Harman

A Career at HARMAN Automotive

We’re a global, multi-disciplinary team that’s putting the innovative power of technology to work and transforming tomorrow. At HARMAN Automotive, we give you the keys to fast-track your career.

• Engineer audio systems and integrated technology platforms that augment the driving experience
• Combine ingenuity, in-depth research, and a spirit of collaboration with design and engineering excellence
• Advance in-vehicle infotainment, safety, efficiency, and enjoyment

About the Role

As the Speaker Product Business Lead, you will translate global speaker strategy into executable industrial and supply solutions, leveraging China as a speed and scale advantage. This is a Director‑level leadership role responsible for driving strategic speaker initiatives and platforms across the full product lifecycle, from benchmarking and RFQ strategy through industrialization and SOP. You will lead a cross‑functional engineering team and work closely with suppliers and global stakeholders to accelerate execution, enable standardization, and improve supply resiliency. In this role, you will report directly to the global speaker leadership.

What You Will Do

1. Product Strategy & Market Requirements Ownership

• Define and own the speaker product strategy— including market segmentation, product positioning, platform architecture, and feature prioritization — ensuring a global aligned portfolio strategy while capturing China-specific OEM and consumer requirements.
• Lead systematic voice-of-customer and market intelligence processes, engaging directly with OEM product planning, audio engineering, and purchasing stakeholders to surface unmet needs, competitive gaps, and timing requirements that inform product investment decisions.
• Own Product Requirements Documents (PRDs) for China-executed speaker programs, ensuring requirements are technically grounded, commercially justified, and program-ready.
• Own competitive benchmarking for the speaker portfolio — tracking competitor capabilities, cost structures, and OEM preferences — and translate findings into actionable product positioning, feature trade-offs, and platform investment priorities.
• Define and maintain the speaker product roadmap, sequencing platform development, feature releases, and industrialization milestones to meet OEM program timelines and long-term portfolio objectives.

2. Commercial Ownership & Business Case Leadership

• Own revenue and margin targets for the speaker product portfolio, with direct accountability for performance against annual operating plan objectives.
• Define the business case and commercial framing for speaker platform investments — including manufaturing and supplier analysis, cost-performance trade-off decisions, and pricing strategy input — ensuring product decisions are grounded in both technical feasibility and market economics.
• Lead RFQ strategy for China-executed speaker programs, ensuring HARMAN's product positioning, cost competitiveness, and delivery credibility are optimized for program nomination and award.
• Track and report portfolio commercial performance, leading corrective action when revenue, margin, cost, or adoption trends deviate from plan.
• Provide investment recommendations to Global speaker and SBU leadership with clear ROI framing, risk assessment, and strategic rationale.

3. Cross-Functional Leadership & Execution

• Lead cross-functional alignment across Engineering, Procurement, AME, Quality, and Manufacturing — driving prioritization decisions, resolving trade-offs between cost, performance, and time-to-market, and holding teams accountable to product and program commitments.
• Define and own the standards, reference architectures, and product development best practices for speaker solutions — driving adoption across engineering and supplier teams and measuring impact through platform reuse rates and time-to-quote reduction.
• Partner with global Engineering, Platform, and Brand PM teams to ensure China-developed speaker platforms are positioned for global reuse where applicable, and that global architectural standards are implemented effectively in China programs.
• Manage external speaker suppliers with accountability for performance, technology roadmap alignment, quality, and cost — elevating supplier capability as a strategic asset for HARMAN's China execution speed.

4. People Leadership & Organizational Capability

• Lead, develop, and build capability within the Suzhou-based product and engineering team — establishing clear expectations, fostering product management discipline, and creating a high-performance culture focused on speed, quality, and customer outcomes.
• Cultivate a team environment that balances execution excellence with strategic thinking, ensuring team members grow in their ability to connect technical decisions to business and market outcomes.
• Build organizational capability in core PM disciplines — requirements definition, roadmap management, commercial reasoning, and cross-functional influence — establishing product management as the driving force behind China speaker business performance.

What You Need to Be Successful

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Acoustics, or related field.
• 10+ years of experience in automotive or electromechanical hardware environments, with demonstrated responsibility for product execution, industrial readiness, or platform strategy.
• Demonstrable knowledge of speaker technologies, materials, benchmarking methods, and manufacturing processes, with the ability to translate technical decisions into business outcomes.
• Proficiency in leading cross‑functional teams, driving execution across engineering, procurement, manufacturing, and suppliers, and making informed trade‑offs between cost, performance, and time‑to‑market.
• Well‑versed in end‑to‑end product lifecycle execution, from early benchmarking and RFQ preparation through SOP and ongoing optimization in high‑speed development environments.

Bonus Points if You Have

• A thorough understanding of speaker product development, industrialization, and supply chain execution, including cost, manufacturability, and speed considerations.
• An advanced degree such as a Master’s in Engineering or an MBA / business‑focused graduate degree, supporting a strong technical‑business leadership profile.
• Professional certifications or formal training related to lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, project management, or product development methodologies.
• Demonstrated global experience, including collaboration with engineering, manufacturing, and supply teams across multiple regions and cultures.
• Working knowledge of automotive product development requirements, supplier qualification processes, and industrialization procedures.
• Experience working with product data and lifecycle systems (e.g., PLM, PDM, or related engineering and manufacturing execution tools).

What Makes You Eligible

• You have a working knowledge of English.
• You are willing to travel, if necessary.
• Due to the nature of global infrastructure, you understand that flexibility in working hours is required.
• You can obtain a government security clearance; You are eligible to work in China.

What We Offer

• Flexible work environment, allowing for full-time remote work one day per week for positions that can be performed outside a HARMAN or customer location.
• Access to employee discounts on world-class Harman (JBL, HARMAN Kardon, AKG, etc.).
• Extensive training opportunities through our own HARMAN University.
• Competitive wellness benefits.
• Access to HARMAN Campus Fitness Center and Cafeteria.
• “Be Brilliant” employee recognition and rewards program.
• An inclusive and diverse work environment that fosters and encourages professional and personal development.