CTO – Product and Engineering — Aftermarket Franchise

The mandate

An aftermarket franchise has grown around mechanical parts, repair procedures and remanufacturing. Electric vehicles now bring high-voltage components, battery diagnostics, remote software, thermal systems and tighter links to original vehicle data. Product teams are accelerating new offers, but workshop evidence, safety validation and lifecycle support have not kept pace. The board has created an urgent CTO role to increase engineering speed without turning field customers into the final test environment.

The CTO will lead an approximately US$15,650 million revenue and programme perimeter and 925 employees and material partners. Accountability spans aftermarket product engineering, diagnostics, repair technology, remanufacturing engineering, validation, technical platforms, supplier engineering and technical leadership. Quality owns formal defect containment and commercial leaders own market propositions. The CTO owns technical integrity, repairability and the evidence required to release and support an aftermarket product.

Electric-vehicle aftermarket design begins with access. The team must know which vehicle and battery data can be read, which functions require manufacturer authorisation, what isolation procedures apply and which repair is technically and legally permissible. A component that can be remanufactured in a laboratory may not be serviceable safely or economically in the field. The CTO will define product families around verified workshop use cases, not theoretical bill-of-material opportunities.

Reliability must cover the repair system. Diagnostic software, adapters, protective equipment, technician instructions, replacement parts and post-repair verification form one product outcome. Failure in any element can create repeat visits or safety exposure. Engineering reviews will therefore include representative workshops and climates, aged vehicles, damaged components and realistic technician time.

Why this seat is open

The position was not in the annual hiring plan. An accelerated electric-vehicle portfolio review exposed split authority across diagnostics, product engineering and repair technology. Interim leaders preserve active releases but cannot set the integrated architecture. The firm seeks appointment within four to six weeks; there is no predecessor or undisclosed quality event.

What you will own

• Define the technical aftermarket portfolio for batteries, power electronics, thermal systems and connected diagnostics.
• Set engineering evidence for safe diagnosis, repair, remanufacture and release.
• Build a field-learning loop from workshop symptom through root cause and design change.
• Govern technical suppliers, data rights, tooling and software support.
• Allocate engineering capacity between new products, installed-fleet defects and technical debt.
• Develop principal engineers and successors across product, diagnostics and validation.

The engineering operating model will separate platform authority from application delivery. Common diagnostic services, safety rules, data models and validation methods need named owners; product squads can adapt them within controlled boundaries. Exceptions will state the vehicle cohort, customer benefit, incremental support cost and retirement condition. Supplier black boxes will not be accepted where the franchise remains responsible for field diagnosis.

Field incidents will be treated as engineering assets. Returned components, fault logs, repair histories and technician narratives will retain lineage and consent. The CTO will establish rapid technical triage without allowing commercial urgency to bypass safety or evidence. Corrective action will update product design, diagnostic logic and workshop materials together, then verify adoption in the field.

Portfolio pace will be governed through work in progress. Laboratory, systems-safety and vehicle-access constraints will determine how many products can move concurrently. Partnerships can add specialist capability, but internal engineers must retain requirements and acceptance authority. Roadmaps will include software maintenance, cyber response, spare tooling and end-of-support costs.

The first 12 months

During the first 90 days, the CTO will review the 20 highest-value or highest-risk product families, map engineering constraints and assess the leadership team. Upcoming launches with incomplete workshop or safety evidence will be contained, and the sponsor will receive a resourced portfolio sequence.

By month eight, three electric-vehicle repair or diagnostic families should operate under common evidence, two critical supplier or data dependencies should have durable agreements, and selected field failures should move through a closed-loop engineering process. Principal-engineer authority will be explicit.

At year-end, release predictability should exceed 90%, severe repeat-repair rates in selected cohorts fall by 20%, and field-to-containment time improve by 30%. Every priority product will carry lifecycle support and end-of-service plans; two representative repair pathways must pass independent safety and recovery exercises.

What the board will measure

• New products released with credible workshop and lifecycle evidence.
• Faster conversion of field failures into design correction.
• Safe access to vehicle data and high-voltage repair.
• Reduced dependence on opaque suppliers.
• Strong technical authority and succession.

The person

You are a CTO, product-engineering executive or aftermarket technology leader with 18–22 years in automotive, mobility or safety-critical equipment. You have governed at least US$9,100 million and 650 employees. Evidence must include an electric or electronic repair product, a field-reliability intervention and an engineering roadmap reset that increased pace without higher escape.

The role is hybrid in Detroit with laboratory, workshop, supplier and customer travel. You must be credible with technicians as well as software and systems engineers.

Compensation and terms

Base salary is US$430,000–575,000 plus annual incentive and equity. Measures include release quality, repair durability, field response, lifecycle economics, technical independence and succession. Package calibration will follow the confirmed engineering perimeter, and joining plans can recognise a contractual notice obligation lasting up to six months.

Confidentiality

The franchise, products, vehicle data, suppliers and field incidents are confidential. Further information follows qualification and an undertaking. Detroit and the rounded perimeter do not identify the company.