SVP – Engineering — Aftermarket And Services Unit

The mandate

An aftermarket and services unit is consolidating product-support engineering, repair development and technical documentation from several small groups into an Osaka centre. The move should accelerate answers to field teams, but it also risks separating engineers from damaged parts, experienced technicians and the designers who understand legacy equipment. A planned new SVP – Engineering appointment will create an operating model that centralises reusable knowledge without losing the physical evidence behind sound repair decisions.

The perimeter is approximately 775 employees and material partners spanning support engineering, repair and remanufacturing methods, technical publications, configuration data, reliability analysis and interfaces with field service and original-product engineering. The SVP reports to the Group Chief Executive or designated sponsor. Service operations owns response and execution; engineering owns technical disposition, authorised repair and configuration integrity.

Legacy fleets contain multiple modifications, regional options and undocumented field changes. A model number is not sufficient to prescribe a repair. The engineering system must connect serialised configuration, service history, failure evidence, applicable drawings and safety bulletins. Where evidence is incomplete, engineers need authority to request inspection or restrict operation rather than infer a convenient answer.

Repair development must be governed like product engineering. Salvage limits, material substitutions, special processes, software versions and validation evidence require defined authority. Economic pressure to recover an expensive component cannot lower the technical threshold. The SVP will distinguish temporary field containment from a repeatable approved repair and ensure each has traceability and expiry.

The centre will use digital collaboration and knowledge tools, but searchable content is not automatically correct content. Advice must carry source, applicability, approval and revision status. Artificial-intelligence assistance may help locate cases or propose similarities; it may not release a repair or invent missing configuration. The leader will establish evaluation and human accountability before scaling such tools.

Consolidation also changes field relationships. Engineers who respond only through a queue may miss weak signals across apparently unrelated cases. Named fleet or system ownership, regular teardown reviews and rotations into depots will preserve contact. Service teams need response priorities based on safety and customer consequence, with transparent escalation when demand exceeds capacity.

This is a planned new seat rather than a replacement. Existing engineering managers remain valuable but their mandates are product-specific and fragmented. The SVP will design the central organisation, define local engineering presence and select leaders through a fair process. The centre must earn authority through better decisions, not merely through hierarchy.

What you will own

• Design the consolidated engineering centre and necessary local or field-facing technical presence.
• Establish serialised configuration, service-history and technical-evidence requirements for decisions.
• Govern repair development, validation, release, deviation, expiry and intellectual property.
• Create response priorities and escalation for safety-critical and customer-critical cases.
• Build controlled technical knowledge, publications and digital-search capability.
• Connect field failures to reliability, original-product engineering and lifecycle actions.
• Decide specialist capability, succession, recruitment and depot rotations.
• Measure engineering response by safe resolution and repeat prevention, not ticket closure alone.

The first 12 months

In the first 75 days, map decision types, ageing-fleet risk, current queues and single-expert dependencies. Review representative repairs from failed part through approval and field outcome. Define which activities can move safely, which require overlap and which need permanent proximity to parts or customers.

By month six, launch the centre with controlled technical authority, configuration evidence and service escalation. Validate the highest-volume repairs, close critical documentation gaps and establish fleet ownership and depot rotations. Select the leadership team and confirm succession for scarce legacy technologies before any sending group closes.

At twelve months, reduce median engineering response time by 35%, cut repeat technical escalations by 25% and place 100% of safety-significant repairs under current validated authority. At least 95% of priority field cases should link to confirmed configuration and disposition evidence. No consolidation-related loss of expertise may cause an unsafe release, avoidable fleet grounding or missed mandatory bulletin.

What the sponsor will measure

• Centralisation improving technical resolution rather than adding queue distance.
• Repair authority supported by configuration, physical evidence and validation.
• Legacy knowledge retained through practice, succession and controlled records.
• Field signals reaching reliability and original-product decisions.
• Digital tools accelerating retrieval without obscuring human accountability.
• Engineering leaders trusted by depots, customers and product teams.

The person

You bring 22–28 years in engineering for industrial equipment, transport, aerospace, power systems or another long-lived installed base. You have led repair engineering, product support or remanufacturing and consolidated technical teams without weakening field response. Pure new-product development experience is not enough.

Your previous remit should include at least 500 engineers, technicians and partners or a fleet of comparable complexity. Evidence must include a repair you refused or redesigned, a configuration-control failure you corrected and a knowledge transfer from a retiring expert. Japanese fluency and strong business English are required, alongside credibility in depots and executive forums.

Compensation and terms

The base range is ¥38–50 million plus annual incentive linked to response, validated repairs, fleet reliability, consolidation and capability. This permanent onsite Osaka role reports to the Group Chief Executive or designated executive sponsor and requires depot and customer travel. Appointment timing will align with the planned centre sequence.

Confidentiality

The manufacturer, fleet, engineering locations, repair evidence, customers and legacy technologies remain confidential. Controlled materials follow suitability, conflicts and signed confidentiality. Applicants must not approach field organisations or suppliers to infer the client or its consolidation plans.