Head of Digital - Product Owner - R&D - Automotive

As the Lead for Digital Product Strategy in R&D-centric initiatives, your role is pivotal in driving the digital transformation vision of the client. By leveraging modern IT tools and platforms, you will enable innovation, enhance engineering efficiency, and digitize core R&D processes. **Key Responsibilities:** - Own the end-to-end digital product lifecycle for R&D solutions, from ideation to delivery. - Define product vision, roadmap, and OKRs in alignment with business and digital transformation goals. - Work closely with R&D leadership, engineering teams, and cross-functional stakeholders to gather business requirements and translate them into technical solutions. - Ensure alignment with regulatory, quality, and safety requirements in product development. - Drive agile delivery practices across development sprints. - Define, prioritize, and manage product backlogs and feature releases. - Collaborate with internal IT and external vendors to implement solutions including CAD/PLM, digital twin, simulation, and AI-based engineering analytics. - Champion user-centric design and change management strategies to drive adoption of digital tools in R&D. - Conduct training and support for R&D teams using new platforms. **Qualification Required:** - Bachelor's Degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, or equivalent) - Master's Degree (MBA or M. Tech) preferred **Relevant Experience:** - 10-15 years of experience in digital transformation, IT product ownership, or engineering IT within the manufacturing/automotive domain. - Proven track record of delivering enterprise digital platforms or products within R&D or Engineering functions. - Experience in managing cross-functional teams and agile product delivery. **Technical Skills/Knowledge:** - Strong understanding of R&D systems such as PLM, CAD, CAE, simulation tools, and digital twin platforms. - Familiarity with Agile/Scrum methodologies and product management tools (JIRA, Confluence, etc.) - Knowledge of cloud platforms (Azure, AWS), APIs, and data integration frameworks. - Exposure to AI/ML use cases in engineering and analytics is a plus.,