Director of Product Development presso Freudenberg

Working at Freudenberg: We will wow your world!

Responsibilities:

• Develop and manage department budget including capital planning of tooling expenditure.
• Drive market leadership through first-to-market release of products.
• Create & manage structured processes and consistently generate process improvement supporting all areas of responsibility.
• Collaborate with Category Management function to create the product roadmap by product line including the range development necessary for global coverage, product line extensions & new product lines.
• Drive proactive customer solutions while supporting the resolution of any open product/technical concerns, support customer technical & training needs.
• Develop relationships with key customers & suppliers to foster engineered & innovative product solutions that satisfy market needs.
• Partner with Category Management, Operations and Supply Chain Management to optimize lead times, develop standard key performance indicators and optimize supplier performance.  Participate in active supplier management and vulnerability reduction planning.
• Assist in gathering and maintaining Business/Market Intelligence including relevant data for customer, competitor, and key market statistics.
• Support the sales growth & innovation funnels through prioritized development, new idea generation, researching necessary investments, and project ownership.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Technology, Marketing or Business required.
• 7 years or more related technical experience within automotive environment preferred.
• Minimum 5 years previous leadership experience managing product development processes or complex product programs.
• 20-35% travel is required.
• Excellent customer and supplier interface and communication skills.
• Capable of interpreting industry/customer requirements, product line pricing/profitability management, process development & deployment.
• Experience developing business cases to support new products.

The Freudenberg Group is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion. Employment opportunities are available to all applicants and associates without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, age, mental or physical disability, genetic information, marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, protected military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.