Director Business Growth & Strategy Leader (m/f/d)

About the Role

In this position, you will lead the Software Products Business Growth & Strategy organization, enabling HARMAN to compete in the pure software market. This is a global, multi-function leadership role with direct accountability across Business Strategy & Portfolio Management, Business Growth OPDM [Outbound Product Management] / Pre-Sales, Solution Management, Customer Success, Pursuit & Account Management, and Partner Strategy. This role will manage a team of senior functional leaders and a distributed organization responsible for influencing where HARMAN plays, how Software Products wins, and how revenue is created, protected, realized, and governed. Success requires a strategic, results-driven, and change-oriented leader with a strong industry perspective, disciplined decision-making governance, and the ability to connect across all levels of the company to drive outcomes.

This role is central to HARMAN’s transition from a hardware-led and hardware-plus-software model toward a software-first business capable of winning SDV, platform, lifecycle revenue, and recurring software opportunities. Success requires executive-level judgment, strong commercial and financial ownership, deep customer orientation, and the ability to influence Product Management, Engineering, Finance, Legal, CAMs, Automotive Strategy, and senior leadership around a single growth agenda.

What You Will Do

• Set the vision, operating agenda, and performance expectations for the Software Products Business Growth & Strategy organization, ensuring the function operates as one accountable growth engine rather than a collection of support activities.
• Lead senior functional leaders across Business Strategy & Portfolio Management, Business Growth OPDM [Outbound Product Management] / Pre-Sales, Technical Solution Management, Customer Success/Program Mgmt, Pursuit & Account Management (from Discovery to Cash), and Strategic Partner Strategy.
• Set the software-first commercial agenda, translating the Software Products strategy into 5YP revenue, EBIT, pipeline, GTM, portfolio, partner, and investment plans.
• Foster a collaborative, values-led environment where depth of leadership enables teams to own the outcome, move as one, and apply collective intelligence to deliver exceptional customer and business outcomes.
• Own the business translation of Software Products strategy into multi-year revenue, EBIT, pipeline, portfolio, account, and GTM plans aligned with Intelligent Cockpit and Automotive priorities.
• Drive market intelligence, customer voice, competitive insight, segment prioritization, and go-to-market readiness, so product and investment decisions are anchored in where customers are moving and where HARMAN can win.
• Lead portfolio and investment steering with Product Management, Engineering, Finance, and Strategy, ensuring budget allocation, and resource decisions are tied to revenue potential, margin impact, market differentiation, and execution feasibility with KPI-driven dashboards that highlight value, risk, and actions needed to accelerate profitable growth.
• Responsible to deliver revenue realization according to growth trajectory targets across regions, through pursuit strategy, business development, battle plans, bid management, pipeline coverage, forecast quality, and executive-level deal escalation.
• Oversee solution management and pre-sales execution to ensure customer requirements, technical solutioning, drive high-quality RFX responses, pricing inputs, SOW scope, and solution commitments are commercially sound, technically credible, and aligned to product direction.
• Protect and expand existing revenues through account management and customer success discipline, including renewals, extensions, follow-on programs, account health, escalation management, customer feedback loops, and continuity of awarded business to ensure customer retention.
• Chair the decision-making KPI-oriented governance model for your organization, including executive business reviews, pipeline and pursuits governance, account continuity, strategy and portfolio investment forums, market insights, sales operations governance, and business case approval discipline.
• Represent Software Products voice in cross-BU executive forums and influence enterprise stakeholders to resolve structural barriers, secure resources, and ensure Software Products is set up for success.
• Collaborate with Sales Excellence, Global Customer Groups, Finance, and Business Development to embed Software Products into account planning, commercial governance, customer strategy, and growth execution across regions.
• Build an external and internal narrative that makes HARMAN credible as a software partner to OEMs, Tier 1s, technology partners, and internal business units, to enable alternate channels of revenue generation.
• Own business operations and sales operations rigor across forecasting, contract lifecycle, booking, invoicing, PO tracking, revenue support, business case quality, quote-to-cash transparency, and leadership reporting.
• Represent Software Products across Business Units and with strategic customers, partners, and executive stakeholders, aligning resources and removing barriers to accelerate credibility driving toward defined goals.

What you will need

• 25+ years of progressive hands-on leadership experience across automotive software, connected vehicle, SDV, product strategy, business development, commercial operations, portfolio management, or enterprise software growth; experience with OEMs, Tier 1s, or major technology players strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to lead senior functional leaders and multi-disciplinary global teams, through transformation, ambiguity, organizational change, and high-stakes executive decision making.
• Strong executive presence with the ability to influence senior stakeholders across Product Management, Engineering, Finance, Legal, Sales, CAMs, Business Development, SBU leadership, Sales Excellence, and enterprise strategy functions.
• Deep understanding of software business models, recurring revenue, licensing, services, platform economics, solution selling, commercial governance, and the shift from product-centric lifecycle value models.
• Strong financial acumen across revenue planning, EBIT, business cases, pricing, budget allocation, margin improvement, portfolio trade-offs, and investment governance.
• Experience leading complex customer-facing software pursuits, RFQ/RFX strategy, executive customer engagement, account expansion, renewals, contract continuity, and cross-functional deal governance.
• Ability to establish operating models, governance forums, KPI systems, dashboards, and management routines that improve decision quality, transparency, accountability, and execution speed.
• Strategic communication capability, including the ability to distill complex software, commercial, technical, and financial topics into crisp executive recommendations and decision papers.
• Bachelor's and/or master’s degree in engineering, Business, Strategy, Finance, or a related field; advanced degree is strongly preferred.

What Makes You Eligible

• Be willing to travel up to 50%, domestic and international travel
• This role is a Hybrid work schedule with occasional trips into the local office location required

What We Offer

• Flexible work schedule with a culture encouraging work life integration and collaboration in a global friendly working atmosphere and good work-life-balance
• Access to employee discounts on world-class Harman and Samsung products (JBL, HARMAN Kardon, AKG, etc.)
• Extensive training opportunities through our own HARMAN University
• Competitive wellness benefits
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Access to HARMAN Campus Fitness Center and Cafeteria
• An inclusive and diverse work environment that fosters and encourages professional and personal development

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