Santhosh Vijayan
Strategy, PMO, NPI, Smart Mobility
+1-551-***-**** ***************@*****.***
EXPERIENCES
Head PMO - Emerging Mobility ( Connected Smart EVs) Hero Moto Corp(HMC*) Aug 2022- July 2023 1 year SKILLS
SUMMARY
Business Strategy, Program Management, Emerging Mobility (C-A-S-E) professional with over 20 years of experience in Automotive industry Proven track record in developing and implementing strategy through successful PMO establishment, portfolio & program management initiatives, managing NPI Stage gate, Supply Chain, Sourcing, Vendor Development, Smart Mobility (EVs, Connected), ECU development Strategic thinker and problem solver, who is able to effectively manage complex, multidisciplinary programs and cross functional teams. Excellent communicator having deep understanding of geographically diverse matrix teams and possess a strong ability to build engagement with stakeholders (Marketing, Sales, Production, Quality & Engineering) Successful New Connected EV (Brand Vida) introduction in a VUCA market with a multi-phased approach, its rapid expansion (3 to 150 physical touch points) and brand establishment
Installed PMO that used hybrid (Agile, Lean & Waterfall) approach to successfully navigate constantly changing environment, competition, economic environment with focus on Software Defined Vehicle For NPI materials process improvement, established Supply Chain Control tower from grounds-up on foundations of CFTs, Lean, Innovation & Agility Spearheaded concept & deployment of a cutting-edge PMO framework, including tailored SOPs, portfolio approach resulting in a 25% reduction in NPI project delivery time & enhanced responsiveness to market demands. Introduced Agile methodologies, such as Scrum, fostering collaborative project delivery & enhancing adaptability to evolving requirements Proactively managed software development schedules, efficiently resolving issues to ensure on-time delivery of progressive web app, OTA, Hardware development, websites, Sales Force linkages, and Friendly User Testing. Utilized Agile practices, such as Kanban, to optimize workflow, promote incremental value delivery, & improve collaboration among cross-functional squads for complex large-scale programs
Maintained a stellar record of on-schedule delivery for all offerings through prioritization + multitask management, proactive issue resolution Established a structured meeting cadence, facilitating regular project status reviews for active and pending projects, collaborating with CFTs Led projects to successful completion by swiftly addressing bottlenecks with analytics-driven solutions, resulting in a 25% decrease in project delays and an overall increase in customer satisfaction.
Fostered strong stakeholder relationships & provided comprehensive program oversight with a keen focus on analytics-driven decision-making and strategic sourcing, 100% PPAP approvals, Volume Validation (SPTR) Streamlined NPI regulatory approval submissions and compliance procedures, orchestrating successful product registrations and renewals. Latest Achievements
Head of Program Management Office
*HMC previously Hero Honda, a JV of Honda, Japan & Hero. Largest 2W OEM in the world & Indian partner of Harley Davidson ACADEMICS
Strategy formulation &
Deployment (Hoshin Kanri)
PMO, Program Management
Six Sigma (DMAIC, DMADV)
NPI, Emissions regulations, ECU
Strategic Sourcing & SCM
Analytics & Forecasting
CMA, Financial Modeling
MBA- Operations
Management & Strategy,
Apr 2012-Mar 2013
Indian Institute of Management,
Calcutta (2nd Rank B-School in Asia
by Financial Times and among top
ranked in world)
Masters of Engineering,
(CAD CAM)- Ranked 1st
Apr 2005-Mar 2007
Osmania University
Bachelor of Engineering,
(Production Engineering)
Apr 1998-Apr 2002
Bharathiar University
CERTIFICATIONS
Certified Project Manager
IPMA Level C- (PMP equivalent)
Six Sigma Black Belt
(DMAIC & DFSS/ DMADV)
CMA, IMA USA
(Certified Management Accountant)
Customer insights research
Competitive analysis
NJ, USA
Connected Smart Autonomous EV
TOOLS
Power BI, R, MS Project,
Advanced Excel, SQL, SAP
Strategic sourcing, alternate source qualifications for Chargers, EV components, ensure Costing excellence through multi level benchmarking. Led liaison with engineering for early vendor appraisals & established readiness through design release meetings with ECU Manufacturer Partners Implemented Agile practices, such as Daily Stand-ups and Sprint Reviews, to enhance real-time visibility, facilitate rapid feedback loops, and promote continuous improvement across project teams.
Utilized Agile techniques, such as User Story Mapping and Minimum Viable Product (MVP), to collaboratively prioritize features, validate assumptions, deliver customer-centric solutions with expedited emissions changeover. Ensured optimized supply planning to ensure on-time build schedule and focused efforts to drive closure of materials issues despite supply constraints Determined product ladder, concept, market share, business case, sourcing, de-risking & sunset
Identified value enhancing products strategy, develop product roadmap & effective product interventions
Led Contribution Improvement Plans, operating model development, cost cells & their course corrections
Improved competitiveness through Market Intelligence, vendor evaluations, Target Costing, pricing
Developed Long-Range Plan (LRP) with PESTLE, Economic forecast and formulate capacity augmentation plan
Championed BSIII to BSIV to BSVI, Brakes - ABS transitions, Legacy vehicle electrification covering business model, product concepts, supply chain establishment to front-end GTM
Improved NPI productivity (20%/2yrs) by effectiveness improvement through Lean concepts and CFT approaches
Program Management (NPI - EV & connected, Commercial Goods vehicles) Business Planning
Corporate Strategy
Achievements
PUBLICATIONS
“Application of analytics
towards balancing
customer satisfaction &
producer potential
utilization”, at (DKMP-2015)
“Product-Bundle pricing:
An integrated approach
through text analytics &
genetic algorithm”, at
(ICBAI-2016)
“Study of Influence of
steering wheel design
change on performance
characteristics of energy-
absorbing steering
systems”, at Asia Pacific
Automotive Conference,
2011
LANGUAGES
English
Japanese
OTHER SKILL SETS
R Programming
Leveraged Text-analytics
for fast turn-around in
Voice of Customer
analyses, Geo-spatial
analysis for optimum EV
charging location
identification,
Solution space
identification in Linear
Programming problems for
business scenario
simulations
Leveraged MS-PowerBI for
OKR deployment, Review
mechanism
Expert in running short
turn around time, low
investment pilot programs
to validate business proof
of concepts
*TVSM previously TVS Suzuki, a JV of Suzuki - Japan & TVS. Large 2W&,3W OEM & Indian partner of BMW MOTORRAD)
Business Planning, Strategy, Program Head EV, C-A-S-E TVS Motors(TVSM*) Apr 2013 - Aug 2022 10 years Spearheaded Risk Management, NPI process, Decision Support and served as a strategic advisor to the CXOs
Employed analytics and management accounting to identify high-profit opportunities, driving a 25% increase in new business acquisition across both B2B and B2C markets.
Facilitated seamless collaboration among cross-functional teams through well-defined SLAs and SDLC methodologies, resulting in a 20% improvement in project alignment and resource utilization. Established forecast engines, OKR, KPI dashboards & command centers. Developed business cases, financial models & critical assets (Strategic sourcing, Sales, Service, Spares, Supply chain)
Led appraisals for concepts, strategic initiatives and pricing Established spend control tower and a prognosis based approach to manage time manage and prioritize tasks to achieve results within cost and schedule constraints
Utilized Agile techniques, such as Agile Budgeting and Rolling Wave Planning, to flexibly allocate resources, adapt to shifting priorities, and ensure cost-effective project execution, spend management Strategic initiatives conceptualization and execution Budgeting and Variance control
Tools used: MS Project, Advanced Excel, R/RStudio, MSPowerBI, SQL Tools used: MS Project, Arena (Rockwell Automation), CCPM based custom Portfolio Management, SAP IBP, R/RStudio, SQL, SCILAB, SPSS Project Manager: Technology Transfer & Global Platform SUZUKI MOTOR CORPORATION Jul 2006 - Mar 2012 6 yrs In-charge of Product plan balancing regulatory hurdles, cost constraints, domestic value addition & supply chain agility Prime member of Program Team that brought Maruti Suzuki Super Carry ( a mini truck available in Petrol, CNG variants.) Platform ‘commonisation’ for cross country product migrations Championed cost reduction programs, liaised with suppliers and implemented change management
Analytics driven evaluation to improve efficiency & productivity Development of process automation and improvements for swift correlation in NPD test vs simulations
Led Crashworthiness certification teams & tested vehicles for regulations of Europe & Japan
Reduced cycle-time, cost & redundancy through VA/VE & KAIZEN Improved virtual model correlation to 85% + through analytics Led technology incubation and evaluation of technology partners, leading to Vendor selection, negotiation and techno-commercial evaluation
Reduced NPD cost by 24 % & time through DOE in coordination with Design, Testing & production
Appreciated by “Asahi Shimbun”, “Nihon Kezai Shimbun” Japanese newspapers for tech transfer from Japan to India
Initiated process improvement with technology partner Altair PD resulting in 30% time saving
Leveraged platform ‘commonisation’ strategy leading to 15% cost reductions across platforms
Created shared platform for 2 cars and 1 MUV and saved ~10Kg per car Product planning & NPI Program Management
Procurement and Vendor Management
Achievements
Maruti Suzuki - Largest Automotive manufacturer in India, a wholly owned subsidiary of SMC, Japan (Previously Maruti Udyog) Project Lead: BIW Development
Wipro technologies Jun 2004 - Jun 2006
Managed vehicle development projects of reputed international automotive OEM - Cars & Trucks (GM, Nissan, Ashok Leyland, Tata) Responsible for best practices, team competency improvement (4 project leaders & 20 members)
Responsible for communication of project progress, requirements identification, outsourcing vendors
Achievements : Team leader of 4 pilot projects (3 were converted into long term strategic projects)
Previously Quantech Global (a tech partner for Japanese car OEMs) Product Designer
Quattro Infotech Sep 2002 - Jun 2004
Coordinated with client from project initiation stage to solution delivery stage
Product design and improvement of manufacturability of identified components
Groomed a team of engineers in VA/VE activities, PLM and Team Data Management system
OTHER CERTIFICATIONS
Machine Learning
Algorithm for Business
Decision Making” by ASI
(under DCAL of IIM-B) Dec
2018
“Visionary Leaders For
Manufacturing” by JICA at
Tokyo, Japan in February
2013
“CAE, Outsourcing
management & Vehicle
Testing”, (AOTS Japan)
“Crash & Safety Simulation,
Project Management”
(Japan)
Tools used: MS Project, Advanced Excel, LSDYNA, Hyperworks