Principal Product Line Strategist
Denso · Southfield
Lead the development and execution of North American business and product strategy for Heat Exchanger (HEX) products. This position is responsible for integrating customer requirements, product needs, manufacturing capabilities, capacity, cost competitiveness, and investment planning into short- and long-term strategies that support North American Thermal business objectives. The role operates cross-functionally across Engineering, Manufacturing, Business Planning, Sales, and other related functions to establish direction, align stakeholders, and drive approved strategies through execution. The position serves as a subject matter expert for Heat Exchanger business strategy and provides recommendations and regular business updates to Business Unit and executive leadership.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
Product and Business Strategy
- Lead and align the North American Heat Exchanger product strategy by gathering internal and external stakeholder requirements, evaluating customer and market needs, and translating business inputs into actionable short- and long-term plans.
- Establish the Heat Exchanger product types, volumes, and capacity requirements needed to support the Annual Sales Plan and longer-term North American customer demand.
- Develop business scenarios and recommendations that balance customer requirements, technical capability, manufacturing feasibility, cost competitiveness, and business objectives.
Manufacturing Footprint and Capacity Strategy
- Establish and maintain the North American Heat Exchanger manufacturing footprint and capacity strategy based on customer demand, existing manufacturing capabilities, equipment capacity, investment requirements, and competitiveness targets.
- Evaluate product sourcing alternatives across North American manufacturing locations and other regions and determine appropriate sourcing locations within approved business plans.
- Coordinate with Manufacturing Planning and Investment Planning to develop recommendations for new capacity, production-line investment, footprint changes, and future manufacturing requirements.
Cost Planning and Competitiveness
- Lead Heat Exchanger Cost Planning Activity (CPA) by establishing cost targets and coordinating cross-functional actions necessary to achieve business competitiveness objectives.
- Drive Design and Manufacturing Value Analysis/Value Engineering activities and other cost-improvement initiatives in support of approved CPA targets.
- Benchmark competitive products, technologies, and internal manufacturing performance to identify opportunities to improve technical value, manufacturing efficiency, and overall cost competitiveness.
Cross-Functional Leadership and Execution
- Lead cross-functional planning and execution across Engineering, Manufacturing, Business Planning, Sales, and related functions to ensure alignment with approved business and product strategies.
- Coordinate directly with Director-level functional leaders to obtain required inputs, establish priorities, resolve issues, and drive execution of key initiatives.
- Establish detailed cross-functional action plans following strategy approval and conduct ongoing PDCA to ensure progress against agreed objectives.
- Provide direction and coordination to matrixed resources supporting Heat Exchanger business activities while maintaining alignment with their respective functional organizations.
Business Accountability and Executive Communication
- Maintain accountability for approved Heat Exchanger strategies from planning through execution and achievement of established business targets.
- Monitor progress against key business, cost, capacity, investment, and execution objectives and identify corrective actions when performance is not meeting plan.
- Provide recommendations, business status, risks, and progress updates to Business Unit and executive leadership on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual basis.
- Exercise independent decision-making within approved budgets, strategies, and delegated authority while escalating major strategic direction and investment decisions for executive approval as required.
Scope and Business Impact
- Supports approximately 6 million units annually of Evaporator and Heater Core production supporting North American Thermal HVAC sales.
- Influences approximately $200 million in annual manufacturing cost associated with Heat Exchanger production.
- Supports approximately $20 million in annual investment planning.
- Responsible for developing and driving strategies intended to materially improve Heat Exchanger cost competitiveness and support North American mid-term business objectives.
- Works across multiple North American manufacturing locations and global functions as required.
Leadership Scope
- No direct reports at initial implementation.
- Leads through cross-functional and matrix relationships with resources from Business Planning, Manufacturing Planning, Engineering, and Program Management.
- Operates primarily through strategic influence, subject matter expertise, business accountability, and coordination across Director-level functional organizations.
Decision-Making Authority
Within approved business strategies, budgets, and delegated authority, the position is expected to:
- Establish Heat Exchanger cost planning targets.
- Determine recommended product sourcing locations across North American manufacturing operations.
- Lead Design and Manufacturing VAVE change activity supporting cost and competitiveness objectives.
- Approve spending within agreed budgets and business plans.
- Develop and execute detailed implementation plans following approval of overall strategic direction.
- Major strategic changes, significant investments, and business direction requiring executive approval are presented to Business Unit and executive leadership for alignment and approval.
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree
- 12+ years of related experience
- Demonstrated experience supporting manufacturing, business planning, engineering, quality, sales, or related business functions
- Experience working across multiple functions and organizational levels to develop and execute complex business strategies
- Strong ability to analyze customer, product, manufacturing, and business trends from both technical and commercial perspectives.
- Demonstrated ability to develop business scenarios and translate complex information into actionable recommendations.
- Strong strategic planning, analytical, and problem-solving capability.
- Ability to lead cross-functional activities and influence stakeholders without direct reporting authority.
- Strong understanding of manufacturing capability, capacity planning, cost planning, investment planning, and product competitiveness.
- Demonstrated ability to communicate recommendations and business status effectively with Director and executive-level leadership.
- Strong relationship-building skills with internal stakeholders, customers, suppliers, and global counterparts.
- Ability to lead execution through structured planning, follow-up, and PDCA.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA), Engineering, Supply Chain Management, or a related field
- 15+ years of experience in automotive manufacturing, product planning, business strategy, operations, engineering, or related functions
- Direct experience with Heat Exchanger products, HVAC systems, thermal management products, or other automotive cooling and climate-control technologies
- Demonstrated success developing and executing product, manufacturing footprint, capacity, or sourcing strategies within a complex manufacturing environment
- Experience leading Cost Planning Activities (CPA), Value Analysis/Value Engineering (VAVE), cost reduction initiatives, or profitability improvement programs
- Strong understanding of automotive OEM customer requirements, sourcing decisions, product lifecycle management, and market dynamics
- Proven track record of owning a product line or business segment strategy with accountability for volume planning, manufacturing footprint decisions, cost competitiveness, and executive-level business performance reporting.
Benefits Summary:
- Medical, Dental, Vision, Prescription Drug plans
- 401K with 4% Company Match
- Vacation/PTO and 13 paid Holidays
- Bonus Program
- FSA/HSA and Dependent Care Programs
- Company provided Life, Disability, ADD and Business Travel Insurance
- Various No Cost Wellness & Chronic Condition Management Programs
- Various Optional Insurance programs such as legal, identity theft, critical illness, etc.
- Tuition Reimbursement
- Career Development and Ongoing Training
- Employee Assistance Program
- Employee Spotlight and Recognition Program
- Volunteer Opportunities
- Onsite Fitness Center (vary by location)
- Cafeteria and food markets (vary by location)
- Onsite Health Clinic and Pharmacy (vary by location)
Candidates residing 50+ miles from the work location are eligible for relocation assistance.
Annual Salary: $162,500 - $203,000
See Job Code: BCP.25.P6.02 issued by Azhar Hossain on 8/16/26