Location: Tokyo, Japan
Work Style: Hybrid
Salary: Up to 20 million JPY (depending on experience and level)
Overview
A global automotive technology supplier is seeking an experienced Technical Project Leader to take overall responsibility for the integrated technical delivery of complex automotive electronics programs.
This is a senior technical leadership position with responsibility across the complete engineering scope, including software, hardware, mechanical, systems, cybersecurity, integration, verification, validation, and supplier activities.
Working between Program Management and multiple engineering organizations, the Technical Project Leader will own the integrated technical delivery plan, coordinate cross-functional dependencies, manage technical risks and critical paths, and ensure engineering deliverables are ready for integration and release.
Depending on the candidate’s experience and leadership background, the position may be considered at Technical Project Leader or Director level.
Key Responsibilities
Integrated Technical Delivery
- Take overall responsibility for technical deliverables across software, hardware, mechanical, systems, cybersecurity, integration, verification, validation, and supplier activities
- Own and maintain the integrated engineering plan and technical delivery roadmap
- Coordinate Software, Hardware, Mechanical, Systems, Architecture, Integration, Cybersecurity, and Test teams
- Manage technical milestones, critical paths, cross-functional dependencies, and recovery plans
- Ensure clear visibility of engineering progress, technical risks, blockers, and corrective actions
- Drive technical reviews, readiness assessments, and cross-functional issue resolution
Technical Risk & Issue Management
- Consolidate technical risks across engineering disciplines and develop appropriate mitigation strategies
- Lead resolution of complex technical issues involving multiple engineering teams
- Identify and escalate critical technical blockers with clear recommendations and recovery options
- Ensure technical issues are properly assigned, analyzed, resolved, verified, and closed
- Drive recovery activities when engineering milestones or deliverables are at risk
Engineering Planning & Release Readiness
- Own the integrated engineering schedule across all technical disciplines
- Monitor architecture maturity, integration readiness, verification progress, cybersecurity status, and supplier dependencies
- Coordinate engineering activities required for qualification, homologation, certification, and product release
- Assess overall technical readiness and provide recommendations to Program Management and senior leadership
- Ensure engineering deliverables meet program timing and quality expectations
Cross-Functional Technical Leadership
- Serve as the central technical coordination point across engineering disciplines
- Facilitate technical decision-making and cross-functional trade-off discussions
- Align engineering teams around program priorities and technical objectives
- Work closely with Program Management while maintaining clear ownership of technical delivery
- Provide senior management with clear technical status, risk assessments, and delivery forecasts
- Coordinate global engineering teams and external suppliers throughout the development lifecycle
Requirements
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Electronics, Mechatronics, or a related technical field
- Significant experience in automotive product development, embedded systems, or automotive electronics
- Proven experience leading complex, multidisciplinary engineering programs
- Strong understanding of software, hardware, systems engineering, integration, and validation processes
- Experience managing technical dependencies across multiple engineering organizations and suppliers
- Strong technical project leadership, planning, and risk management capabilities
- Ability to lead technical discussions and influence teams without relying solely on direct reporting authority
- Strong stakeholder management, communication, analytical, and problem-solving skills
- Business-level English communication skills
Nice to Have
- Experience with complex automotive electronics or embedded systems
- Experience working within Automotive SPICE development environments
- Knowledge of functional safety and automotive cybersecurity
- Experience with verification, validation, qualification, certification, or release processes
- Experience coordinating international engineering organizations and suppliers
- Experience working on large-scale global automotive development programs
Ideal Background
This opportunity may be particularly suitable for professionals with experience as a:
- Technical Project Leader
- Technical Program Manager
- Technical Project Manager
- Engineering Manager
- Engineering Director
- System Lead
- System Architect
- Software Project Leader
- Hardware Project Leader
Candidates do not need to be specialists in every individual engineering discipline. The critical requirement is the ability to understand, coordinate, challenge, and ultimately take responsibility for integrated technical delivery across the complete program.
Why this role?
This position offers a rare opportunity to take responsibility for the complete technical delivery of complex automotive programs, rather than focusing on a single engineering discipline.
The scope extends across software, hardware, mechanical, systems, cybersecurity, integration, verification, validation, and supplier activities, with responsibility for ensuring that these areas come together successfully at program level.
The role also provides significant exposure to global engineering organizations, senior technical stakeholders, and complex cross-functional decision-making.
For experienced automotive engineering leaders looking to move beyond individual-domain responsibility and take ownership of complete technical delivery, this represents a significant next step in both scope and leadership responsibility.
