Brand Experience Strategy Leader

About the Position

Brand Experience Strategy Leader

The Car Audio Brand Experience Team designs innovative Branded Audio consumer experiences that positively impact lives through advanced products and technologies. This role leads the brand experience vision, develops customer relationships, and manages cross-functional teams to deliver brand experience product bundles with customer partners.

Responsibilities

Strategy & Leadership

• Build and lead Brand Experience Strategy.
• Manage a small, nimble, powerful direct brand experience team, plus larger supporting matrix teams.
• Lead the translation of the brand experience vision into a technical vision, feature ideas, and feasible technical path aligned with customer needs.
• Coordinate the brand's portfolio strategy and positioning with Consumer and Pro Divisions.
• Lead the determination of Commercial/Strategic/Technical Feasibility - Lead PLM Lite Process – risk eval & go/no-go analysis.
• Align internal delivery planning with OEM facing customer roadmaps.
• Collaborate with other Brand Owners, adjacent stakeholders, internal teams, external partners & vendors to come up with new UI/UX and audio related technologies and best practices.
• Evaluate new ideas coming out of innovation pipeline for potential brand experience inclusion.

Customer & Stakeholder Engagement

• Act as Brand Ambassador and “CEO” to Lead the brand experience vision, development, customer relationship, business model, and direct plus cross-functional teams to define, match, and deliver compelling brand experience product bundles with customer partners.
• Serve as single point of contact for Customer Account Management Team for the brand – Support the jointly developed customer engagement strategy on pursuits.
• Represent & Promote brand and experience both internally and at the customer - build relationships, support tech day events, present brand and customer proposals.
• Signoff on production proposals during PLM200 concept freeze and approval.
• Overseas Brand Confirmation validation for production vehicles with branded systems.

Delivery & Execution

• Manage overall team that builds, tests, and delivers Brand Features to Project Teams, with market leading speed and quality.
• Assign business value to objectives during PI Planning. Approves Sprint and Release scope (what/when).
• Oversee the creation of internal documentation for holistic brand experience and/or OEM adaptations through Brand Experience concept freeze and approval (PDM).
• Drive development of demo cars integrating brand experience package and features.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related demonstrated technical expertise.
• 20+ years of combined brand, audio, product, and business-related experience.
• 5+ years in leadership, customer relationship management, and supplier relationships, preferably in automotive and/or luxury audio.
• A mature approach toward leadership and soft skills: building trust and long-term internal team relationships to influence consistent, positive outcomes.
• Functional audio architecture knowledge of automotive infotainment and audio systems.
• Demonstrated acumen in business case development, program management, make/buy, commercial, and product bundling/sales strategy, feature ideation, and consumer validation.
• Ability to communicate advanced and complex concepts and ideas persuasively and concisely to all levels of the business.
• Experience leading a team to drive time critical projects to completion.

Nice to Have

• A combination of Engineering and Business Degrees (e.g., Ba ENG + MBA).
• Strong recommendations from automotive industry colleagues.
• Automotive Business & Engineering Landscape Knowledge.
• Passion for the power of brand as a unifying concept for bundles of experience products.
• Passion for acoustics and sound reproduction.

We Offer

• Flexible work environment, allowing for full-time remote work globally for positions that can be performed outside a HARMAN or customer location.
• Access to employee discounts on world-class Harman and Samsung products (JBL, HARMAN Kardon, AKG, etc.).
• Extensive training opportunities through our own HARMAN University.
• Competitive wellness benefits.
• Tuition Reimbursement.
• Access to HARMAN Campus Fitness Center and Cafeteria.
• An inclusive and diverse work environment that fosters and encourages professional and personal development.

About the Company

HARMAN is committed to making every employee feel welcomed, valued, and empowered. No matter what role you play, we encourage you to share your ideas, voice your distinct perspective, and bring your whole self with you – all within a support-minded culture that celebrates what makes each of us unique. We also recognize that learning is a lifelong pursuit and want you to flourish. We proudly offer added opportunities for training, development, and continuing education, further empowering you to live the career you want.

HARMAN is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. HARMAN strives to hire the best qualified candidates and is committed to building a workforce representative of the diverse marketplaces and communities of our global colleagues and customers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. HARMAN attracts, hires, and develops employees based on merit, qualifications and job-related performance.

Salary

€ 170,000 - € 220,000

The above represents the annual gross base salary range for this role.

Variable compensation and allowances: Dependent on the position offered, other forms of compensation may also be available, such as quarterly or annual bonus pay, commission payments, long term incentive compensation, or certain allowances. Further details will be made available as part of the recruitment process.

How we set pay: The pay posted is a reasonable estimate of the wage range anticipated for this position. Pay is determined using objective, job-related criteria such as relevant experience, skills, role scope/responsibilities, and location-based market factors (where applicable). In appropriate circumstances, based on objective, job-related factors, the final determination on pay may deviate from the posted range.

Pay history: Please do not include current or past pay information in your application. We do not request pay history as part of our recruitment process.

Benefits: HARMAN is interested in supporting the health and wellbeing of employees and offers a range of benefits. Offerings vary by country and employment arrangement and reflect a combination of statutory requirements and company-provided programs. These may include paid time off and holidays, sick and family leave, as well as health and wellbeing support and retirement or savings plans where applicable, along with other locally relevant benefits. Further details will be made available as part of the recruitment process.