation point for program status, risks, changes, and recovery actions. The ideal candidate has experience managing automotive programs within an OEM, Tier 1, or Tier 2 environment and can balance launch discipline, customer responsiveness, commercial awareness, and manufacturing execution.
Essential Responsibilities:- Program Management & New Program Launches·
- Lead assigned programs from award through planning, product and process development, validation, launch, production stabilization, and closeout.·
- Create and maintain integrated program plans covering customer milestones, design and process readiness, tooling, validation, sourcing, PPAP, capacity, packaging, and launch activities.·
- Define deliverables, owners, due dates, dependencies, and decision points; actively drive closure of open actions.·
- Lead cross-functional program reviews and publish accurate status, milestone, risk, and action reporting.·
- Identify program risks early, maintain risk and issue registers, and lead mitigation or recovery plans.·
- Manage engineering changes and scope changes, including timing, cost, capacity, quality, inventory, and customer-approval impacts.·
- Coordinate prototype, sample, trial, validation, PPAP, run-at-rate, safe-launch, and production-readiness activities.·
- Confirm that customer-specific requirements and required documentation are complete, accurate, and submitted on time.·
- Monitor program financial performance, resource needs, and launch spending; escalate deviations and support corrective actions.·
Conduct launch lessons learned and transition stable programs to ongoing operations with clear ownership of remaining actions.
Account Management & Customer Communication·
Serve as the primary program contact for assigned automotive customers and maintain effective working relationships across purchasing, engineering, quality, and program teams.·
Provide clear, timely communication regarding program status, milestones, risks, decisions, quality concerns, delivery issues, and required customer actions.·
Lead regular customer program reviews and support periodic account and business reviews.·
Coordinate responses to customer scorecards, surveys, and satisfaction initiatives, including corrective action plans when required.·
Understand customer priorities, forecasts, and future program plans and communicate relevant account intelligence internally.·
Support retention and organic growth by identifying customer needs, program extensions, engineering changes, and follow-on opportunities.·
Build trust through disciplined follow-up, accurate commitments, and effective resolution of customer concerns.
Commercial & Account Support·
Support RFQ reviews by coordinating technical, operational, timing, tooling, capital, and commercial inputs.·
Assist with cost models, quotations, and customer submissions for new programs and engineering changes.·
Track program budgets, tooling and capital commitments, launch costs, and financial risks against approved assumptions.·
Coordinate the commercial impact of scope changes and support pricing, timing, capacity, and recovery discussions.·
Support account plans, customer presentations, and growth initiatives within assigned accounts.·
Maintain visibility to customer forecasts, demand changes, contractual milestones, purchase orders, and payment-related issues that affect program execution.·
Escalate material commercial issues and ensure approved agreements are documented and communicated to affected functions.
Cross-Functional Coordination·
Provide cross-functional leadership without relying on direct authority, ensuring alignment on priorities, timing, resources, and customer commitments.·
Partner with Engineering to manage requirements, design reviews, specifications, feasibility, testing, and technical changes.·
Partner with Quality to support APQP, PPAP, customer-specific requirements, corrective actions, and launch containment.·
Coordinate with Production, Scheduling, Maintenance, and Supply Chain on capacity, equipment, labor, materials, packaging, and delivery readiness.·
Coordinate with Purchasing and suppliers on sourced components, tooling, timing, quality, and supply risks.·
Work with Finance and Management to maintain visibility to program economics, commitments, deviations, and recovery actions.·
Escalate unresolved decisions and significant timing, quality, delivery, capacity, or commercial risks with clear options and recommended actions.
Qualifications:- Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, or a related field; equivalent relevant manufacturing experience may be considered.· 3–5 years of experience in automotive program management, project management, manufacturing, engineering, quality, or account management.· Demonstrated experience managing multiple programs, timelines, budgets, risks, and cross-functional action plans.· Experience working directly with automotive OEM, Tier 1, or Tier 2 customer teams preferred.· Strong leadership, organization, prioritization, problem-solving, and follow-through skills.· Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and customer-communication skills.· Ability to interpret customer specifications, manufacturing requirements, program economics, and technical information.· Ability to lead cross-functional teams, manage competing priorities, and escalate issues with sound judgment.· Proficiency with Microsoft Office, including Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and project-tracking tools. Preferred Experience· Experience with Tier 1 or Tier 2 automotive suppliers.· Experience managing new product or program launches.· Familiarity with automotive customer requirements and quality systems.· Experience with customer scorecards and customer satisfaction surveys.· Experience with materials common to interiors market (nonwovens, thermoplastics, thermo compression molding).· Experience with quoting and cost analysis.· Familiarity with APQP, PPAP, FMEA, or other automotive quality and launch processes. Key Performance Indicators· On-time completion of program milestones and customer deliverables· Successful launches meeting quality, delivery, capacity, and budget objectives· Timely identification, escalation, and closure of program risks and action items· Accuracy and timeliness of program plans, status reporting, and documentation· Program financial performance versus approved assumptions· Customer satisfaction, scorecard performance, and retention within assigned accounts· Effective management of engineering changes and launch-related customer concerns· Contribution to account growth through program extensions, changes, and follow-on opportunities
Core Competencies:- Program & Project Management· Launch Planning & Execution· Risk, Issue & Change Management· Cross-Functional Leadership· Customer & Account Management· Automotive Industry Knowledge· Commercial & Financial Awareness· Communication & Executive Reporting· Negotiation & Conflict Resolution· Organization & Follow-Through· Problem Solving & Decision Making· Accountability & Attention to Detail Working Relationships Internal: Sales, Engineering, Quality, Production, Scheduling, Purchasing, Supply Chain, Finance, Maintenance, and Senior Management. External: Automotive OEMs, Non-Automotive OEMs, Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, purchasing representatives, engineers, quality representatives, program managers, and other customer contacts. Physical & Work Environment· Primarily office-based with regular interaction with manufacturing operations.· May require walking through production areas and wearing required personal protective equipment.· Occasional travel to customer facilities, trade shows, meetings, a
