Director, General Secretary & Corporate Strategy

Job Description

Role Summary:

The Director of the General Secretary ("Generalsekretar") and Corporate Strategy department is responsible for driving the VW NAR Strategy (incl. USA, Mexico and Canada) and supporting the NAR CEO's Office, as well as developing and implementing the VWGoA strategy. These responsibilities include leading strategic projects and developing proposals for new strategic opportunities.

Other key responsibilities include:

• Develop organization's long-term goals and annual objectives in coordination with leadership; identify, drive, and manage cross-functional strategic initiatives to achieve these goals
• Lead key business imperatives in alignment with global targets and initiatives; drive alignment and execution across all business functions
• Develop local projects and initiatives tied to business optimization, continuous improvement, strategic business priorities, and KPI achievement
• Implement the strategy through key projects and strategy communication

Additionally, this position supports the NAR CEO's office by steering and executing daily operations of the CEO's Office, as well as other key priorities and business processes. This role will also oversee the coordination and administration of the NAR Board and related activities.

Role Responsibilities:

CEO Office Governance & Operations - 30%

• Manage and triage workflow by prioritizing, delegating, preparing and/or completing work on behalf of the President & CEO, adding structure and process wherever possible
• Organize, prepare and facilitate key internal executive meetings, committees and conferences, which includes setting agenda, consolidating meeting materials, briefing the President & CEO and other participants, ensuring effectiveness of meetings, preparing meeting minutes, following-up on meeting decisions and driving top level topics within the organization. Key meetings include NAR Board Meetings and Workshops, VWGoA Board of Directors Meetings (in cooperation with the Corporate Secretary), VWGoA Governance Roundtable and VWoA brand meetings
• Coordinate all NAR and VWGoA interactions with the Volkswagen AG Group Board and Brand Board respectively, including presentations in either committees or conferences with the German Board in the region, which entails alignment of dates, timelines and agenda internally and with counterparts at the Group and Brand Board offices, managing preparation in terms of content, materials, and meeting logistics
• Support the President & CEO in setting and driving priorities in daily operations and managing related tasks and issues within the organization, providing ad-hoc support as required and anticipating needs
• Ensure smooth operation of the Office of the President & CEO by means of close and efficient collaboration with Executive Coordinator in terms of scheduling and setting priorities
• Review commercial documents such as purchase orders, proposals of award, contracts, board resolutions, policies and other requests that require the CEOs approval and signature

• Drive, guide and ensure implementation of efficient internal communication, as both communication interface and as clearing house between CEO to his/her direct reports top of the organizations as well as other key stakeholders within the organization
• Coordinate the development of and review external presentations and messaging for keynotes, trade shows, customer and dealer letters, etc., in collaboration with other stakeholders
• Prepare executive communication, emails and letters to VW AG CEO, VW Brand COO and CFO and other top-level management, internalizing CEO's thinking, style and tone
• Serve as point of contact for President & CEO in his/her absence for greater visibility and accessibility, prevent delays and promote decision-making when the President & CEO is not present or available

Corporate Strategy - 30%

• Collaborate with NAR senior leadership to define and achieve the organization's long-term goals and implement short-term action plans
• Develop a comprehensive growth and profitability strategy for VW Group and NAR to reflect the regional market needs in alignment with the worldwide brand strategies
• Coordinate alignment on VW Group and NAR strategic priorities with VW AG, VW Group, NAR VW Brand/Group Board and senior leadership
• Ensure successful implementation of priority strategic actions, including consolidation and tracking of VW Group and NAR KPI's with the stakeholders in NAR and HQ
• Initiate and introduce strategic projects to adequately respond to market and industry changes
• Supervise the VWGoA and VW NAR's consulting project spending to ensure efficient budget execution and support project approval process with VW Group and NAR Board
• Support implementation of the strategy via strategic project management and strategy communication

Project Management - 30%

• Lead Group-wide and/or VW NAR-wide projects and initiatives, engaging and influencing cross-functional stakeholders to deliver key business initiatives
• Develop achievable project plans that clearly defines required activities, stakeholders, and tasks owners; communicate plans to business leadership and stakeholders to ensure alignment and buy-in for achievement
• Develop strategy for tracking deliverables, monitoring project progress and resource usage against timelines and milestones; communicate project status, identifying roadblocks and key business resources required to achieve business objectives

New Business Development - 10%

• Identify new business opportunities based on market and industry development
• Incubate the opportunities by measuring market potential, analyzing competitor movement, evaluating the organization's revenue and profit potential and developing entry roadmap
• Lead collaboration within the Group and partnership outside the organization for successful transfer to the operation owner for implementation

Qualifications

Years of Experience:

• 10+ years of experience
• Minimum of 5 years in automotive industry with experience in project or program management

Education - Required:

• Bachelor's degree in management, business administration, engineering, finance or marketing

Education - Desired:

• Master degree in management, business administration, engineering, finance or marketing

Skills:

• Exceptional communication skills - interpersonal, presentation and written
• Highly advanced problem-solving skills
• Exceptional analytical and conceptual thinking - using logic and reason, creative and strategic
• Computer savvy - skilled in the use of software
• Integration - joining people, processes or systems
• Influencing and negotiation skills
• Resource management

Specialized Skills - Required:

• Ability to work cross-functionally (vertically & horizontally)
• Ability to communicate and persuade through hierarchy levels
• High quality & expedient delivery of work
• High-level analytical expertise to build data into insights
• Strategy-focused outlook with a drive to lead change within an organization
• Understanding of industry dynamics and multiple business functions

Specialized Skills - Desired:

• German language skills
• Good network within VWAG
• Experience from different areas within the automotive industry (e.g. Sales & Marketing, Development, Production, etc.)

Work Flexibility:

• 30% domestic and internation travel required
• Flexibility to work according to business demands and European time zones

Current VWGoA employees applying for a promotion into management (People Leader & Expert levels) will be considered against the Access/Appointment Criteria requirements. For more information on these requirements, please click here.

Volkswagen Group of America is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We welcome and encourage applicants from all backgrounds, and do not discriminate based on race, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, color, gender identity/expression, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected by applicable laws.

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