Senior Vice President of Engineering

The Opportunity

Autocar builds severe-duty vocational trucks to each customer's exact specification across multiple platforms, produced in a lean, pull-based manufacturing environment. We are seeking a Senior Vice President of Engineering to serve as the integrator who makes those platforms work as one engineering enterprise, delivering advanced custom solutions to our customers on time and on budget.

This executive will lead and develop our Platform Chief Engineers, run the engineering operating rhythm, and own the decisions that cut across platforms: where to communize, where to invest, which projects proceed, and how engineering protects cost, quality, compliance, and production takt. Success requires more than technical leadership. The Senior Vice President of Engineering must connect engineering decisions to customer needs, product strategy, manufacturing effectiveness, regulatory requirements, vehicle quality, serviceability, project economics, and the long-term competitiveness of the Autocar product portfolio.

What You Will Own

• Enterprise engineering leadership: Set engineering strategy, priorities, standards, governance, budgets, performance expectations, and the operating rhythm across vehicle platforms. Lead the engineering leadership operating rhythm and ensure that cross-platform issues, opportunities, investments, and risks are addressed with the appropriate urgency and transparency.
• Product and technology roadmap: Translate business strategy and first hand customer insight into a clear multi-year product and technology plan for Autocar’s vehicle portfolio. Evaluate emerging technologies and determine where innovation can materially improve customer value, vehicle performance, uptime, cost, safety, manufacturability, serviceability, or Autocar’s competitive position.
• Program execution: Ensure truck and technology programs meet defined scope, timing, quality, performance, compliance, and cost commitments; intervene decisively when delivery is at risk. Establish disciplined milestone management and engineering review mechanisms that identify design, integration, supplier, testing, compliance, manufacturing, and cost risks early enough for corrective action. Ensure engineering resources and external engineering partners are deployed against the company’s highest-priority programs.
• Platform commonization: Drive reuse of proven designs, components, suppliers, tooling, schematics, test equipment, documentation, and engineering methods without compromising purpose-built customer requirements.
• Manufacturability and product integrity: Embed manufacturing, quality, serviceability, safety, emissions compliance, and lifecycle performance into design decisions from the outset.
• Cost and engineering productivity: Make product cost an engineering requirement and drive cost-reduction programs to target through value-stream redesign, disciplined processes, technology, automation, and appropriate use of AI. Partner closely with Operations to protect production takt time, optimize labor and capital requirements, reduce unnecessary product complexity, improve modularity, and ensure that engineering decisions support safe, repeatable, and efficient production.
• Technical leadership and talent: Coach and develop Platform Chief Engineers, strengthen engineering judgment, and build succession depth. Establish clear accountability while creating an environment in which leaders seek advice, challenge assumptions, share expertise, and solve enterprise problems collectively. Serve as a trusted technical and business advisor on product, platform, engineering, operational, and investment decisions.
• Cross-functional partnership: Serve as the senior engineering partner to Product Management, Operations, Procurement, Quality, Compliance, Service, Finance, Sales, customers, suppliers, and engineering partners. Resolve competing priorities through fact-based decision-making and maintain accountability after decisions are made.

Who You Are

• An accomplished engineering executive with significant leadership experience in vehicle, transportation, heavy-equipment, industrial-product, or similarly complex engineered-product environments.
• A technically credible leader with a strong understanding of vehicle or complex product development, systems integration, design engineering, validation, manufacturing, product compliance, quality, and lifecycle support.
• Commercially minded and able to connect engineering decisions to product cost, gross profit, capital investment, manufacturing efficiency, warranty exposure, serviceability, customer value, and long-term business performance.
• Strong executive credibility and an established ability to influence stakeholders across Engineering, Operations, Procurement, Product Management, Quality, Compliance, Service, Finance, Sales, customers, suppliers, and external engineering partners.
• A systems thinker who can identify dependencies across product architecture, components, suppliers, tooling, manufacturing processes, documentation, testing, service, and regulatory requirements.
• Capable of protecting essential engineering rigor while increasing speed, reducing unnecessary complexity, and improving the cost effectiveness of engineering work.
• A player-coach who can develop senior engineering talent, coach experienced technical leaders, raise the quality of engineering judgment, build succession depth, and create accountability without undermining ownership.
• Ability to relocate to and maintain a regular leadership presence at Autocar’s flagship facility in Birmingham, Alabama, with travel to customer, supplier, production, partner, and industry locations as required.

Qualifications and technical skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related engineering discipline required alongside more than 10 years related experience and/or training.
• Master’s degree or Doctoral degree (Ph. D.) in Engineering, Engineering Management, or Business Administration preferred.

Compensation and Benefits

• Competitive compensation that recognizes your skills, experience, and impact.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and life and AD&D insurance, and short-term and long-term disability to support your well-being.
• 401(k) with a company match to help you invest in your future.
• Paid time off (PTO) and company holidays to rest, recharge, and maintain work-life balance.
• A high-impact executive role with real ownership of engineering direction, performance, and organizational capability.
• The opportunity to influence the future of America’s original truck brand and lead the engineering organization behind purpose-built vehicles operating in some of the most demanding vocational environments.

Industry Backgrounds We Value

We welcome candidates from commercial vehicle, heavy-duty truck, vocational vehicle, specialty vehicle, transportation equipment, construction equipment, agricultural equipment, defense vehicle, industrial machinery, mobile equipment, and other complex manufacturing environments. Experience leading engineering organizations responsible for product development, systems integration, vehicle architecture, validation, regulatory compliance, new product introduction (NPI), manufacturing support, and lifecycle product performance will be highly valued. Candidates who have successfully balanced customer requirements, engineering rigor, operational excellence, and commercial outcomes in configurable or highly engineered products are encouraged to apply.

Job Duties Disclaimer

The duties and responsibilities outlined here are representative but not exhaustive of the tasks that the employee may be required to perform. Management reserves the right to modify, add, or remove duties and to assign other tasks as necessary to meet business needs.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Autocar is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Reasonable Accommodations (ADA Compliance)

Autocar complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Employees who require assistance or accommodation should contact Human Resources.