Showa Performance Project Racing Dept Head

Job Description:

Role Summary

The racing program director will own the role endtoend strategy execution and results for the Showa Performance Team activities in racing. This means establishing our overall strategy to enter racing to strengthen the Showa brand overseeing the design and performance of our products to support racing activity and work with external partners on sponsorships and race support. You are the steward of the Showa brand in off-road racing responsible for ensuring competitive success while strengthening brand credibility and visibility through racing activities. While this is as much a management role as it is about output expect to roll up your sleeves dive into CAD/design details work in the shop to fab/build racing product and be the front of Showa Performance to the racing and off-road world.

Operate with clarity and urgency in a fast ambiguous environment. Be decisively collaborative - set expectations make tradeoffs prototype quickly document choices and close loops. Maintain brand integrity and compliance while doing what it takes to help the team deliver. Most importantly this individual must be able to contribute to a fun and productive environment maintain a positive attitude and develop strong working relationships with colleagues and team members.

This position potentially requires extensive field support and will be required to support activity at local racing locations including overseas. When not travelling this is a full onsite position with flexible work schedules.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop the Showa Performance racing strategy
• Define and execute a multi-year racing roadmap aligned with product launch timing brand milestones and go-to-market strategy
• Establish the definition lead the design and deliver the required product for racing use
• Lead development of race-to-production feedback loops ensuring learnings from racing directly influence production product design tuning and validation
• Establish and manage relationships with key race series sanctioning bodies and event organizers including Ultra4 King of the Hammers and desert racing organizations
• Partner closely with brand/marketing to translate racing activity into high-quality content including video social technical storytelling and product education
• Ensure consistent brand representation across all race vehicles team assets pit presence and event activations
• Lead discussions with OEMs towards racing collaborations.
• Collaborate with 2W racing team
• Identify evaluate and select race teams drivers and partners that align with Showa Performance brand positioning and technical objectives
• Drive development of hero race vehicles and programs that showcase SHOWA engineering capabilities and create high-impact brand visibility
• Manage and set racing deliverables timelines and acceptance criteria; track status and risks.
• Enforce quality assurance and keep a structured change log from brief to release.
• Establish KPIs develop and manage racing budgets with clear ROI expectations tied to brand awareness content output and product validation
• Ensure all racing activities meet safety compliance and regulatory requirements across series and regions
• Commission/analyze market research race testing and competitive audits to inform positioning and creative choices.
• Maintain feedback loops with sales/support and engineering to capture racing insights and convert them into content/tool improvements.
• Work closely with engineering vehicle integration and test teams to ensure racing success.
• Support manufacturing/supply chain on required process/suppliers to deliver the racing product.
• Oversee vehicle builds and integration of Showa suspension systems across race platforms
• Partner with sales on channel needs and customer presentations; convert product benefits into clear buyerrelevant messaging.

Management Maker: While you manage direction and partners expect to jump in - editing copy adjusting layouts refining briefs scrubbing file structures or attending activations - to help the team unblock and deliver.

Qualifications

• Expert knowledge and understanding of the relation between shock performance and vehicle dynamics
• Expert knowledge of shock fundamentals concepts and performance
• Expert knowledge of vehicle dynamics and objective/subjective vehicle evaluation
• Strong network within the off-road racing industry including teams builders and series organizers
• Strong leadership presence with the ability to represent the brand publicly within the racing and enthusiast community
• Proficient in MS Word Excel PowerPoint
• Must be highly detail oriented and organized and able to apply work methods to maximize efficiency and minimize errors.
• Must be a self-starter that can be counted on to achieve goals on time and with minimal supervision.
• CAD software experience is a plus
• Ability and desire to learn new skills quickly and apply them to daily work.
• Valid driving license and reliable transportation.
• Able to work effectively and accurately amidst distractions.
• Excellent work ethics and teamwork skills
• Hands-on and self-motivated

Education: Degree in engineering and relevant industry experience with 15 years in the shock/suspension industry

Experience: 10 years experience in the racing industry

Job level determined by various factors such as organization size responsibility career stage and capabilities.

Supervisory Responsibilities: N/A

Working conditions:

Physical Demands: Required to sit or stand for long periods of time. Able to perform light physical work consistently and lift up to 75 pounds occasionally

Travel: Ability to travel and work on an international basis for 2-3-week periods with little or no support.

Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE) Qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to their race color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity disability protected veteran status and national origin.

At Astemo were challenging the status quo with the power of diversity inclusion and collaboration. Our goal is to build an inclusive work environment that celebrates the differences of our employees. We want to ensure that every employee feels valued respected and empowered. We dont just accept differencewe celebrate it we support it and we thrive on it for the benefit of our employees our products and our community. Astemo is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

If you need a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job at Astemo please send the nature of the request and contact information to when applying for the position.