Assignment description

Horse Powertrain – Aurobay Technical Division is now looking for a Global Customer Project Leader to lead engine development projects for future ICE and hybrid drivetrain solutions. This is a senior leadership role with full accountability for complex automotive projects delivered to external customers worldwide.

As Global Customer Project Leader, you are accountable for the project’s business and technical outcome, and you are the customer’s senior counterpart. You understand the customer’s business and strategy, and you build trust at executive level so that changes, deviations and trade-offs are handled openly.

You will lead the project through a team of sub-project leaders representing different engine system areas. You set direction, coach and develop your leaders, and make the decisions on concept changes, scope and technical risk.

You will lead in a global, cross-functional environment without relying on line authority, creating alignment between engineering, finance, sales, manufacturing, quality, procurement, suppliers and customer representatives across countries and cultures. You will also own the project budget and be accountable for meeting targets for cost, time and quality.

Example of deliveries:

• Own the customer relationship at senior level, including expectations, commitments and change requests

• Set project direction and priorities, and secure commitment from all functions

• Lead, coach and develop sub-project leaders across sites

• Drive decisions in steering committees and at project gates

• Resolve or escalate technical deviations, project risks and cross-functional conflicts

On a personal level:

You are a seasoned leader who takes ownership of the outcome and leads through people rather than through plans. You have a proven track record of steering projects through complex uncertainties, whether technical, commercial or organizational, and you make decisions when the information is incomplete. You put the customer at the centre, earn trust from engineering teams to executives, and stay calm and clear under pressure.

Horse Powertrain is an international company with customers, suppliers and teams in many countries. You are curious about and respectful of other cultures, adapt your leadership to different business cultures, and communicate with authority in English with both technical and commercial audiences.

Skills Requirements

Do you fit the profile?

• University degree or equivalent technical education within engineering

• Extensive experience from the automotive industry and product development

• 10+ years of proven experience from leading complex, cross-functional engineering projects, including leading other leaders, with a proven track record of steering through complex uncertainties

• Documented experience of owning external customer relationships at senior level

• Experience of leading global, multicultural teams and working with customers or suppliers across regions

• Fluent in English, both written and spoken; additional language skills are meritorious in an international project environment