Director, Design & Procurement PM — Launch Leader

Blue Bird Corporation; Troy (MI); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Continued Professional Development

Benefits package

Job summary

Blue Bird Corporation is seeking a Director of Project Management, Design and Procurement to lead design readiness, technical transfer, supplier onboarding, and procurement execution for the next-generation F53/F59 chassis platform.

The role coordinates across engineering, product, supply chain, purchasing, supplier quality, finance, Ford, and Detroit Chassis to ensure continuous product quality and scalable platform expansion.

Qualifications

• Strong understanding of design release processes, supplier readiness, procurement planning, change control, and launch risk management.
• Ability to influence technical and commercial stakeholders without direct authority and communicate complex risks clearly.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain the integrated design and procurement project plan, including milestones, sourcing deliverables, supplier readiness, material availability, and critical path dependencies.
• Coordinate platform transfer activities and ensure design requirements, product specs, certifications, test validation, quality expectations, and feature continuity are tracked.
• Partner with procurement and supply chain to support supplier selection, tooling needs, long-lead material planning, cost targets, and supply continuity.
• Coordinate with SQE to ensure supplier compliance is completed in a timely manner aligned with milestones.
• Manage risks related to design changes, release timing, supplier capacity, component availability, cost, quality, and schedule adherence.
• Engage with Ford and Detroit Chassis stakeholders for knowledge transfer, issue resolution, and Powered by Ford requirements alignment.
• Engage body builders to plan chassis readiness; ensure prototyping/pilot builds meet launch timelines.
• Provide regular updates to the Sr Director on design readiness, sourcing progress, and mitigation plans.
• Ensure milestones align with master launch schedule and supplier/material readiness for production.

Skills

Design release processes

Stakeholder influence

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, supply chain, business, or related field

Job description

Blue Bird Corporation is seeking a Director of Project Management, Design and Procurement to lead design readiness, technical transfer, supplier onboarding, and procurement execution for the next-generation F53/F59 chassis platform.

The role coordinates across engineering, product, supply chain, purchasing, supplier quality, finance, Ford, and Detroit Chassis to ensure continuous product quality and scalable platform expansion.