Customer Performance Engineering Manager - Automotive

Job Description:

To provide strategic leadership for vehicle customer performance engineering, integrating customer insights, technical excellence, validation rigor, and competitive benchmarking to deliver market-leading products that achieve superior customer satisfaction, safety ratings, ride quality, refinement, and advanced driver assistance performance.

Key Roles & Responsibilities:

- Define and drive vehicle customer performance targets aligned with brand positioning and market requirements.

- Lead cross-functional teams to achieve performance objectives.

- Establish benchmarks against competitor vehicles and industry standards.

- Provide technical direction and strategic inputs during vehicle development programs.

- Evaluate vehicle attributes from a customer perspective.

- Lead customer clinics, competitive benchmarking, and market assessments.

- Translate customer feedback into measurable engineering targets.

- Ensure vehicle performance aligns with target customer expectations across different markets.

- Define performance targets and validation plans.

- Ensure compliance with internal quality standards and regulatory requirements.

- Drive root-cause analysis and resolution.

- Lead passive safety development and validation activities.

- Ensure compliance with global and local regulations and consumer rating programs.

- Coordinate with design, CAE, and testing teams to achieve safety targets.

- Monitor emerging safety regulations and industry trends.

- Conduct objective and subjective evaluations.

- Benchmark competitors and implement best practices.

- Manage project timelines, budgets, resources, and deliverables.

- Ensure milestone achievement during vehicle development programs.

- Review risks and implement mitigation plans.

- Support launch readiness and production validation activities.

Quality & Continuous Improvement:

- Analyze field issues, warranty data, and customer complaints.

- Drive corrective and preventive actions.

- Implement robust validation processes and quality systems.

- Promote a culture of continuous improvement and technical excellence.

- Build and mentor high-performing engineering teams.

- Develop technical competency within the organization.

- Conduct performance reviews and succession planning.

- Foster innovation and collaboration across functions.

Candidate Requirements:

- 18-28 years of experience in Vehicle Engineering, Product Development, Vehicle Integration, or Performance Engineering within automotive OEMs.

- Strong experience in complete vehicle development programs from concept to production.

- Proven expertise in Vehicle Customer Performance Engineering and attribute development.

- Hands-on experience in NVH (Noise, Vibration & Harshness) target setting, development, validation, and issue resolution.

- Strong knowledge of Passive Safety, crashworthiness, occupant protection systems, and NCAP requirements.

- Experience in Ride & Handling development, suspension tuning, steering feel, vehicle dynamics, and drivability optimization.

- Exposure to vehicle-level validation, testing, durability, and quality assurance processes.

- Understanding of ADAS, active safety systems, and advanced vehicle technologies.

- Strong capability in customer clinics, benchmarking, competitive assessments, and translating customer insights into engineering targets.

- Experience managing cross-functional teams across Design, CAE, Testing, Manufacturing, and Quality functions.

- Proven track record of leading large-scale vehicle development projects with responsibility for cost, quality, timing, and performance targets.

- Strong problem-solving, root-cause analysis, and continuous improvement mindset.

- Experience in managing engineering budgets, resources, risks, and program milestones.

- Demonstrated leadership capability in building and developing high-performing engineering teams.

- Excellent stakeholder management, communication, and decision-making skills.

- Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical / Automobile Engineering; Master's Degree preferred.

- Preferred background from leading Passenger Vehicle OEMs with exposure to global vehicle development standards and customer expectations.

(ref:iimjobs.com)