Head of Powertrain Programmes

McLaren Automotive Limited; Woking; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday

Enhanced pension

Discretionary annual bonus

Private medical insurance

Life assurance

sabbatical after 2 years

Wellbeing programme

Employee assistance programme

Discounted shopping

Parental leave

Job summary

McLaren Automotive Limited in Woking seeks a Head of Powertrain Programmes to lead the Powertrain Vehicle Line Management, Integration and Series & TVM teams across McLaren vehicle programmes. You will translate business priorities into a clear delivery strategy and oversee performance on quality, cost, timing, and technical maturity.

Reporting to the Director of Powertrain, you will develop a strong leadership pipeline, drive continuous improvement, and ensure governance across all programmes,

Qualifications

• Engineering degree or equivalent demonstrable technical and programme leadership experience.
• Substantial experience leading complex automotive Powertrain programmes in an OEM or Tier One environment.
• Proven ability to plan, govern, manage risk and deliver against significant objectives.

Responsibilities

• Own the Powertrain programme delivery strategy and operating plan across the portfolio.
• Be accountable for outcomes in technical content, quality, cost, timing and delivery risk.
• Coordinate cross-functional management to maximise synergies and ensure timely delivery.
• Define and manage programme budgets, monitor expenditure and variances.
• Allocate headcount and resources across programmes; resolve capacity constraints.
• Lead with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality and Purchasing to manage BOM and validation.

Skills

Powertrain leadership

Program management

Budget planning

People leadership

DFMEA & DVP

Gateways governance

Cross-functional teams

Data analysis

Powertrain systems

Stakeholder management

Education

Engineering degree

Powertrain experience

Tools

MS Office

Job description

Job TitleHead of Powertrain ProgrammesRef #59570Date postedThursday, October 29, 2026CountryUnited KingdomLocationWokingBusiness areaProduct DevelopmentDepartmentPD - PWRTN - ENGPosition level3 - Head of (L - 21)Working timeFull TimeContract typePermanentWorking pattern9am - 6pm Monday to FridaySalary.What to ExpectThe Head of Powertrain Programmes is accountable for leading the Powertrain Vehicle Line Management (VLM) team, Integration team and Series & TVM team alongside the integrated delivery of Powertrain systems and components across vehicle programmes in accordance with the McLaren Development Process (MDP). The role translates business and programme priorities into a clear delivery strategy and is accountable for performance across technical content, quality, cost, timing and technical maturity.Reporting to the Director of Powertrain, the role provides leadership across all programmes and related cross-functional teams. It sets priorities, balances competing programme and resource demands, and ensures their teams have the people, budget, facilities, capability and governance required to deliver agreed objectives and manage risk.The role owns relationships with senior stakeholders across Engineering, Programmes, Finance, Purchasing, Quality, Manufacturing and external partners. The role may also lead a specific vehicle programme as a VLM, applying direct programme insight to improve standards, consistency, capability and synergies across the portfolio.As a senior people leader, the role communicates a shared vision and priorities, integrates the activities of related teams, develops a pipeline of programme leadership talent, and drives continuous improvement in programme delivery capability.What You'll Do– Own the Powertrain programme delivery strategy and operating plan, translating vehicle and business objectives into integrated priorities, deliverables, milestones and governance across the programme portfolio.– Be accountable for programme outcomes across technical content, quality, timing, cost, weight and delivery risk; establish clear performance measures and intervene where delivery deviates from plan.– With the Programmes, agree the technical content, targets, priorities and decision points for each programme, ensuring appropriate technical evidence supports key trade-offs.– Coordinate Function Group management activities across programmes to maximise synergies, resolve competing priorities and ensure delivery in accordance with MDP timing, including:· DFMEAs, DFMs, DFAs and DVPs· Engineering release through ETRS· Technical specifications and validation requirements· Other programme-specific technical requirements and evidence required for gateway approval– Define and agree Function Group project budgets with the VLDs; communicate allocations, monitor expenditure, forecast variances and take corrective action to deliver within agreed financial commitments.– Coordinates internal and external headcount allocations in alignment with the functional teams across programmes, agreeing priorities and targets, progressing resource requisitions and resolving capacity or capability constraints.– Lead cross-functional activities with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Finance and Purchasing to define and manage the project Bill of Materials, including prototype vehicles, and ensure its ongoing maturity and delivery.– Ensure the Weight Management Process is followed, component weight data remains current, and programme weight targets are understood, monitored and achieved in partnership with the Weight Engineer.– Partner with Quality teams to ensure Engineering plans, deliverables and issue-resolution activities support corporate quality goals and customer expectations.– Represent the Function Group within vehicle project and programme governance, communicating performance, decisions, dependencies, risks and milestone achievement in line with MDP reporting requirements.– Ensure Engineering concerns and programme risks are identified, prioritised, assigned and driven to robust closure, escalating material issues and decisions as appropriate.– Influence and support the nomination of suppliers and engineering partners, ensuring technical capability, delivery performance, commercial considerations and programme risk are appropriately evaluated.– Attend regular reviews of Powertrain system and component design, release, development and validation plans with Function Group Engineers, using evidence and judgement to resolve complex or non-standard issues.– Embed a robust Lessons Learned process throughout and at the end of each programme, converting learning into improved standards, methods, governance and future programme performance.– Provide clear leadership, objectives and performance expectations; review delivery and individual performance, remove barriers and hold the team accountable for agreed outcomes.– Develop organisational capability through workforce planning, succession planning, coaching, mentoring and targeted development, creating a strong pipeline of programme leadership talent.What You'll Bring– Relevant Engineering degree or equivalent demonstrable technical and programme leadership experience.– Substantial experience leading complex automotive Powertrain programmes in an OEM or Tier One environment, including delivery through cross-functional teams.– Demonstrable programme and project management capability, including planning, governance, risk management, decision-making and delivery against significant objectives.– Broad and deep understanding of Powertrain systems and the component delivery lifecycle, including Engineering, Purchasing, supplier liaison, Supplier Quality Development and Manufacturing interfaces.– Proven experience of financial and resource planning, including project budgets, headcount, external resources and supplier delivery.– Strong working knowledge of automotive product-development process, including technical specifications, DFMEA, DVP, engineering release and gateway governance.– Proven people-leadership experience, including objective setting, performance management, coaching, talent development and succession planning.– Ability to interpret complex programme, technical and commercial information and make balanced decisions where quality, cost, timing, weight and resource priorities compete.– Strong understanding of automotive quality, regulatory and governance requirements relevant to Powertrain programme delivery.– Confident use of programme-management, data-analysis and Microsoft Office tools to create clear performance insight and senior-level reporting.What We'll Do for YouWe offer a wide – ranging benefits package, which includes:* Structured career development framework* 25 days’ holiday, plus bank holiday. Annual buy & sell up to five days* Enhanced company pension scheme* Discretionary annual bonus award* Private medical insurance and health cash plan* Life assurance benefit* Ability to apply for a sabbatical of up to one year after only two years’ service* Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shopping* Generous parental leave policies* A range of wellbeing initiatives, such as employee assistance programme and free financial & mortgage adviceWho Are We?No restraints. No limitations. We don’t simply push boundaries. We completely rethink them. McLaren Automotive exists to create breath-taking performance road cars.It takes a community to do what we do. A diverse group of people with many areas of expertise, united by their passion to deliver visionary products and set new benchmarks.McLaren Automotive commits to equal opportunity for all. Diversity, Equality and Inclusion is at the heart of our impact, it drives our innovation and enables us to truly create something special. Join us on our journey.