Technical Advisor - Software Quality Improvement

Job Summary:

• This applied technology, developing leadership position creates software that is sold as an integral part of Cummins’ products. People in these positions have involvement in identification and understanding of stakeholder requirements and developing specifications, and responsibility for design, implementation, testing and/or release of software that controls the operation of Cummins’ products in a variety of customer applications.

Key Responsibilities:

• Investigates highly difficult or specialized product software problems, understands causal mechanisms, recommends appropriate action, owns problem resolution, and documents results. Creates, manages, improves, and applies product software development processes and tools. 
• Processes include coding, compiling and test. Tools include code editors, integration tools, static analysis tools, compilers and hardware in the loop test tools. 
• Details specific to this role may be found at the end of this document. Obtains input and negotiates with product and software development teams and delivers verified software features, components, builds to product teams. 
• Uses systems knowledge and expertise to make decisions in the areas of software requirements, architecture, design, and test that impact the quality and performance of software builds, product lines (platforms) and management of cross-BU integration and coordination. Responsibile for interacting and collaborating with cross-functional teams. 
• Responsible for review of less-experienced developers/testers’ work to ensure robust, reusable, and efficient design. Responsible for coaching and developing the next generation of technical experts. 
• Provides problem resolution leadership for complex systems with a high degree of ambiguity and often global business impact.. Leads the development and improvement of work processes and systems across function(s) within a global business unit or managing improvement across business units. 
• Coordinates and directs work of technical project teams, up to and including direct management of small to mid-sized teams. Operates as the recognized multi-competency specialist or expert in a discipline or product area across a site or global business unit with responsibility for developing local talent (direct or indirect). 
• Coaches and mentors other engineers, project managers and cross-functional team members. May also include academic or industry collaboration in a competency or discipline area.

Competencies: 

• Product Function Modeling, Simulation and Analysis - Impacts product design decisions through the utilization and/or interpretation of computational tools and methods that predict the capability of a product's function relative to its system, sub-system and/or component level requirements.
• Product Platform Planning and Architecting - Creates and develops a holistic product platform including key architectural feature and function variants needed to align with market level product plans of future target markets; generates alternative architectures traceable to the requirements and performs trade-off analysis in collaboration with life-cycle stakeholders to ensure a balanced and optimum platform; communicates and maintains traceable information and plans executed by product development teams.
• Product Software Design and Construction - Constructs product software using industry best practices and robust software engineering principles; verifies software updates to ensure quality products.
• Product Verification and Validation Management - Develops product systems validation plans from a variety of inputs to identify failure modes, while managing product risk and relative priority; negotiates product requirements against capability to guide project scope; evaluates analytical, simulation and physical test results to verify product capability and validate requirements; assesses legacy versus proposed system solution capabilities and produces recommendations with technical documentation to support product decisions.
• System Requirements Engineering  - Uses appropriate methods and tools to translate stakeholder needs into verifiable requirements to which designs are developed; establishes acceptance criteria for the system of interest through analysis, allocation and negotiation; tracks the status of requirements throughout the system lifecycle; assesses the impact of changes to system requirements on project scope, schedule, and resources; creates and maintains information linkages to related artifacts.
• Systems Thinking - Defines the system of interest by drawing the boundaries, identifying its context within its environment, its interfaces, and that it has a lifecycle to aid in planning the problem statement, scope and deliverables ; analyzes linkages and interactions between elements that comprise the system of interest by using appropriate methods, models and integration of outcomes to understand the system, predict its behavior and devise modifications to it in order to produce the desired effects.
• Builds networks - Effectively building formal and informal relationship networks inside and outside the organization.
• Communicates effectively - Developing and delivering multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences.
• Cultivates innovation - Creating new and better ways for the organization to be successful.
• Decision quality - Making good and timely decisions that keep the organization moving forward.
• Manages ambiguity - Operating effectively, even when things are not certain or the way forward is not clear.
• Manages complexity - Making sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems.
• Optimizes work processes - Knowing the most effective and efficient processes to get things done, with a focus on continuous improvement.=
• Values differences - Recognizing the value that different perspectives and cultures bring to an organization. 

Education, Licenses, Certifications: 

• College, university, or equivalent Bachelor's degree in Engineering or appropriate STEM field is required. 
• Post-graduate (Master's) degree relevant to this discipline area may be required for select roles.
• This position may require licensing for compliance with export controls or sanctions regulations. 

Experience: 

• Prior Technical Specialist/Specialist Engineering equivalent work experience in a relevant discipline area is required with a demonstrated track record of technical problem solving, quality decision making and providing technical direction and leadership to a project team(s). Knowledge of MS Office tools is preferred

1. This is a newly created role established to strengthen software quality capability and support the successful launch of Euro VII & NS VII products at China

2. As a software quality process owner, this role owns the accountability for software quality at China region, establish software quality control process at China, lead the quality governance, compliance with Cummins Software Quality standards, quality KPI definition and monitoring, defect reduction, faster FIRG containment and resolution, and removal of quality roadblocks across functions and entities.

3. The role owns and continuously improves assigned quality processes, including PQC & VPI projects, software development lifecycle controls, and process enhancements. It defines improvement roadmaps and applies systems thinking across requirements, design, integration, verification, validation, and release readiness.

4. The role partners globally with CBU software quality, China ABO BU level controls team (EBU/CBU/ABU) and Software Engineering teams in China, India, UK, and US to standardize and sustain software quality improvements.

Minimum qualifications and experience for this role:

• Master’s degree in engineering or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.

• Significant experience 12+ years in automotive or commercial-vehicle embedded software development, architecture, controls, tuning, integration, validation, product quality, or software quality management.

• Strong knowledge of the software development lifecycle, requirements engineering, integration, verification and validation, defect prevention, root-cause analysis, configuration and release controls, and quality metrics.

• Experience defining, monitoring, and improving software quality outcomes and engineering-process capability; Automotive SPICE/ASPICE and assessment experience are strongly preferred.

• Demonstrated ability to lead complex, cross-functional improvement initiatives and influence global stakeholders without direct authority.

• Strong project management, communication, conflict-management, and data-driven problem-solving skills.

• Green Belt certification with Six Sigma project leader experience on software and electronics engineering is preferred.