Sr. Principal Researcher (Customer Experience), EV Charging Solutions Business (IC2/CL6)

What Makes a Honda, is Who makes a Honda
Honda has a clear vision for the future, and it’s a joyful one.  We are looking for individuals with the skills, courage, persistence, and dreams that will help us reach our future-focused goals. At our core is innovation. Honda is constantly innovating and developing solutions to drive our business with record success.  We strive to be a company that serves as a source of “power” that supports people around the world who are trying to do things based on their own initiative and that helps people expand their own potential. To this end, Honda strives to realize “the joy and freedom of mobility” by developing new technologies and an innovative approach to achieve a “zero environmental footprint.”

We are looking for qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds, experiences, continuous improvement values, and a strong work ethic to join our team.

If your goals and values align with Honda’s, we want you to join our team to Bring the Future!

Location: Torrance, CA
Workstyle: Hybrid
Salary: $127,200 - $190,700
Grade: IC2

What Makes a Honda, is Who makes a Honda

Honda has a clear vision for the future, and it’s a joyful one.  We are looking for individuals with the skills, courage, persistence, and dreams that will help us reach our future-focused goals. 

At our core is innovation. Honda is constantly innovating and developing solutions to drive our business with record success.  We strive to be a company which serves as a source of “power” that supports people around the world who are trying to do things based on their own initiative and that helps people expand their own potential. To this end, Honda strives to realize “the joy and freedom of mobility” by developing new technologies and an innovative approach to achieve a “zero environmental footprint.”

We are looking for qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds, experiences, continuous improvement values, and a strong work ethic to join our team.

If your goals and values align with Honda’s, we want you to join our team to Bring the Future!

About this Position: 

Developing and executing product and business strategy in a world of rapid technological and social change requires a highly capable, highly knowledgeable, and highly engaged team. American Honda’s Sustainability & Business Development business unit is tasked with navigating the business and technology application path for Honda’s future renewable energy, resource circulation and innovative business initiative products, services, and businesses. Our focus it to establish an ecosystem of hardware, software, and renewable energy that achieves these goals by focusing on real-world user experience. By providing solutions to users that are intuitive, generate value for users in terms of time saving, money savings, and enriching their lives, we can expand and deepen our relationship with each customer. The team will focus on building and sustaining Honda’s core brand values and enhancing brand image and competitiveness in the marketplace by innovating, incubating, selecting, developing, applying, and operating new businesses, features, products, and services with responsibility for their profitability, competitiveness, and customer satisfaction for Honda in North America.

Focusing on future EV charging and energy business, as well as regulatory compliance supporting the operation and providing new value to the customer, the dealer, and AHM (in that order), the associate leads research initiatives and product and policy investigations, supports tasked plans, executes, and reports on all planning and business aspects of the charging and energy business. This requires frequent coordination and review of wide-ranging information, along with regular communication with external business partners providers, HM, Product Planning, Service, Quality, Sales, Finance, HNA Law, and other pertinent business units.

This position will focus on customer, business, and policy research that is necessary to define future EV Charging and Energy solutions in the market. This role informs and is accountable for the technical competence of the strategies that are developed.

Responsibilities include:

• Lead strategic and consumer research to uncover customer insights and user needs for new and improved products and services to enable more seamless charging experiences and expansion of energy products. This involves analyzing existing products and user experiences, identifying areas of improvement, uncovering the optimal experiences, and refining existing ones.
• Business Strategy Development: Identify new potential markets and business opportunities, develop hypotheses for development team to pursue through POC activity in an agile framework for speed and rapid iterative learning, embracing fail early/fail often principles, and document learnings to contribute to future business development efforts.
• Work closely with various stakeholders in charging industry to develop products and services to enable more seamless charging experience. This involves analyzing existing user experiences, identifying area of improvement, designing new experiences, and refining existing ones.
• Communication: Act as a liaison with external research organizations and resources to perform market sensing. Synthesize the learnings and communicate broadly with management and throughout the company.

Who we are seeking:

Required Work Experience:

• Minimum 10 years at a new technology research and implementation, auto industry experience required
• Experience in new product development
• Experience in EV charging business and technology
• Experience in developing financial and business models, financial forecasts, negotiating business terms and conditions, contracts, and business administration preferred
• Experience in a coordination role
• Experience in drafting project plans and evaluating technology providers required, with examples of success preferred

Required Education:

• Bachelor’s degree required
• MBA preferred, but not required

Desired skills:

• Create and adjust detailed complex plans/schedules
• Develop and present complex proposals for evaluation to executives
• Strong presentation skills
• High degree of negotiation & compromise
• Regional network inside AHM, HDMA, and experience with GO collaboration

Working Conditions:

• Hybrid environment with 40% in office
• Long hours and schedule flexibility is required
• Frequent meetings of 1-2 hours duration
• Regular conference calls and video conferences
• Frequent working outside of normal business hours, particularly late evenings for meetings with other time zones (e.g., US Eastern time, Japan, early morning for Europe)
• Preparation of proposals for executive approval are frequent and often required on short timelines
• Expectations are very high
• Travel 10% (domestic and international)
• Requires the frequent and routine handling of highly confidential company long-term strategies for growth and compliance

Additional Position Factors:

• Workstyle:        Hybrid
• Travel:               10%

At Honda, you will play a key role in our journey to become a company that society wants to exist now, and in the future. Your endless curiosity will drive innovation and your courageous spirit will challenge the status quo.  We believe having a workforce made up of diverse thinkers and innovators makes us a better Honda.  Respect for each other and respect for diversity each and every day drives our associates to contribute at the highest level and work effectively in a team environment.  We make the dream of mobility a reality with our innovative and high-quality products. Together, we Bring the Future to our customers, associates, and communities.  We are Honda!

What differentiates Honda and makes us an employer of choice?

Total Rewards:

• Competitive Base Salary: $127,200 - $190,700
  •  Pay will be based on several variables that include, but not limited to, geographic location, work experience, education, etc.
• Annual Bonus
• Manager Lease Car Program (No Cost - Car, Maintenance, and Insurance included)
• Industry leading Benefit Plans (Medical, Dental, Vision, Rx)
• Paid time off, including vacation, paid holidays, sick time, personal days
• 401K Plan with company match + additional contribution
• Lifestyle Bonus
• Relocation assistance

Career Growth:

• Advancement opportunities
• Career mobility 
• Education reimbursement for continued learning
• Training and Development programs

Additional Offerings:

• Wellbeing program
• Community service and engagement programs
• Product programs
• Free drinks onsite

Honda is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor.
 

What differentiates Honda and make us an employer of choice?

Total Rewards: 
•    Competitive Base Salary (pay will be based on several variables that include, but not limited to geographic location, work experience, etc.)
•    Regional Bonus (when applicable)
•    Manager Lease Car Program (No Cost - Car, Maintenance, and Insurance included)
•    Industry-leading Benefit Plans (Medical, Dental, Vision, Rx)
•    Paid time off, including vacation, holidays, shutdown
•    Company Paid Short-Term and Long-Term Disability 
•    401K Plan with company match + additional contribution
•    Relocation assistance (if eligible)

Career Growth:
•    Advancement Opportunities
•    Career Mobility  
•    Education Reimbursement for Continued Learning
•    Training and Development Programs 

Additional Offerings:
•    Lifestyle Account
•    Childcare Reimbursement Account
•    Elder Care Support
•    Tuition Assistance & Student Loan Repayment
•    Wellbeing Program
•    Community Service and Engagement Programs
•    Product Programs
•    Free Drinks Onsite

Honda is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor.