Manager – Change Request Management

About the Role:

We are seeking a leader to drive Change Request governance and Sales Operations excellence in Japan, ensuring strong execution discipline, customer alignment, and scalable operations for business growth.

This role requires end-to-end ownership, leading structured processes, influencing senior stakeholders, and enabling global teams across Japan, the US, Europe, and Mexico to consistently deliver against commitments. You will also act as a strategic bridge between Japanese OEM customers and global delivery teams, strengthening operational rigor and alignment.

Your Team

You will join the Global Business Operations team, spanning Japan, Mexico, Europe, and the US. The team is responsible for:

• Customer requirements intake
• Change Request management
• Sales operations support
• Value management (cost savings and tracking)

In Japan, you will work closely with customer-facing and requirements teams while collaborating with global stakeholders to ensure smooth alignment between local and global operations.

Role Overview

• This is a senior Individual Contributor role responsible for the governance, execution, and continuous improvement for Change Request Management processes across projects.
• You will serve as the Subject Matter Expert for Customer Change request management, ensuring adherence to governance frameworks and driving consistency, process excellence, and operational effectiveness.
• The role requires strong stakeholder influence across Engineering, Program Management, Business Operations, Finance, and Customer teams to ensure successful execution and business outcomes.
• While there is no direct people management, the role demands technical leadership, coaching, and governance guidance to teams globally.

Key Responsibilities
 

What You Will Do

• Own and drive end-to-end Change Request Management, ensuring strong governance and successful execution across programs
• Lead CR lifecycle management (intake, evaluation, prioritization, approval, delivery, and closure) with high control and transparency
• Ensure timely and high-quality execution of CRs by coordinating cross-functional teams across Engineering, Program Management, Sales, and Finance
• Adopt a customer-first mindset, aligning all decisions with customer expectations and business value
• Drive Sales Operations activities, including RFQ/RFI coordination, commercial alignment, and business performance tracking
• Govern the customer requirements lifecycle, ensuring clarity, traceability, and baseline control across programs
• Monitor and report CR KPIs (cost, timeline, SLA adherence, and risk) with clear and consistent stakeholder visibility
• Establish and manage KPIs and dashboards for CR performance, requirements maturity and operational efficiency
• Apply strong Connectivity / Car Audio (CA) domain expertise to accurately interpret customer requirements and translate them into actionable deliverables
• Proactively identify risks and lead structured escalation, mitigation, and resolution, leveraging data and sound judgment
• Act as a key interface between customer expectations and global development teams (Japan, US, Europe, Mexico), ensuring alignment and clarity
• Build and maintain strong relationships with Japanese OEM customers and internal stakeholders
• Drive cross-functional and global alignment to ensure on-time milestone delivery and commitment adherence
• Standardizing processes, governance, and reporting to enable scalable operations and support new business growth
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives, including process optimization, digitalization, and automation across CR management, requirements engineering, and Sales Operations

What You Need

• 10–15 years of experience in program management, change request management, sales operations, or business operations
• Minimum 5 years of experience working with Japanese automotive OEMs or Tier 1 suppliers
• Strong Connectivity / Car Audio domain understanding, enabling effective handling of escalations, risk assessment, and customer-to-engineering translation
• Japanese (native level) and English (business level) communication skills
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional and global teams across regions and time zones
• Strong ownership mindset with the ability to drive outcomes end-to-end
• Experience in customer-facing roles, CR governance, and lifecycle management
• Ability to interpret technical specifications, manage ambiguity, and make sound decisions under pressure
• Demonstrated ability in risk identification, escalation management, and resolution
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, including senior leadership engagement
• Experience in KPI tracking, dashboard reporting, and data-driven decision-making
• Strong governance mindset with adherence to process, compliance, and accountability frameworks

What is Nice to Have

• PMP (Project Management Professional) certification
• Knowledge of Automotive SPICE®, requirements engineering, and lifecycle processes
• Familiarity with RFI/RFQ processes and commercial quote preparation
• Solid understanding of requirements management processes and tools (e.g., DOORS/DNG)
• Understanding of configuration management and baselining practices
• Experience supporting new business launches or customer expansion programs
• Exposure to global customer or supplier negotiations
• Strong capability in KPI tracking, dashboards, and data analytics tools
• Experience driving process automation and digitalization initiatives
• Background in AI- or data-driven operational improvements
• Proactive and self-driven mindset with strong prioritization and time management skills
• People Manager: Lead, develop, and empower a high-performing team by driving engagement, accountability, capability development, and business results.

What Makes You Eligible

• Demonstrates strong ownership and accountability, ensuring end-to-end delivery without gaps
• Drives execution discipline, consistently meeting commitments on timelines, cost, and quality
• Proactively identifies risks and ensures timely escalation with clear context and mitigation plans
• Operates with a strong governance mindset, adhering to defined processes and compliance requirements
• Builds alignment across Japanese customers and global teams through structured communication and cultural awareness
• Influences stakeholders effectively using data, clarity, and persistence
• Creates clarity in ambiguous situations, translating complex requirements into actionable plans
• Enables scalable processes and operational structures to support business growth
• Demonstrates decision-driving behavior, ensuring topics move from discussion to outcomes
• Maintains high standards for data quality, process consistency, and reporting accuracy

What We Offer

• We offer an authentic diverse, equal, and inclusive work environment that fosters and encourages professional and personal development in a truly global organization.
• You will work on products and services that touch people’s lives and will change the industrial standards, being a part of the transformations in our industry.
• Our work environments are fast paced, challenging, empowering, collaborative, flexible and exciting.
• We offer our own HARMAN University with regular updates on the new technologies and trends by utilizing various sessions organized by Self Learning and Development Trainings to help grow and advance talent.
• We offer competitive compensation/benefit programs and recognition programs.