Mgr, UX Market Analytics

Volkswagen Group; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 183,000 - 293,000; Full time

Job summary

Volkswagen Group in the United States seeks a Manager Benchmarking & User Experience (Autonomous Driving Technologies) based in San Jose, CA, fully on-site. The role leads benchmarking initiatives to evaluate competitive UX in autonomous driving, shaping ADAS and HMI requirements for Audi of America.

You will conduct primary and secondary research, translate insights into product features, collaborate with engineering, design, product management and marketing, and guide a data-driven UX strategy

Qualifications

• Bachelor degree or higher in relevant fields.
• Master/PhD preferred
• 10+ years in User experience development with focus on HMI
• 10+ years in market analytics – qualitative and quantitative research
• 10+ years of understanding Volkswagen business and engineering processes

Responsibilities

• Define and lead the benchmarking strategy focused on user experience in autonomous driving technologies.
• Analyze competitor solutions and emerging innovations to identify best-in-class practices.
• Translate benchmarking insights into actionable ADAS and HMI requirements.
• Monitor US market trends to inform UX strategy for autonomous driving.
• Lead end-to-end US ADAS HMI customer journey for Audi of America.

Skills

Leadership

UX strategy

Benchmarking

Market research

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor Degree in Psychology, Market research, Engineering or Management

Job description

Worldwide, the Volkswagen Group has a long tradition of dramatic innovations. The Volkswagen Group with its headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany is one of the world’s leading automobile manufacturers and the largest carmaker in Europe. The Group comprises twelve brands from seven European countries: Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Audi, SEAT, ŠKODA, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Ducati, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Scania and MAN.

Brief Role Description

This position is a career level 29L, and is located in San Jose, CA with a role classification of Fully On-Site.

The Manager benchmarking & User Experience (Autonomous Driving Technologies) plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of autonomous mobility by driving user experience excellence tailored to the U.S. market. This position is responsible for implementing and leading benchmarking initiatives that evaluate competitive solutions and emerging technologies, with a specific focus on user experience in autonomous driving. Through these efforts, the manager ensures that Audi’s offerings meet and exceed customer expectations while remaining at the forefront of innovation.

To understand the nuanced needs of U.S. customers, the role requires the execution of both primary and secondary research, including the collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative market data. These insights inform product strategy and help identify trends that influence the development of ADAS and Human-Machine Interface (HMI) requirements. The manager leads a data-driven, customer-centric approach to define technical characteristics and user interaction models that enhance the in-vehicle experience.

Collaboration across cross-functional teams—including engineering, design, product management, and marketing—is essential to translate customer insights into actionable product features. The ultimate objective of this role is to deliver best-in-class user experience solutions for autonomous driving technologies, ensuring Audi’s leadership in the U.S. market through strategic benchmarking and continuous refinement.

This individual interacts with various internal (AoA//VWGoA/AUDI AG/Volkswagen AG / Porsche AG / CARIAD SE) and strategic external stakeholders to ensure best alignment and fit.

Possible Tasks within this Role

Benchmarking (30%)

• Define and lead the benchmarking strategy focused on user experience in autonomous driving technologies
• Analyze competitor solutions and emerging innovations to identify best-in-class practices
• Translate benchmarking insights into actionable ADAS and HMI requirements
• Monitor global and U.S.-specific trends related to ADAS product and UX strategy
• Support strategic decision-making with data-driven evaluations and comparisons.
• Drive continuous improvement of user experience through structured benchmarking cycles

User experience strategy and concept (30%)

• Develop highly sophisticated UX Vision and Mission for autonomous driving functions within the US market. Set specific and measurable goals for the team in order to achieve improvement for the holistic user experience of assisted and piloted features
• Oversee the user centered design process and enable an iterative development approach for autonomous driving interfaces
• Lead interdisciplinary concept development considering HMI software engineering, design and research
• Lead rapid HMI prototyping activities to ensure quick reality checks of US HMI product solutions
• Utilize analytics and user data to steer sustainable UX decisions
• Formalize US requirement process with stakeholder
• Own the end-to-end current and future-state ADAS HMI customer journey for Audi of America

Market research and analytics (20%)

• Lead primary and secondary research projects to generate a data base for autonomous driving
• Conduct qualitative and quantitative research to understand US user needs and derive market specific requirements
• Conduct competitive analysis to identify strength and weaknesses of competitors. Derive market opportunities and threats based on competitive landscape
• Develop Audi driving characteristics for autonomous driving solutions based on market specific road scenarios
• Lead market trend analysis to identify technology trends and create future vision for ADAS_AD
• Define research cooperations with universities and represent Audi of America in the academic environment

Leadership (20%)

• Represent the Audi brand NAR in the field of ADAS in meetings and committees on board / top management level.
• Influence team of 2 FTE within digital, connection, data and product department to align on strategic direction, priorities, and execution.
• Be comfortable with managing small teams of less than 10 people

Qualification requirements

Education

• Bachelor Degree in Psychology, Market research, Engineering or Management

Desired

• Master/PhD
• Extensive knowledge of internal OEM processes to drive decisions
• Extensive knowledge of autonomous driving development (ADAS_AD)
• 10+ years of experience in User experience development with focus on Human Machine Interfaces
• 10+ years of experience in market analytics – qualitative and quantitative research
• 10+ years of in-depth understanding of the worldwide Volkswagen business and engineering processes

Skills

• Ability to demonstrate a prominent level of credibility with all tiers of internal and external stakeholders.
• Aptitude for communicating with all levels of employees from technical to non-technical teams; strong written, verbal, analytical, and presentation skills. Customer-centric approach to developing, evaluating, and implementing innovation projects.
• Analytical and conceptual thinking skills, grounded in logic and reason along with creative and strategic thinking.
• Strong leadership presentation skills.
• Proven end-to-end strategic leadership, from conception to development (testing) and implementation.
• Savviness in the use of computers and software.
• Proven track record of acting effectively in an agile environment.
• Integration abilities that facilitate connection of people, processes, or systems.
• Influencing and negotiation skills.
• Problem-solving abilities.
• Resource management capabilities.

Required

Specialized Skills

• Proven experience with leading, mentoring and guiding interdisciplinary HMI teams considering SW Engineering, Research and Design Input
• Proven experience with HMI system design which includes translating HMI concept into engineering requirement which will be the input for SW development
• Proven experience in user and market research to determine US requirements
• Strong functional knowledge for assisted and piloted driving features
• Knowledge of functional safety, safety in use, product liability for ADAS_AD
• Experience with US product strategy and product planning
• Knowledge on industry development processes like SPICE and Scrum.

Desired

• German language skills (written & spoken)
• Experience with working in OEM environment
• Experience with working in cross-functional environment

Work Flexibility

• Flexibility to travel (domestic and international)
• Full time position

Compensation Data

For California and Fully remote jobs only:

• Salary range is dependent on factors such as geographical differentials, industry-based experience, skills, training, credentials, and other qualifications.
• In the state of California, the salary range is $182,900 - $292,550.

Volkswagen Group of America is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We welcome and encourage applicants from all backgrounds, and do not discriminate based on race, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, color, gender identity/expression, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected by applicable laws.

This role description is a guideline and does not create contractual rights between the Company and its applicants. The Company does not enter into any type of employment contract, implied or written, with its applicants regarding job security.

This Organization participates in E-Verify. We maintain a drug free workplace and perform pre-employment substance abuse testing.