Program Manager - K2 Platform

Responsibilities & Key Deliverables

As the Program Manager for the K2 Platform at Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, you will play a pivotal role in overseeing the planning, execution, and monitoring of vehicle program deliverables in alignment with the Mahindra New Product Development (NPD) process. Your responsibilities will include:

• Strategically planning and managing project timelines, milestones, and deliverables to ensure on-time and on-budget completion of vehicle development programs. • Identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks throughout the program lifecycle by collaborating closely with cross-functional teams and stakeholders to resolve bottlenecks promptly. • Leading the creation and maintenance of dynamic dashboards and reporting tools that provide real-time visibility into project health, critical paths, and key performance indicators for management review. • Updating project health status and communicating critical path developments to the management team every fortnight, enabling informed decision-making and proactive issue resolution. • Driving IT-enabled Project Management Office (PMO) initiatives such as developing engineering release portals, online dashboards, and other digital tools to streamline program tracking and enhance transparency. • Liaising with the NPD Quality Assurance team to coordinate progress on gateway reviews and secure Start of Production (SOP) clearances, ensuring compliance with quality and regulatory standards. • Maintaining commercial acumen by evaluating and contributing to business cases for new programs, ensuring that financial objectives align with project goals. • Preparing and delivering comprehensive management review presentations that synthesize progress reports, risk assessments, and strategic plans to senior leadership.

You will be expected to foster cross-functional collaboration, cultivate a problem-solving mindset within the team, and champion continuous improvement in program management processes, facilitating the successful launch of innovative vehicle products.

Experience

The ideal candidate will bring 5 to 8 years of professional experience in program or project management, ideally within the automotive or related manufacturing sectors. This experience should encompass:

• End-to-end management of complex product development programs, demonstrating hands-on expertise in planning, executing, and closing projects with multiple stakeholders and cross-functional teams. • Proven track record of effectively managing risks, issues, and dependencies in fast-paced environments, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities and timelines. • Demonstrated use of project management tools such as MS Project, with capability to design and maintain project dashboards and reporting systems that track progress against critical milestones. • Experience collaborating with quality assurance teams to navigate product gateway approvals and SOP readiness checkpoints within a structured development process. • Acumen in commercial evaluation of programs including understanding financial metrics like Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and payback periods to inform program feasibility and prioritization decisions. • Previous involvement in delivering presentations and status reports to senior management and executive leadership. • Competitive knowledge of product lifecycle management and an understanding of design and engineering processes, even if not directly involved in design activities.