Project Manager, Product Strategy & Planning

Mazda North America • Irvine, CA

393d • $91,400 - $139,400

About The Position

The Project Manager, Product Strategy Planning, leads the development of the strategies, such as Portfolio Strategy, Cross Carline Strategies and IPM Strategies, and these strategies are important to the mid-term plan of MNAO business as a fundamental assumption. These strategies are part of the official input to MC Product & Technology Cycle Plan and earlier stage of program milestone to impact on future Mazda global business. To develop the strategies, this position works closely with MNAO Research & Development (R&D) and the Design teams and proactively discusses, reports and receives alignment/approval from executives across the departments within MNAO. The developed strategies are the base for Vehicle Launch and Vehicle Line Planning teams to develop launch strategies, customer value creation, pricing, etc. for each carline and cascaded to other internal departments (Marketing, Sales Ops, Sales Planning, Supply Chain, Finance, etc.) to support them to put it into actions.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Finance, Marketing, Business Administration, or equivalent work experience required.
• Minimum five (5) years of strategic planning experience in any industries is required.
• 5 years of operational automotive industry experience.
• Prior experience in Conceptual Developments and mid/long-term planning projects.
• Prior experience in effective strategic planning/implementation and excellent analytical and decision-making skills.

Nice To Haves

• Ability to influence others and build effective business relationships among executives, peers, and cross-functional teams.
• Ability to work both autonomously to derive insights and analytics from multiple data sources and work collaboratively to support team in forming solutions to problems.
• Innate intellectual curiosity.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and provide project management support.
• Problem structuring and strategic problem-solving skills.
• Strong analytical, statistical, and data-driven mind-set; detail-oriented work style.
• Strong ability to organize and manage multiple tasks, manage multiple departments, often with competing goals.
• Superior written and oral communication skills.
• Superior interpersonal skills and ability to work cross-functionally.
• Self-starter, flexible thinker and outstanding communicator, as well as comfortable working in a fast-paced environment and influencing different personalities and perspectives.
• Proficient in all Microsoft applications with a high skill level with Excel and PowerPoint with an emphasis on executive level reporting.

Responsibilities

• Lead product strategies that will establish brand and business strength, meet future customer, regulations, and competitive requirements.
• Lead the development of an ideal product portfolio that will be a fundamental assumption for Mid-term Plan and individual nameplate product strategies and input to Product Cycle Plan.
• Establish 2025 and 2030 future assumptions based on consumer demand, regulatory trends, and competitive landscape.
• Clarify the implications and critical issues we will be facing and identify each PT mission, requirements, and new values/capabilities enabled by electrification.
• Further enhance Performance strategy with detailed definition of ICE/EV product requirements, brand/business implications, and clear guidelines for cross-carline application.
• Support the sustainment/execution of Mazda NorthStar and how realize the ideal future in-vehicle experience that will reinforce Mazda unique values.
• Provide regular product and technology cycle plan input of MNAO's strategic intent to MC from US business and customer-base point of view.
• Establish deep understanding of evolving trends, 5-10 years into the future as foundation of strategy development and future planning.
• Gather intelligence/insights, identifying customer value/market shifts and assessment of risks/opportunities.
• Establish a common source for comprehensive future intelligence that is systematically updated to align understanding of future assumptions across stakeholders.
• Lead regular analyses of the market trends and history to provide implications for all the strategies.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Industry: Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree
• Number of Employees: 501-1,000 employees