Senior Manager, Components Experience Strategy

generalmotors; Warren (MI); On-site; USD 170,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

General Motors seeks a Senior Manager, Components Experience Strategy, a design leader shaping interior component experiences across programs and brands. You will translate strategy into priorities, criteria, and plans while guiding cross‑functional teams in ergonomics, usability and brand execution to deliver cohesive cockpit and cabin interactions.

The role emphasizes leadership, enterprise design initiatives, and a strong connection between physical components and digital experiences, with

Qualifications

• Extensive experience leading interior components, industrial, creative, Human Interface Design, or automotive design strategy across complex programs.
• Deep expertise in interior component design visioning, portfolio thinking, and translating customer, brand, and business needs into actionable design direction.
• Strong understanding of how physical interior components contribute to the broader human interface, including usability and ergonomics.
• Proven success influencing senior leaders and aligning cross-functional stakeholders in high-ambiguity, high-visibility environments.
• Demonstrated experience leading leaders, building teams, mentoring managers, and developing talent across multiple design disciplines or studios.
• Strong understanding of the interplay among design, engineering, manufacturing, marketing, brand execution, and customer experience within the vehicle interior.
• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design, Transportation Design, Product Design, Human Factors, or a related field.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead long-term strategy for interior vehicle component experiences across programs and studios.
• Establish vision and design direction for customer-facing interior touchpoints and components.
• Translate strategy into actionable component priorities, design criteria, and operating plans.
• Lead cross-functional challenges balancing design, ergonomics, packaging, engineering, cost and quality.
• Define how physical experiences integrate with digital and visual interaction layers.
• Use data and insight to anticipate future interior component directions.
• Align stakeholders, elevate standards, and develop future design leaders.

Skills

Interior components leadership

Design strategy translation

Usability and ergonomics

Influencing senior leaders

Leading leaders & mentoring

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design/Transportation Design/Product Design/Human Factors

Advanced degree in related field

Job description

Job Description

The Role

The Senior Manager, Components Experience Strategy is a design leader within Human Interface Design responsible for defining how interior vehicle components contribute to a cohesive, intuitive, and distinctive customer experience. This role translates GM and Design strategy into clear direction for cockpit and cabin touchpoints, portfolio priorities, design criteria, and operating plans across programs, brands, and regions. Operating with broad latitude in a complex environment, this leader shapes enterprise initiatives, influences senior decisions, and connects component choices to customer experience, brand equity, usability, feasibility, and business outcomes. The role will help establish the future direction of physical and digital interaction across the vehicle interior while strengthening the organization’s design capability and leadership pipeline.

What You’ll Do

• Define and lead long-term strategy for interior vehicle component experiences across major programs, portfolios, and studios, ensuring alignment with GM business strategy, customer needs, and brand direction.

• Establish vision and design direction for customer-facing interior touchpoints, including instrument panel elements, center stack and console components, door-mounted controls, steering wheel touchpoints, display surrounds, storage interfaces, and trim‑integrated interaction points.

• Translate strategy into actionable component priorities, design criteria, operating plans, resource choices, and measurable objectives for teams and leaders across the organization.

• Lead complex, ambiguous, cross‑functional challenges involving interior component integration while balancing design intent with ergonomics, human factors, packaging, engineering, manufacturing, timing, cost, and quality requirements.

• Define how physical component experiences work with digital and visual interaction layers to deliver a cohesive Human Interface Design strategy across hardware and software touchpoints.

• Use design judgment, customer understanding, data, competitive insight, and trend awareness to anticipate future‑state interior component experience direction before it reaches the market.

• Align senior stakeholders, elevate organizational standards, develop future component design leaders, and own strategic initiatives and KPIs that improve customer experience and functional results.

Your Skills & Abilities (Required Qualifications)

• Extensive experience leading interior components, industrial, creative, Human Interface Design, or automotive design strategy across complex programs, portfolios, or studios.

• Deep expertise in interior component design visioning, portfolio thinking, and translating customer, brand, and business needs into actionable design direction.

• Strong understanding of how physical interior components contribute to the broader human interface, including usability, ergonomics, controls, touchpoints, and integration with digital experiences.

• Proven success influencing senior leaders and aligning cross‑functional stakeholders in high‑ambiguity, high‑visibility environments.

• Demonstrated experience leading leaders, building teams, mentoring managers, and developing talent across multiple design disciplines or studios.

• Strong understanding of the interplay among design, engineering, manufacturing, marketing, brand execution, and customer experience within the vehicle interior.

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design, Transportation Design, Product Design, Human Factors, or a related field.

What Will Give You a Competitive Edge (Preferred Qualifications)

• Advanced degree in Industrial Design, Transportation Design, Product Design, Human Factors, or a related field.

• Experience shaping interior component strategy for global automotive brands, regions, or multi‑studio design organizations.

• Experience establishing design operating models, governance, measurement frameworks, or KPIs for enterprise design initiatives.

• Strong executive storytelling and strategic communication skills, with a portfolio of decisions or initiatives that influenced organizational direction.

• Experience connecting physical component design with software, UX, visual design, or other digital interaction disciplines.

Leadership Expectations

This leader is expected to model GM behaviors, lead inclusively, move with urgency, speak fearlessly, and own outcomes while setting a high bar for integrity, customer focus, innovation, and enterprise thinking.

GM does not provide immigration‑related sponsorship for this role. Do not apply for this role if you will need GM immigration sponsorship now or in the future. This includes direct company sponsorship, entry of GM as the immigration employer of record on a government form, and any work authorization requiring a written submission or other immigration support from the company (e.g., H1‑B, OPT, STEM OPT, CPT, TN, J‑1, etc). This role is categorized as onsite. This means the selected candidate is expected to report to a specific location on a full‑time basis. The selected candidate will be required to travel <25% for this role. This job may be eligible for relocation benefits.

About GM

Our vision is a world with Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions and Zero Congestion and we embrace the responsibility to lead the change that will make our world better, safer and more equitable for all.

Why Join Us

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We encourage interested candidates to review the key responsibilities and qualifications for each role and apply for any positions that match their skills and capabilities. Applicants in the recruitment process may be required, where applicable, to successfully complete a role‑related assessment(s) and/or a pre‑employment screening prior to beginning employment. To learn more, visit How we Hire.

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