RFQ Project Manager

Job Summary

The RFQ / Bid Project Manager is responsible for leading strategic quotation activities and coordinating cross-functional teams to deliver competitive and profitable commercial offers to automotive and non-automotive customers. Acting as the central point of contact throughout the bid process, this role ensures alignment between customer requirements, engineering solutions, manufacturing capabilities, costing strategies, and business objectives.

The successful candidate will be an experienced project manager with a strong understanding of automotive development, APQP methodology, manufacturing processes, product costing, and industrialization requirements. The role requires leadership of complex RFQs, ensuring timely submissions and successful business acquisition.

Main Responsibilities

RFQ & Bid Project Management:

• Lead and manage RFQs for the Písek and Hungary operations from opportunity receipt through quotation submission.
• Develop RFQ plans, timelines, milestones, assumptions, and deliverables.
• Ensure on-time completion of all quotation activities and internal approval processes.
• Facilitate bid review meetings and executive decision-making.

Strategic Bid Coordination:

• Lead RFQ coordination for strategic business opportunities with Lifetime Revenue (LTR) greater than USD 20 million.
• Act as the central coordinator between Sales, Engineering, Operations, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, Procurement, Finance, and Program Management.
• Drive alignment on technical solutions, commercial strategy, capacity planning, and project risks.

Cost Review & Target Setting :

• Coordinate detailed product and process cost reviews with cross-functional teams.
• Establish quotation targets, profitability objectives, and cost reduction actions.
• Challenge assumptions and identify optimization opportunities to improve competitiveness while maintaining profitability.
• Support financial evaluations, investment analysis, and business case preparation.

Cross-Functional Leadership :

• Coordinate Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, Procurement, and Operations functions to prepare complete commercial offers.
• Ensure customer requirements are properly translated into technical and commercial proposals.
• Manage risks, assumptions, change requests, and quotation deviations throughout the RFQ process.
• Drive accountability and timely deliverables across all stakeholders.

Customer & Stakeholder Communication :

• Support customer discussions during quotation and negotiation phases.
• Present RFQ status, key commercial assumptions, risks, and opportunities to management.
• Ensure accurate documentation and communication of bid decisions and commitments.

Process Excellence :

• Promote continuous improvement of RFQ workflows, costing methodologies, and bid governance procedures.
• Capture lessons learned and best practices to improve future quotation performance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Business Engineering, or related discipline.
• Minimum 5-7 years of experience in the automotive industry.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in Project Management, Program Management, RFQ Management, Bid Management, or Commercial Operations.
• Strong understanding of automotive product development, APQP, PPAP, launch management, and manufacturing processes.
• Experience managing complex quotations and new business acquisition activities for automotive and non-automotive customers.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating large cross-functional teams across multiple locations.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, including cost modeling, investment analysis, and profitability management.
• Excellent project management, planning, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and project management tools.
• Fluent English communication skills; additional European languages are an advantage.
• PMP, Prince2, or equivalent Project Management certification preferred.

This role requires travel to our Písek office approximately 2 to 3 times per month .