Director of Product Development (automotive)

The organisation

LKQ Europe, a subsidiary of LKQ Corporation, is the leading distributor of the automotive aftermarket parts for cars, commercial vans and industrial vehicles in Europe. They currently have more than 27.000 employees in 21 European countries with a network of over 1.100 branches. LKQ Europe is looking for a Director of Product Development who will be responsible for managing all Private Label ranges of the European organization.

The position

As Director of Product Development, you will be responsible for maintaining and developing a large range of automotive Private Labels for spare and wear parts. Your team members  (50 fte) are located throughout the European branches. The role will suit an individual who has extensive product management / development knowledge within the automotive / aftermarket industry.

The Director of Product development will be working , together with the LKQ European leadership team, from the office located at the European headquarters in Zug, Switzerland.

It is the express wish that the new colleague – Director of Product Development – also settles in the Zug region of Switzerland within a reasonable period of time.

Tasks & responsibilities

• Defining the strategic agenda for reducing the product assortment of Private Labels in collaboration with the product management function of LKQ Europe;
• Direction and sign-off of product development standards, technical data standards, best practice and KPI's;
• Constantly ensuring that the development of new products meets the independent aftermarkets needs of a continuously changing market;
• Providing industry leading technical data quality of the products to exceed user expectations;
• Coordination with key stakeholders within the organization (product management, procurement, quality, supply chain, commercial and marketing);
• Developing a motivated and effective team of professionals;
• Effective leadership across organizational boundaries to ensure optimal business decisions, effective execution and promotion.

Candidate profile

As Director of Product Development you must have...

Key and desired skills:

• An experienced leader in product development or production in the automotive supplier industry, preferably with focus on the automotive aftermarket;
• Technical or business university degree;
• Experience in the automotive supplier industry or independent aftermarket;
• Experience in leading multiple multidisciplinary teams in several countries and companies within a matrix organization;
• Experience in dealing with producers in Europe and Asia;
• Proven leadership skills in an international environment;
• Hands on mentality and attention to details;
• Enthusiastic, self-motivated, proactive, willing to take responsibility;
• Fluent in English;
• German is desirable but not essential.

Interested?

You can apply to this position by using the link below.