Head of Product Management DC Severe-Duty Conventional

Head of Product Management - DC Severe-Duty Conventional

Class 8 Severe-Duty Conventional Truck.

The Mission

Reporting to the President of Autocar the mission of the Head of Product Management - DC Severe-Duty Conventional is to make the Autocar DC-64 Class 8 severe duty conventional truck the undisputed market leader in every severe vocation we choose to serve.

This position serves as the business owner and steward of the umbrella Autocar DC product strategy and is accountable for defining vocation strategies product requirements customer value models competitive differentiation and a multigenerational product roadmap required to drive profitable growth and sustainable competitive advantage. The role owns what problems should be solved for whom why they matter and the value they must create; Engineering owns how those solutions are designed and delivered.

The role translates customer applications field data competitive intelligence and lifecycle economics into prioritized product investments and requirements while aligning Engineering Operations Supply Chain Quality Sales Marketing Service and body-builder partners around a common strategy and force-ranked priorities. Acting as the voice of the application grounded in direct customer insight the position ensures product decisions are driven by customer value market opportunity competitive differentiation and economic return to create the industrys most productive reliable serviceable and application-optimized severe-duty truck platform.

The successful candidate will become one of the industrys foremost experts on severe-duty vocational applications and the economics that drive customer success. They will develop a deep understanding of how customers use vocational trucks in the real world what drives productivity and uptime what causes downtime and operational inefficiencies and where Autocar can create measurable customer value. Through that expertise they will help build proprietary application knowledge application standards specification methodologies decision tools and product strategies that create durable competitive advantage for Autocar.

The mission is simple: make the Autocar DC the best tool for the job and the clearly superior economic and operational choice for every vocation we serve.

What You Will Own

Own the Voice of the Application

Spend substantial time where trucks work riding routes visiting jobsites observing loading and unloading sitting with drivers working with technicians and collaborating with body companies. Build a structured vocation-specific application knowledge base covering duty cycle operating environment and economic drivers replacing opinion with application data.

Be customer obsessed without being customer dictated. Use customer requests and field observations as evidence to identify underlying application problems and translate validated needs into scalable product requirements and priorities.

Serve as the Authority on Each DC Vocation

Establish distinct product strategies for each vocation rather than treating the DC as one truck with different bodies. For every target vocation concrete/mixer dump/construction refuse/roll-off and logging/severe haul develop a requirements document competitive benchmark and economic value proposition. Align Engineering Operations Supply Chain Quality Sales Marketing Service and Application Engineering around vocation-specific product strategies and priorities.

Own Vocation Value Proposition

Act as the steward of the DCs vocation-specific value propositions ensuring they are grounded in measurable product advantages application data customer economics and competitive benchmarking. Align product requirements roadmap priorities product investments and cross-functional execution to continuously strengthen Autocars competitive advantage in each target vocation. Promote clarity understanding and consistent application across cross-functional teams.

Build the DC Application Intelligence Database

Create and own a proprietary database of actual operating information from customer trucks miles hours PTO and idle time payload fuel fault codes component failures maintenance and repair events downtime and driver/technician observations. Use this intelligence to determine which specifications produce the best lifecycle economics for each application and build proprietary Autocar knowledge that drives better product decisions and competitive advantage.

Own Competitive Product Intelligence

Maintain detailed application-level benchmarking against Mack Peterbilt Kenworth Freightliner Western Star International Volvo and other vocational competitors. Go beyond brochures acquire drive and measure competitor trucks where justified. Identify where Autocar is objectively better where it is worse and translate competitive gaps into product priorities and actions.

Own Product Requirements

Be the business owner of DC product requirements defining what problem must be solved for which customer vocation or application why it matters and what performance is required while Engineering determines how to engineer the solution. Every meaningful requirement must trace: customer/vocation use case problem evidence required performance customer value competitive benchmark priority.

Own the DC Multigenerational Product Roadmap

Maintain a rolling 3-to-5-year product roadmap prioritizing investments based on customer value market opportunity competitive differentiation economic return complexity risk and capital requirements. Recommend and prioritize investments toward the product improvements and technologies that create the greatest competitive advantage - and say no to features that lack sufficient customer or economic value.

Make Always Up Quantifiable

Translate the Always Up promise into measurable product requirements and customer economics across reliability repairability and availability. Demonstrate how improved uptime enables an Autocar to deliver more productive hours and greater lifecycle value.

Own Product Economics and Customer ROIC

Quantify the customer value of product decisions including productivity avoided downtime maintenance fuel labor useful life residual value and safety against incremental acquisition cost. Partner with Finance and Sales to develop credible TCO payback and ROIC tools that demonstrate that the cheapest truck to purchase is not the lowest-cost truck to own.

Own the Product Tools

Turn application intelligence into scalable tools including Customer Application Intelligent Specing TCO/ROIC Competitive Comparison Body Integration and Application Library tools. Enable mass customization through proprietary application knowledge proven engineering rules and reusable configurations rather than manual reinvention.

Own and continuously improve the customer specification methodology to ensure applications are translated into optimized configurations and repeatable engineering solutions.

Drive Body Integration as a Competitive Advantage

Identify and build strategic relationships with key body and equipment manufacturers establishing standard integration requirements engineering interfaces and application best practices. Ensure chassis body controls data and service function as one integrated vocational tool making body integration a measurable Autocar competitive advantage.

Connect Customer Sales and Engineering & Close the Loop

Serve as the connective tissue between Customer Sales Product Engineering Body Builders Operations Quality and Service aligning cross-functional priorities around the umbrella DC Class 8 severe-duty strategy. Ensure product decisions are driven by customer evidence application data market opportunity competitive differentiation and economic value rather than isolated requests or internal assumptions.

Establish a closed-loop product development system: field observation data root cause requirement engineering validation production field measurement. Continuously mine warranty reliability service and installed base information to identify product improvements eliminate recurring issues and strengthen Autocars competitive position.

Who You Are

10 years in heavy-duty commercial vehicles vocational equipment off-highway equipment or closely related industrial equipment.

Deep understanding of Class 8 vocational applications.

Experience working with fleets drivers technicians and body/equipment manufacturers

Strong quantitative capability including experience with lifecycle economics TCO ROIC customer value analysis and data-driven business case development.

Demonstrated ability to translate field / application requirements into engineered products.

Strong understanding of chassis powertrain axle suspension braking electrical and body integration.

Ability to interpret telematics warranty reliability and field-performance data.

Technically strong enough to challenge Engineering and commercially strong enough to challenge Sales intelligently.

Willingness to spend substantial time with customers and trucks in actual operating environments.

Proven ability to influence cross-functional teams and external partners around a common product strategy and delivering measurable business results.

Willing to relocate to our flagship facility in Birmingham Alabama. Birmingham is one of the Southeasts most dynamic and affordable cities recognized nationally as a growing business hub and an attractive destination for professionals. The area offers a lower cost of living than many major metropolitan markets a thriving culinary and entertainment scene and convenient access to lakes parks and weekend destinations throughout the region. Our Autocar facility is located just 20 minutes from downtown Birmingham providing easy access to the citys amenities while maintaining a convenient commute.

Strongly Preferred

Experience across several severe-duty vocations: refuse concrete mixers dump heavy construction roll-off logging or severe haul.

Background from a truck OEM major body/equipment manufacturer large sophisticated fleet vocational engineering organization or heavy-equipment OEM.

Personal Characteristics

This role requires someone who is:

Application obsessed. Wants to understand exactly how the customers operation works what drives productivity and uptime and where Autocar can create measurable economic value.

Data driven. Bases decisions on customer evidence field data and economic analysis continually challenging assumptions and driving improvement.

Technically credible. Team members and business partners respect the persons questions and judgment.

Commercially sophisticated. Understands that engineering only matters if it creates customer and Autocar economic value.

Field oriented. Spends the right amount of time at landfills quarries concrete operations logging sites or maintenance shops to gain customer and application insight.

Skeptical. Tests assumptions against actual customer evidence.

Competitive. Wants to know exactly why Autocar wins or loses.

Decisive and influential. Aligns teams and business partners around a common strategy and force-ranks priorities.

Systems oriented. Converts tribal knowledge into repeatable tools rules and data.

Customer obsessed without being customer dictated. Uses customer requests as evidence to identify underlying application problems and scalable product opportunities.

What Youll Get

• Competitive compensation that recognizes your skills experience and impact.
• Comprehensive medical dental vision and life and AD&D insurance and short-term and long-term disability to support your well-being.
• 401(k) with a company match to help you invest in your future.
• Paid time off (PTO) and company holidays to rest recharge and maintain work-life balance.
• A high-impact role with real ownership.

About Autocar

Autocar LLC headquartered in Birmingham AL is not just another severe-duty vocational truck manufacturer - we built Americas first motor truck. We carry the first specialized truck brand in North America and are the only American-owned and operated original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of trucks. For over a century Autocar has stood for purpose-built performance durability and reliability in the most demanding vocational applications.

Today that legacy continues with a clear focus: building trucks that work as hard as the people who depend on them. We collaborate with our customers to build trucks to their exact specifications and needs. They operate in environments where failure is not an option and our products are engineered to meet that standard every day.

Autocars purpose-built severe-duty refuse truck lines include the Class 6-8 ACMD cabover Class 8 ACX cabover and the DC-64 Class 8 conventional cab. We recognize that performance and uptime are everything and offer every customer 24/7 access to our ALWAYS UP direct factory support center staffed by expert technicians who engineer and build Autocars trucks. Autocar promises to provide trucks that deliver the best value provide the best service and provide a complete solution for customers needs.

Autocar is part of the GVW Group a dynamic investment company which spans globally across diverse industries ranging from manufacturing to technology distribution big data engineering and energy efficiency with trusted brands such as Autocar Autocar Parts JIT Truck Parts GVW Parts Triz Engineering Aculocity VORZA and GVW Investments.

Job Duties Disclaimer:
The duties and responsibilities outlined here are representative but not exhaustive of the tasks that the employee maybe requiredto perform. Management reserves the right to modify add or remove duties and to assign other tasks as necessary to meet business needs.

Equal Employment Opportunity:
Autocaris an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race color religion sex national origin disability or any other characteristic protected by law.

Reasonable Accommodations (ADA Compliance):

Autocar complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Employees who require assistance or accommodations should contact Human Resources.