Position Title:  Vehicle Program Manager - Engineering & Manufacturing

Employer:  Savic Motorcycles Limited

Location:  West Melbourne, VIC 3003

Employment Type:  Full-time, Permanent

Salary:  AUD $77,000.00 - $87,000.00 per annum

About the Role

Reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer, the Vehicle Program Manager holds technical authority over the C-Series electric motorcycle platform and is accountable for its integrity, performance, safety, and manufacturability. This is a senior leadership role responsible for setting the engineering direction of the company and ensuring every engineering decision, from concept through to production release, supports a safe, high-quality, manufacturable product.

The role directs in-house and manufacturing engineering across three disciplines: Vehicle and Systems Engineering; Manufacturing Engineering; and Test, Validation and Quality Engineering.

Primary Objectives

• Engineering Standards and Methods - Determine, implement, and monitor the engineering strategies, policies, standards, and procedures used across the business, ensuring every design and process is developed to a defined engineering standard.
• Customer-Facing Product Quality - Ensure engineering decisions translate into a superior, reliable vehicle by integrating customer and field feedback into engineering requirements and validation plans.
• Engineering Delivery of Product Improvements - Lead the technical delivery of all planned design, system, and component updates to the C-Series platform on time, on specification, and within engineering budget.
• Engineering Readiness for Higher-Volume Manufacture - Ensure that designs are released to a manufacturing-ready standard and that the engineering function provides the technical foundation needed to scale build rates.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Plan, direct, and coordinate all technical operations, including day-to-day leadership of the engineering team, and determining platform strategies, policies, and resourcing.
• Lead the engineering development lifecycle from concept through to production release, ensuring all quality, safety, and performance criteria are met. Interpret and translate regulatory and homologation requirements (e.g., ADR, UN-ECE) into specifications and controls.
• Direct engineering activities that support manufacture, including process engineering, tooling design, assembly sequencing, error-proofing, and equipment validation. Establish and maintain engineering quality systems, including inspection and measurement standards.
• Lead change management and release management activities by implementing systematic processes using Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) and DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control).
• Provide engineering advice using methods such as DFMEA/PFMEA (Design/Process Failure Mode Effect Analysis), FEA (Finite Element Analysis), DFMA (Design for Manufacturing and Assembly), and formal design reviews.
• Lead cost-reduction and value-engineering initiatives (e.g., material substitution, design simplification). Contribute to R&D by evaluating new technologies for future platforms.
• Provide concise progress reporting to the CEO, COO, and Board. Liaise with Marketing and Manufacturing on technical feasibility, design constraints, and trade-offs.

What We Are Looking For

The successful candidate will be an experienced engineering leader with a strong background in vehicle or product engineering management. You will bring:

• At least 2 years of relevant experience
• Demonstrated experience in engineering management, including leading multi-disciplinary engineering teams through the full product development lifecycle.
• Strong technical grounding in mechanical, systems, or vehicle engineering, with the ability to hold technical authority and make sound engineering decisions.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to provide clear, concise reporting to executive stakeholders.
• Relevant tertiary qualifications in engineering (mechanical, electrical, systems, or related discipline).