Head of DevKit AI Center of Competence(m/w/x)

# Head of DevKit AI Center of Competence (m/f/d) * Bangalore * Berlin * Brasov * Braunschweig * Erlangen * Germany - Ulm2 * München * Oulu * Radolfzell * Stuttgart * Timisoara * Ulm ## Hi, Welcome to Elektrobit! Would you like to have a job where you can influence one of the biggest industries? Do you have a vision of what the mobility of the future could look like? **Then we have just the right thing for you!** ## We would like to introduce ourselves. We are Elektrobit and we develop **visionary** embedded and connected software for the automotive industry. Day by day we work on **leading-edge** technologies for automated driving, new vehicle infrastructures, connected cars, and user experience that shape the future of mobility. As part of the world of **top automotive brands** we have been doing this with great success for more than 35 years. Our customers include Audi, BMW, Daimler, Ford, GM, Volkswagen Group, Volvo, and many more and you can find our technologies in more than 600 million vehicles. We are a wholly-owned independently-operated subsidiary of Continental AG. What unites all of our over 4000 colleagues all around the world is our **passion** for automotive software and our **unique team spirit**. Together we work towards our vision of a world in which mobility causes zero fatalities, produces low emissions, and transforms your commute into quality time. **Would you like to help make this vision a reality and move the world with us****?** **Then we’d love to hear from you**! We are looking for a new Head of DevKit AI Center of Competence (CoC) (m/f/d) for your great team. The Head of Center of Competence (CoC) is responsible for providing domain-specific expertise to development streams within the engineering organization while representing the technology and competence both internally and externally. This role combines technology leadership with people management, fostering a thriving engineering community and acting as a trusted advisor to the organization within the CoC’s competence field. The Head of CoC leads a large, distributed team (about 270 employees) without profit and loss (P&L) responsibility, focusing on competence development, strategy, and cross-functional collaboration. Collaboration with the Head of Value Stream is essential to ensure that technological expertise and competence development align with the business and product goals of the organization. The Head of CoC works closely with Value Stream leadership to optimize workforce planning, ensure engineers are equipped with the right skills, and integrate new technologies and methodologies into product development, maximizing overall efficiency and innovation. ## What you do * **People Management** * Act as the direct supervisor for CoC Team Managers, ensuring structured development dialogues, goal setting, performance reviews, coaching, and 1:1 interactions. * Oversee performance calibration, competence development, knowledge sharing, effective succession planning and employee engagement initiatives. * Align and implement employee-related tooling/process changes (e.g., new job architecture, goal setting framework) within the CoC. * Define and track CoC Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) to drive performance and strategic alignment. * Oversee strategic workforce planning and site strategy, ensuring alignment with the company’s long-term goals. * Manage CoC cost budgets and control operational expenditures. * Coordinate supplier management and ensure effective staffing processes in alignment with cross-team strategies. **Technology Leadership** * Continuously scout and evaluate emerging technologies, identifying trends and assessing their potential impact on the company’s technology strategy. * Provide a strategic overview of technology trends, mapping key developments, identifying gaps, and steering research directions. * Define and align the CoC’s technology strategy with overall business objectives. * Facilitate and encourage bottom-up innovation, channeling product feature ideas from engineering teams towards product management. * Contribute to research proposals, Proof-of-Concept (PoC) initiatives, advanced engineering efforts, and intellectual property development (e.g., invention notes, patent ideas). * Create technical whitepapers, articles, and presentations, promoting knowledge sharing both internally and externally. * Act as a technical advisor to Product and Solution Management, supporting product definition, customer discussions, and architectural workshops. ## What you bring **Educational & Experience Requirements** * Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field. * Several years of experience in software development, with many years in a leadership role. * Proven ability to manage large, distributed engineering teams. * Strong knowledge of software development methodologies, including Agile and SAFe. * Proficiency in defining and executing technology strategies. * Experience with budget management and resource allocation. **Must-Have Competencies** * **Soft Skills** * Leadership: Ability to inspire, mentor, and lead diverse engineering teams. * Strategic Planning: Visionary mindset to align technology goals with business objectives. * Communication: Strong ability to articulate complex technical topics to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. * Problem-Solving: Ability to resolve complex technical challenges with scalability and performance in mind. * **Hard Skills** * Software Development: Deep expertise in software development methodologies, frameworks, and tools. * Team Leadership: Experience in managing, mentoring, and developing engineering talent. * Technology Strategy: Ability to set and execute a technology roadmap that drives innovation and competitiveness. * Budgeting & Resource Planning: Proficiency in managing department budgets and strategic workforce planning. ## Look forward to * Working on exciting and **future-oriented projects**, together with best-in-class colleagues. * Benefiting from our international collaborations and our **multicultural** and **diverse** #teamElektrobit, there’s so much we learn from each other. * Having a job that fits to your life through access to **mobile work, flextime** without core hours and **tailored work time models** such as part-time work. Let’s have a chat about what suits you and us best. * Enjoying an **informal working environment** throughout the company with no dress code. * Being part of a team where we believe in each other, care for each other, and can rely on each other. Regular team and sport events strengthen our **team spirit** even further. * Continuously **learning** and building your skill set with first-class development opportunities, e.g. through unlimited access to the e-learning platform Udemy and our extensive know-how. * Profiting from a generously subsidized **company pension plan** and **capital-forming benefits**. At Elektrobit, we celebrate diversity. Your ethnic origin, gender, religion or world view, disability, age, or sexual identity do not matter to us. The only important thing is that you fit in with us and are passionate about automotive software. * Sabine Stadie * Recruiting * +49 9131 7701 6321