Head of Hybrid and Driveline Product Group

Role: Head of Hybrid and Driveline Product Group

Location: Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex / Leamington Spa, Warwickshire - On-Site

Role ID: 2026-3341

Our vision is to create a safe and sustainable world.

Ricardo, member of WSP, is a global strategic, environmental, and engineering consulting company. With over 100 years of engineering excellence and employing close to 3,000 employees in more than 20 countries, we provide exceptional levels of expertise in delivering leading-edge and innovative cross-sector sustainable products and solutions. Every day, we enable our customers to solve the most complex and dynamic challenges to help achieve a safe and sustainable world.

The Role

Hybrid and Drivelines is one of three business portfolios within the Ricardo Engineering Consultancy and includes projects across automotive (on and off-highway), aerospace, defence and marine sectors. These include development of all hardware and software related to transmissions, driveline and hybrid systems, as well as integration into complete vehicle programmes.

The Hybrid and Driveline Product Group Head reports directly to the Product and Technology Director and has end-to-end responsibility for the business portfolio, the success of which depends on the ability to deliver exciting value propositions to our customers, meeting their needs through technical solutions and delivering these as successful projects.

As a active member of Ricardo Management Team, you will be responsible for defining, leading and communicating the Hybrid and Driveline business across Ricardo and with external stakeholders.

Working collaboratively with the wider Product and Technology team, Business Development, Engineering and Manufacturing, you will be responsible for developing and executing the Hybrid and Driveline strategy to achieve order intake, revenue, profit and client delivery targets. Central to the strategy will be the definition and communication of coherent and differentiated value propositions, drawing upon the full breadth and depth of Ricardo’s end-to-end capabilities. As part of delivering the strategy, you will own the Product Group marketing, R&D and capital investment plans with accountability for approving and achieving the associated investment business cases.

Key Responsibilities

• Management and development of the Hybrid and Driveline Product Group team.
• Develop the Ricardo-wide community of stakeholders and experts who together can drive forward our Hybrid and Driveline business to achieve market beating growth.
• Achievement of the Hybrid and Driveline order intake, revenue, and profit targets.
• Provide governance and oversight of the Hybrid and Driveline engineering project portfolio delivery. Work with the senior leadership team, project managers and senior client stakeholders to ensure Ricardo’s brand reputation for high quality delivery is upheld, and customer satisfaction is achieved that underpins our long term client relationships.
• Development and delivery of the Hybrid and Driveline technical and commercial strategy, including working with Business Development, Engineering and operational teams to align related action plans. This will include, for example, alignment of go-to-market plans with business development, and capability development plans with engineering to support future technology and client needs.
• Communication of our Hybrid and Driveline strategy and value propositions both inside and outside of Ricardo. Provide thought leadership to our staff, partners and external stakeholders on the journey to deliver value for both our customers and Ricardo.
• Ownership of the Hybrid and Driveline investment plan, including business cases for capital investments and sourcing of external funding.
• Developing with the marketing team a marketing plan that coherently and compellingly portrays Ricardo’s complete value propositions in hybrids, drivelines and vehicle integration, and is tailored to meet sector specific client needs.

Knowledge

• Proven business development expertise aligned to strategic planning, with a strong track record of defining, executing, and delivering effective growth strategies.
• In‑depth knowledge of transmission, driveline, and hybrid systems across cross‑sector applications.
• Working knowledge of adjacent technology domains including control systems, electrification, internal combustion engines, and vehicle chassis systems (desirable).
• Strong awareness of market drivers, customer trends, and industry dynamics, with the ability to translate insight into competitive strategy.
• Well‑developed commercial acumen, including understanding of financial drivers, business performance, and shareholder value.
• Highly proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Project, PowerPoint), with the ability to use tools effectively for analysis, planning, and communication.

Skills and Attributes

• Inspirational and credible leader, able to create a compelling vision and take teams on the journey, including the development and leadership of global, multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong customer focus, with the ability to understand client needs and constraints and to develop innovative, targeted solutions.
• Highly effective communicator with excellent presentation skills, able to distil complex technical and commercial issues into clear, concise messages.
• Strategic and agile thinker with a strong ability to identify opportunities, initiate improvements, and respond effectively to change.
• Confident influencer, able to operate effectively at all levels and across matrixed organisational structures.
• Commercially astute negotiator, balancing firm advocacy with strong customer awareness.
• Excellent problem‑solving, analytical, and listening skills, underpinned by sound judgment.
• Thrives in fast‑paced, dynamic environments, demonstrating resilience, adaptability, and focus.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously while maintaining quality and delivery.

Experience

• Extensive and relevant technical experience, including responsibility for major programme delivery within transmission, driveline, and hybrid systems.
• Proven senior leadership experience, with a highly professional presence and approach.
• Recognised for technical credibility and commercial expertise, able to operate confidently with customers, partners, and internal stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Degree qualified in a relevant engineering, scientific, or business discipline.

Working here

You will be warmly welcomed into our workplace where every voice matters. We are diverse thinkers and doers, coming together to create a culture of inclusion. We will support you to find your place.

We will encourage you to use your passion and expertise to make a positive impact through the projects you work on. Your knowledge and desire to bring about change will be invaluable in helping deliver innovative solutions that support communities across the globe in becoming safer and more sustainable.

Work life balance

We offer flexible approaches to work, whether that is working from home, being in the office, or as a hybrid worker. We're happy to discuss flexible working arrangements. Wellbeing is at the core to our culture, allowing employees to flourish and to achieve their full potential.

Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion statement

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, we believe in each person's potential, and we'll help you reach yours. We have an ambitious diversity, equality, and inclusion approach as explained here. We value diversity; recognising that a more diverse workforce creates a richer and more varied working environment. Diversity also drives innovation, by allowing us to offer our clients the best consultancy service that we can. As part of our commitment to engage positively and pro-actively with all our employees and to ensure an inclusive culture, we are a recognised as a 'disability confident' employer.

Next steps

Once you have submitted your application a member of our Recruitment Team will be in touch. Please be aware that the timing can vary dependent on the volume of applications that we receive for each role and in some cases, we may start to review applications prior to the closing date.

Ricardo is a Disability confident employer please advise the recruitment team via View email address on unitedkingdom.jobradars.com if you require any adjustments to support you throughout the recruitment process.