Program Manager

BorgWarner; Bellwood (IL); On-site; USD 126,000 - 173,000; Full time

Job summary

BorgWarner is seeking a Program Manager to lead a global, cross-functional team from pursuit through launch and production release. You will own the integrated program plan, drive disciplined APQP readiness, manage risks, and ensure safety, quality, timing, cost, and cash commitments.

You will communicate with customers, suppliers, plant leadership, and senior management to deliver results. The role emphasizes governance, timely decisions, and transparent reporting, with a focus on continuous

Responsibilities

• Own the integrated program plan, scope, milestones, and success measures aligned with the development process.
• Lead cross-functional program kickoffs, reviews, phase-gates, executive updates, and closeouts.
• Manage multiple programs with clear priorities, interdependencies, and escalation paths.
• Drive APQP execution and readiness for design/process validation, PPAP, and safe production start.
• Build and maintain the program budget, capital plan, resource plan, and financial forecast.
• Lead risk, change, and issue management with structured problem solving and contingency planning.
• Collaborate with Sales, Finance, Purchasing, and Engineering on quotations, negotiations, and decisions.
• Represent BorgWarner professionally with customers and suppliers to build trust and ensure execution.

Job description

The Program Manager is the accountable business leader for assigned customer programs from pursuit and award through development, launch, production stabilization, engineering changes, and closeout. The role leads a global, cross-functional team without relying on direct reporting authority and is responsible for delivering customer and business commitments for safety, quality, timing, cost, cash, and launch performance. The Program Manager establishes clear governance, anticipates and closes risk, enables timely decisions, and maintains transparent communication with customers, suppliers, plant leadership, and senior management.

Program Strategy and Governance

• Own the integrated program plan, scope, assumptions, milestones, deliverables, decision rights, and success measures in alignment with the BorgWarner product development process and customer-specific requirements.
• Lead program kickoffs, recurring cross-functional reviews, phase-gate reviews, executive updates, and formal program closeout.
• Manage multiple programs or workstreams with clear priorities, resource requirements, interdependencies, and escalation paths.

Launch, APQP and Customer Readiness

• Drive disciplined APQP execution and readiness for design validation, process validation, PPAP, safe launch, start of production, and production ramp-up.
• Confirm that product, process, tooling, capacity, supplier, logistics, packaging, quality, training, maintenance, and operational-readiness deliverables are complete and validated.
• Lead recovery planning when milestones, quality, capacity, or customer commitments are at risk.

Financial and Commercial Performance

• Build and maintain the program business case, budget, capital plan, resource plan, and financial forecast.
• Monitor program profitability, investment, tooling, engineering cost, launch cost, warranty exposure, cost-change impacts, and cash milestones; drive corrective actions when performance deviates from plan.
• Partner with Sales, Finance, Purchasing, and Engineering to support quotations, customer negotiations, change recovery, and commercial decisions.

Risk, Change and Issue Management

• Maintain an active risk and opportunity register covering technical, timing, quality, supply, capacity, financial, regulatory, and customer risks, with owners, due dates, and mitigation plans.
• Lead structured problem solving and fact-based decision making using appropriate methods such as 8D, root-cause analysis, lessons learned, and contingency planning.
• Control scope and engineering changes by assessing cross-functional impacts, securing approvals, updating plans, and communicating decisions.

Cross-Functional and Stakeholder Leadership

• Lead and influence Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, Purchasing, Sales, Finance, Operations, suppliers, and other stakeholders to meet program commitments.
• Create a high-accountability team environment with clear ownership, constructive challenge, rapid issue resolution, and inclusive decision making.
• Represent BorgWarner professionally with customers and suppliers, building trust through transparency, responsiveness, and reliable execution.

Digital Program Management and Reporting

• Use approved program-management and collaboration systems to maintain a single, current source of truth for timing, cost, risks, actions, decisions, and deliverables.
• Use dashboards and data analytics to identify trends, forecast outcomes, highlight exceptions, and support timely management decisions.
• Ensure program records, approvals, changes, and customer deliverables are accurate, traceable, audit-ready, and protected in accordance with applicable requirements.

Continuous Improvement and Sustainable Execution

• Conduct post-launch and lessons-learned reviews; convert learning into improved standards, tools, estimates, and future program plans.
• Challenge the team to improve manufacturability, quality, cost, delivery, energy/resource efficiency, and lifecycle value while meeting customer and regulatory requirements.
• Support knowledge transfer, talent development, and repeatable program-management practices across the organization.

Salary Range: $125,600 - $172,700

BorgWarner is a global product leader in delivering innovative and sustainable mobility solutions. We are a company of innovators and independent thinkers that brings together talented employees, meaningful work and amazing technology in a unique environment. At BorgWarner we constantly work towards our vision of a clean and energy-efficient world.

Our Culture

BorgWarner promotes and nurtures a diverse and inclusive environment, honors integrity, strives for excellence, commits to responsibility for our communities and the environment, and builds on the power of collaboration. We believe the health and safety of our employees are a top priority.

Career Opportunities

We manage talent as seriously as we manage our businesses and encourage you to learn about our proud history, strong culture, technologies, and vision for the future. We offer positions locally and globally with over 90 locations in 19 countries.

You may see the list of requirements and feel you do not meet all of them. However, remember that BorgWarner thinks differently.