Chief Operations Officer - Passenger Vehicle Business - Hybrid & Electric Vehicle

Description:

Overview:

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) will be a founding member of the leadership team, responsible forbuilding and scaling end-to-end operations for the passenger vehicle (Hybrid & Electric vehicle) business.This role entails establishing robust procurement, manufacturing, planning & logistics, and quality systems to support the companys ambitious growth trajectory. The COO will play a pivotal role in transitioning from greenfield setup to steady-state operations, ensuring efficiency, cost competitiveness, and world-class quality standards. This is a senior leadership position reporting to the CEO, with accountability for delivering seamless operations, enabling scale-up, and positioning the brand as a benchmark in operational excellence within the automotive industry.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Operations Leadership

• Translate the companys growth strategy into actionable operational roadmaps, defining clear priorities, timelines, and measurable outcomes.
• Build and drive capital requirement planning across plants, suppliers, and logistics to balance growth, cost efficiency, and product quality.
• Ensure end-to-end operational excellence by managing procurement, production, planning, logistics, and quality systems.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives across functions, embedding lean, Six Sigma, and operational best practices to enhance efficiency, reduce waste, and increase agility.
• Build operational resilience by identifying and mitigating supply chain risks, ensuring business continuity under dynamic market conditions.
• Lead digital transformation and Industry 4.0 adoption, implementing real-time monitoring, analytics, and automated decision-making to enhance visibility and responsiveness.
• Own day-to-day operations performance, setting KPIs, tracking metrics, and ensuring al functions meet operational and financial targets.
• Foster a culture of data-driven decision-making, innovation, and accountability across all operational teams.
• Collaborate with leadership to scale operations sustainably, supporting business expansion while maintaining cost competitiveness and quality standards.

Operational Excellence

• Drive Procurement, Manufacturing, Planning & Logistics, and Quality heads, ensuring functional strategies are aligned with business objectives.
• Establish governance mechanisms to track performance, resolve interdependencies, and drive cross-functional collaboration.
• Act as the central integrator across product development, sales, and finance to enable smooth execution of business plans.
• Ensure operational readiness to support product launches.

Performance & Governance

• Define operational KPIs (cost, quality, delivery, productivity, safety) and ensure functional heads deliver against them.
• Establish structured review mechanisms to monitor progress, identify risks, and drive timely course corrections.
• Benchmark performance against global best practices to ensure competitiveness.
• Champion a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and customer-first orientation.

Leadership & Talent Development

• Build and mentor a high-performing leadership bench across operations functions.
• Enable collaboration, empowerment, and agility across large and diverse teams.
• Act as a culture carrier for safety, sustainability, and operational excellence.
• Provide leadership continuity through succession planning and capability development across N-2 leaders.

Qualifications & Experience:

• B.E./B.Tech in Mechanical/Automobile/Production Engineering; MBA mandatory.
• 25+ years of progressive experience in automotive operations, with at least 8 years in a senior leadership role (COO/Operations Head).
• Proven track record of plant setup and operational ramp-up in passenger vehicles/EVs.
• Deep expertise in procurement, supply chain, and vendor ecosystem development.
• Demonstrated capability in process improvement projects, operational excellence initiatives, and lean transformation.
• Strong understanding of EV-specific technologies, supplier ecosystems, and new-age manufacturing systems.
• Strong experience with technology-driven operations, including IT systems, digital manufacturing platforms, and Industry 4.0 solutions.
• Proven ability to integrate multiple functions, manage complexity, and drive strategic alignment.
• Exceptional leadership, stakeholder management, and execution skills.
• Strong cultural leadership, fostering collaboration, accountability, innovation, and a high- performance mindset.

Key Success Measures:

• Seamless coordination across Procurement, Manufacturing, Planning, and Quality functions.
• Achievement of the Annual Business Plan (ABP), ensure all operational functions deliver on growth, cost, quality, and delivery targets as defined in the ABP, with timely execution and proactive gap mitigation.
• On-time, cost-competitive, and quality-assured product launches.
• Achievement of operational KPIs (cost-per-unit, productivity, OTIF, quality benchmarks).
• Successful ramp-up of plant facilities to steady-state operations.
• Mature and resilient supply chain ecosystem aligned with EV localization, competitiveness, and risk mitigation goals.
• Integration of digital systems across procurement, manufacturing, and planning for enhancedvisibility and decision-making.
• Development of a strong operational leadership pipeline.
• Integration of sustainability and ESG commitments into operational execution.
• Continuous improvement in operations through process, technology, and digital innovation initiatives.