New Model Launch Manager (Automotive Mfg)

Ford Motor Company; Allen Park (MI); Hybrid; USD 142,000 - 268,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/Dental/Vision

Vehicle discount program

Tuition assistance

Job summary

Ford Motor Company seeks a New Model Launch Manager to strategically oversee vehicle and powertrain launches across North America manufacturing plants. You will lead a high-performing team of launch supervisors and engineers, aligning with executives to ensure on-time delivery, budget adherence, and quality across programs.

Responsibilities include budget oversight, pre-production guidance, design change approvals, risk mitigation, and production readiness.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science in Engineering or related field.
• Strong PM and launch experience in manufacturing.
• Willingness to travel extensively and lead cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead multi-program launches and align with executive leadership.
• Oversee budgets, scope, and schedule for new model launches.
• Drive problem solving and risk mitigation across programs.
• Coordinate with plants, suppliers, and cross-functional teams.
• Deliver launch reviews and readiness scorecards.

Skills

Leadership

Project management

Strategic thinking

Communication

Problem solving

Team mentoring

Education

Bachelor of Science in Engineering

Master's degree (preferred)

Tools

Microsoft Project

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

The New Model Launch Manager holds a pivotal role in strategically overseeing and directing the successful launch of multiple new vehicle or powertrain models within manufacturing plants. The primary goal is to ensure these launches consistently meet or exceed targets for on-time delivery, budget adherence, and quality levels across multiple programs.

This leadership role is paramount to achieving launch excellence for new vehicle and powertrain models across Ford's North America Manufacturing Plants. The Manager will drive success by leading, mentoring, and empowering a high-performing team of launch supervisors and engineers, fostering a high-performing organization. This leader will collaborate extensively and strategically with diverse cross-functional teams and executive leadership, including Vice Presidents, to implement launch processes and standards, ensuring robust execution and alignment with overall business objectives. This role involves proactive engagement and communication with senior executive leadership on critical launch risks, opportunities, and strategic initiatives.

What You’ll Do

• Budget Oversight: Accountable for driving and ensuring overall budget adherence across multiple new model launches, identifying opportunities for cost optimization and efficiency.
• Pre-Production Oversight: Providing oversight and guidance on all activities leading up to the initial prototype and pre-production vehicle builds, ensuring these early builds are cost-effective and meet quality standards.
• Design Change Approval: Reviewing and approving design changes throughout the product development lifecycle, making sure these changes are supported in pre-production builds and thoroughly tested ("proven out") before the official launch.
• Organizational Support: Ensure that all necessary facilities, resources, and support infrastructure are in place and optimized to enable efficient operation for multiple on-site launch teams.
• Systemic Issue Resolution: Oversee the implementation and continuous improvement of issue management systems to proactively track, resolve, and prevent systemic issues that could impact launch success, focusing on cross-program challenges and long-term resolutions.
• Customer Feedback Integration: Driving the process of addressing concerns raised by early customer feedback vehicles (often called "Voice of the Customer Fleet") and ensuring these issues are resolved before launch.
• Change Control Management: Managing the new model program’s (NMP) involvement in the overall change control process (which may involve electronic approvals), ensuring that any proposed changes are necessary and implemented at the correct time.
• Risk Mitigation: Leading the development of strategies to reduce risks associated with parts that are not yet at full production quality, including plans to test and validate them for a high-quality launch.
• Production Readiness Approval: Leading the "Open to Go" process, which includes verifying the origin and quality of parts ("part pedigree") and providing final approval for any deviations or alerts needed for parts not fully approved for production ("PPAP") before critical build events.
• Plant Issue Tracking: Supporting the manufacturing issue management (often a "whiteboard" process) to ensure issues are resolved promptly.
• Executive Reporting & Risk Management: Proactively identify, analyze, and dimension complex launch risks across multiple programs, developing comprehensive mitigation plans and clearly articulating strategic status, risks, and opportunities to executive leadership.
• Meeting Cadence & Coordination: Establish and manage the meeting cadence for on-site launches and provide high-level coordination for ongoing launch activities across programs.
• Launch Review Presentations: Preparing and presenting comprehensive launch reviews, from early stages through to the "OK to Buy" decision point.
• Production Readiness Scorecards: Lead the strategic approval process for "OK to Build/Ship/Buy" scorecards at critical project milestones and beyond, ensuring robust scorecard preparation and review at all senior management meetings.
• On-Site Modifications: Leading the process for any modifications needed on-site, tracking these changes, and working with the plant and suppliers to manage part updates and inventory reduction plans.
• Lessons Learned: Drive the capture, analysis, and dissemination of lessons learned from launch programs, leveraging these insights to implement best practices and continuous improvement across the entire launch organization.
• Executive Collaboration & Stakeholder Management: Collaborate extensively and strategically with Launch Specialists, diverse skill teams, and executive leadership (including VPs) to drive integrated solutions, resolve complex challenges, and ensure seamless project execution across all managed programs.
• Standardization: Promoting consistent practices by adhering to established Launch Quality Standards (LQOS) and driving continuous improvement through Lessons Learned.
• Talent Development & Organization Leadership: Accountable for balancing direct report resources across programs based on workload and skill sets, ensuring successful launches. Responsible for talent development, succession planning, and performance management for the launch team.

Travel Requirement

This position requires frequent and extensive travel, including long-term assignments (up to 9-12 months at a time) to support vehicle and powertrain assembly plants during new model launches.

You’ll have...

• Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering or related field.
• Must be available for extensive travel, including long-term assignments.
• 6+ Years of experience in Powertrain/Vehicle Operations manufacturing, design, and/or program management, with Project management or launch experience.
• 6+ years of experience demonstrating a strong understanding of the processes and methodologies involved in bringing new vehicle models from development into full-scale production.
• Skilled in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Microsoft Project.
• Project management and/or launch experience.
• Experience with Engineering Change Management and Issue Management
• Experience with problem solving disciplines using statistical mindsets.

Even better, you may have...

• Master of Science degree in Engineering or related field.
• 8+ Years of experience in Powertrain/Vehicle Operations manufacturing, design, and/or program management, with Project management or launch experience.
• 8+ years of experience demonstrating a strong understanding of the processes and methodologies involved in bringing new vehicle models from development into full-scale production.
• 5+ Years of Leadership/Supervisory level experience.
• Skilled in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Microsoft Project.
• Project management and/or launch experience.
• Experience with Engineering Change Management and Issue Management
• Experience with problem solving disciplines using statistical mindsets.

We offer the benefit of choice. You can choose what your Ford future will look like: will your story span the globe, or keep you close to home? Will your career be a deep dive into what you love, or a series of new teams and new skills? Will you be a leader, a changemaker, a technical expert, a culture builder…or all of the above? No matter what you choose, we offer a work life that works for you, including:

• Immediate medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back-up child care and more
• Family building benefits including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility treatments, and more
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members and management leases
• Tuition assistance
• Established and active employee resource groups
• Paid time off for individual and team community service
• A generous schedule of paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day
• Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time.

This position is leadership level 5 and ranges from $141,700–$268,300.

Final determination of salary grade will be based on candidate’s skills and experience, and base salary will be set within the applicable range according to job scope, responsibility and competitive market value.

Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Candidates for positions with Ford Motor Company must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status or protected veteran status. In the United States, if you need a reasonable accommodation for the online application process due to a disability, please call 1-888-336-0660.

This position is hybrid with a requirement to be onsite four or more days per week.