Brief Role Description

At the Innovation & Engineering Center California (IECC), we represent the Volkswagen Group in applied research and development. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, we create bold new ideas for the Volkswagen, Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, Bugatti and Porsche brands. We’re a team of engineers, designers, scientists, and psychologists looking to develop innovations for future generations of cars, and to transfer technologies from many industries and research institutions into the automotive domain. Our mission is to drive change which means we are not only impacting one of the world’s largest car makers, but also the lives of millions of people. Are you ready to join us?

The Project Lead Sr position is focused on Project Management activities for advanced Research and Development projects at ICC. The incumbent will manage project schedules and resources with our internal partners, the internal staff, and tracks results. The incumbent will work as the key interface between the VW Group R&D centers, US affiliates, external partners, and suppliers.  In addition, the incumbent is responsible for the project portfolio, ensuring intellectual properties, and forming strategic partnerships with internal and external entities.

Project Lead Responsibility – (90%)

• Serves as Project Lead:
  • Project Coordination and Communication
  • Project Resource Planning
  • Project Budget and Engineering
• Project/progress reports and Presentations to management (both internal and external Project Affiliates)
• Develops and contributes to proposal scope definition and planning
• Acts as liaison between ICC to internal/external partners

Mentorship and Training – (10%)

• Mentors project engineers and manages job training for project team members

Possible Tasks within this Role

• Give clear and unbiased assessment of project status and needs to partners, stakeholders and management.
• Analytical and conceptual thinking – using logic and reason.
• Creative and strategic problem-solving mindset – exhibit good judgement in making decisions.
• Able to work in a highly dynamic, multi-disciplinary, time-line bound and target oriented work environment.
• Good people and test resource management – functional and strategic.
• Assertive with excellent communication skills – presentation, written and interpersonal.
• Able to continuously question and challenge the status-quo, always documenting and applying the lessons learned.
• Team player with good collaboration and integration skills – joining people, processes and systems
• Proven influencing and negotiation skills – steer project in order to obtain best outcome
• Able to understand the technical and financial angles of the project – direct team members on best approach to take.

Qualification requirements

Years of Experience

• Eight years or more in R&D
• An emphasis on AI/Machine Learning and Deep Learning strongly preferred
• Two years or more as a technical project leader 

Education

Required:  Bachelor or Master degree in engineering (Electrical, Electronics, Mechanical, Mechatronics, Chemical, Material, Automotive, etc.)

Desired:    Master or PhD degree in engineering (Electrical, Electronics, Mechanical, Mechatronics, Chemical, Material, Automotive, etc.)

Required Skills:

• Product Development
  • Experience gathering and organizing requirements and writing functional specifications.
  • Adept at diving deep into the weeds with engineers while keeping the product vision in mind.
  • Ability to plan/review architectures, technical designs, test strategies, test cases etc.
  • Able to understand and engage in market- oriented product development
• Project Management
  • Proven record of project leadership within the automotive industry
  • Has held a project leadership role throughout entire projects (planning, execution, close-out)
  • Experience running one or more projects simultaneously.
  • Excellent English language skills mandatory
  • Exceptional communication with internal / external partners, stakeholders, and project affiliates and management
  • Manage timelines, budgets, resource planning, risk etc.
  • Able to work in a dynamic, time-line bound and target oriented work environment
• Leadership
  • Capable of leading by influence, not authority
  • Effective public speaker – comfortable presenting complex technical information in front of technical and non-technical audiences at all levels of the organization
  • Effective at communicating with teams across cultures and in different times zones
  • Able to continuously question and challenge the status-quo, always applying the lessons learned

Desired Skills:

• Curiosity to understand the automotive customer of the future
• Prior experience working with an large enterprise
• Analytical skills. Proven record of active engagement in process improvements
• German language skills are highly desired

Compensation Data

Salary is determined by geographical location and adjusted accordingly. In Silicon Valley, the expected base salary range is between $165,000 - $195,000. Other benefits for this position include:

Skills