Product Line Director – Castings

📋 Description

• Take charge as the entrepreneurial leader of the castings line of business, encompassing die, investment, and sand casting — responsible for vision, strategy, growth, and outcomes.

• Actively analyze market trends, customer requirements, competitive insights, and internal feedback to shape strategy, uncover opportunities and risks, and initiate decisive actions.

• Develop and refine product line strategy, pricing, and market entry positioning for die, investment, and sand casting to achieve profitable revenue growth, strong margin performance, and increased customer value.

• Design Fictiv’s castings capability roadmap — establishing which processes, alloys, tolerance classes, part sizes, certifications, and secondary operations to support; identifying capability gaps in the manufacturing partner network; and defining qualification and onboarding standards — in collaboration with Solution Engineering, Program Management, and regional General Managers.

• Influence and coordinate with cross-functional partners across sales, marketing, solution engineering, program management, and customer success to implement the strategy and achieve results.

• Act as Fictiv’s internal expert on castings — addressing Design for Casting (DFC), alloy and process selection, tooling considerations, gating and solidification principles, defect modes, tolerance realities, and secondary operations — to ensure accurate quoting, effective sales engagement, customer-facing technical discussions, and informed assessments of manufacturing partner capabilities.

• Set and monitor key performance indicators for growth, margin, quote-to-order conversion, on-time delivery, first-article approval, and customer satisfaction; effectively communicate progress and insights to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Promote accountability by fostering continuous improvement, questioning assumptions, and ensuring alignment with business goals.

⛳️ Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Materials, Metallurgical, or Manufacturing), Operations Management, or a related field; Master’s degree is preferred.

• Over 10 years of hands-on experience in metal castings — including die casting, investment casting, and/or sand casting, with direct foundry, engineering, or process ownership experience — and a minimum of 5 years in a leadership role focused on growth, operations, or business development.

• Extensive knowledge of casting processes and technologies, such as high-pressure die casting (HPDC), low-pressure die casting, investment (lost wax) casting, and sand casting.

• Strong understanding of alloy selection (aluminum, zinc, magnesium, stainless and carbon steels, ferrous alloys), gating and solidification, tooling and die/pattern design and longevity, defect mechanisms and controls (porosity, shrinkage, cold shuts, inclusions, misruns), and secondary operations (heat treatment, machining, NDT, surface finishing).

• Familiarity with ISO 9001, IATF 16949, AS9100, NADCA, ASTM, and environmental standards.

• Proven track record of driving business growth, commercial strategy, and customer satisfaction in a multi-process, tooling-intensive environment.

• Ability to operate effectively within a distributed manufacturing partner network is crucial.

• Strong commercial insight and entrepreneurial mindset, with experience in shaping strategy and influencing results across cross-functional teams.

• Exceptional leadership, communication, and collaboration skills, with the ability to align and motivate diverse stakeholders.

• Proficient in problem-solving and continuous improvement, with knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma, or similar methodologies being a plus.

• Demonstrated capability to manage multiple priorities, execute effectively, and adapt in a dynamic environment.

• Openness to travel as necessary to support customers, foundry partners, and global operational initiatives.

🏝️ Benefits

• Comprehensive medical and dental coverage

• 401(k) plan

• Generous PTO and leave programs