Vice President Global Industrial Engineering (m/f/d)

Knorr Bremse Group; Delaware; Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Knorr Bremse Group in Delaware seeks an experienced manufacturing/operations leader to drive strategic planning, global plant footprint decisions, and the industrialization of new products. You will steer capital investments, digital shop-floor initiatives, and KPI transparency across sites in a highly technical, multinational environment.

The role requires extensive manufacturing leadership, deep process knowledge, and a proven ability to manage global production networks and complex supplier

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in the manufacturing industry, preferably in the automotive or commercial vehicle sector
• Proven leadership track record in Operations, including responsibility for complex production organizations
• In‑depth understanding of manufacturing processes, supply chain management and quality management
• Experience managing global production organizations and dealing with diverse markets, cultures and regulatory environments
• Demonstrated expertise in digitization, operational excellence and resilience in manufacturing operations
• Fluent in English and German
• Demonstrated ability to lead large teams and drive operational excellence
• Strong change‑management capabilities, high social competence and empathy, with a keen sense for nuances
• Outstanding communication skills and the ability to interact confidently across all hierarchical levels
• Strong intuition for priorities and time management, with the ability to advance projects in a focused and pragmatic way
• High level of team spirit, flexibility and pragmatism combined with a structured, analytical and self‑responsible working style, as well as strong integration skills
• Hands‑on mentality and strong implementation focus

Responsibilities

• Own strategic manufacturing planning, including decisions on the global manufacturing footprint, plant and network structure, and product allocation
• Coordinate all Industrial Engineering activities together with the lead plants; define global equipment standards and align them with lead plants and regions
• Decide on the strategic allocation of investment projects and manage the overall Capex budget
• Guide and oversee decision‑making processes related to equipment investments
• Take end‑to‑end responsibility for the operational product creation process and the industrialization of new products
• Drive digitization in manufacturing and ensure the effective deployment of digital solutions on the shop floor
• Monitor and analyze plant performance, ensuring transparency of key KPIs across all sites
• Define specific strategies, policies and standards for Industrial Engineering and production systems
• Develop and maintain strategic target systems for the global production network
• Take final decisions on budget and allocation of financial, material and human resources within your scope
• Plan the strategic and mid‑term technical development of production technologies
• Ensure aligned production and logistics technologies along the entire value chain
• Ensure continuous analysis and high technical efficiency of all production processes
• Ensure the planning and successful implementation of strategically relevant investment projects in the plants
• Act as key interface for regions, Business Units and the COO on topics such as standardization, digitization, KPI tracking, footprint decisions and investments

Job description

ON-SITE/REMOTE: Hybrid

YOUR TASKS

• Own strategic manufacturing planning, including decisions on the global manufacturing footprint, plant and network structure, and product allocation
• Coordinate all Industrial Engineering activities together with the lead plants; define global equipment standards and align them with lead plants and regions
• Decide on the strategic allocation of investment projects and manage the overall Capex budget
• Guide and oversee decision‑making processes related to equipment investments
• Take end‑to‑end responsibility for the operational product creation process and the industrialization of new products
• Drive digitization in manufacturing and ensure the effective deployment of digital solutions on the shop floor
• Monitor and analyze plant performance, ensuring transparency of key KPIs across all sites
• Define specific strategies, policies and standards for Industrial Engineering and production systems
• Develop and maintain strategic target systems for the global production network
• Take final decisions on budget and allocation of financial, material and human resources within your scope
• Plan the strategic and mid‑term technical development of production technologies
• Ensure aligned production and logistics technologies along the entire value chain
• Ensure continuous analysis and high technical efficiency of all production processes
• Ensure the planning and successful implementation of strategically relevant investment projects in the plants
• Act as key interface for regions, Business Units and the COO on topics such as standardization, digitization, KPI tracking, footprint decisions and investments

YOUR PROFILE

• Extensive experience in the manufacturing industry, preferably in the automotive or commercial vehicle sector
• Proven leadership track record in Operations, including responsibility for complex production organizations
• In‑depth understanding of manufacturing processes, supply chain management and quality management
• Experience managing global production organizations and dealing with diverse markets, cultures and regulatory environments
• Demonstrated expertise in digitization, operational excellence and resilience in manufacturing operations
• Fluent in English and German
• Demonstrated ability to lead large teams and drive operational excellence
• Strong change‑management capabilities, high social competence and empathy, with a keen sense for nuances
• Outstanding communication skills and the ability to interact confidently across all hierarchical levels
• Strong intuition for priorities and time management, with the ability to advance projects in a focused and pragmatic way
• High level of team spirit, flexibility and pragmatism combined with a structured, analytical and self‑responsible working style, as well as strong integration skills
• Hands‑on mentality and strong implementation focus

Who are we? Some 32,000 team players around the world, hard at work in over 100 locations across more than 30 countries. As a force for progress on road and rail, we prioritize technical excellence, sustainable business practices and social responsibility. At the last count, our global revenues totaled EUR 7.9 billion. Join us, and you can expect exciting, varied work in an international environment with attractive working conditions – including flexible working hours, sabbaticals and remote work. In addition, you can work up to twenty days a year from abroad in the EU. A broad selection of continuing education programs offers you plenty of opportunities to develop both professionally and personally. And you can look forward to many other benefits, such as sports and healthcare programs, corporate volunteering, JobRad bicycle leasing, subsidized public transit options, and a state‑of‑the‑art workplace with a rich choice of in‑house catering options.