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).