Global Director of Components @ Continental

Driving global component development with clear structure, strong leadership and measurable impact. As Global Director of Components, I was responsible for the global strategic and operational leadership of component development, including disciplinary management of international teams across Europe, the Americas and Asia. My scope covered multiple material and technology domains and combined technology leadership, people management and cross‑regional coordination in a complex industrial environment. I led and aligned global development teams with more than 50 employees worldwide, including direct reports and regional leadership structures. A key success of my role was the harmonization of development standards, processes and decision‑making across regions, resulting in improved transparency, faster alignment and more consistent execution along the development lifecycle. By close collaboration with Purchasing, Quality, Manufacturing and key customers, I strengthened the end‑to‑end integration of component development, balanced innovation with industrial feasibility and ensured reliable delivery on quality, cost and timing. I also held responsibility for laboratory and pilot capabilities, supporting structured validation and industrial readiness. Beyond operational responsibility, I focused strongly on people and organizational development: clarifying roles and responsibilities, developing leaders and experts, and fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement. Through this role, I contributed to scalable innovation, improved cross‑regional collaboration and a higher maturity of global development governance, laying an important foundation for later global process, governance and transformation initiatives.