by Mahindra Group Hiring: PMO (15+ Years Experience) | OEM Experience | MRV – Chennai
Mahindra Group, one of India’s most respected automotive and mobility giants, is looking for a highly experienced PMO Professional with strong OEM exposure to join its advanced engineering and product development centre at Mahindra Research Valley (MRV), Chennai.
This is a senior strategic role ideal for professionals who have led complex automotive programs, managed multi-platform investments, and driven cross-functional execution across Product Planning, PD, Finance, Platforms, HR, and Supplier Ecosystems.
📌 Designation: PMO (Program Management Office)
📍 Location: Mahindra Research Valley (MRV), Chennai
🧩 Experience Required: 15+ years
🏭 Preferred Background: Strong OEM experience (Automotive)
📨 Contact: j.shivamani2@mahindra.com
🔧 Key Responsibilities
1️⃣ Program Timing & Investment Governance
-
Oversee project timelines and investments from initialisation to Kick-Off milestone, ensuring alignment with MPDS (Mahindra Product Development System) guidelines.
-
Maintain strict control over approved budgets and project phasing.
2️⃣ Change Management & Product Planning Collaboration
-
Act as the central contact point for Product Planning Team to evaluate change requests.
-
Collaborate with Platform Program Managers & CPHs to estimate investment impacts.
3️⃣ Material Cost & Scope Impact Analysis
-
Evaluate cost impacts arising from scope changes.
-
Assist platform teams in assessing and mitigating business case risks.
4️⃣ Gateway, Milestone & Deliverables Planning
-
Plan and manage project gateways, deliverables, and schedules.
-
Identify bottlenecks early and ensure all teams meet timing and cost commitments.
5️⃣ Investment Consolidation & Business Plan Support
-
Work with PD Finance and platforms to consolidate investments for multiple high-value projects.
-
Support leadership during annual and mid-term business planning cycles.
6️⃣ Data-Driven Resource Management
-
Lead a data-analytics based Resource Management team to track workload, utilization, resource allocation, and forecast risks.
7️⃣ Risk Tracking & Assumption Management
-
Maintain complete history of assumption changes and their effect on timing and investments.
-
Generate early-warning alerts to prevent slippages.
8️⃣ CXO-Level Reporting
-
Conduct regular review updates with Head – Global PMO and present program health metrics.
9️⃣ Cross-Platform Resource Optimization
-
Coordinate with Platforms, CoEs, and HR to manage resource loading and ensure optimal deployment across programs.
🗂 General & Task Management Responsibilities
-
Prepare project identification and planning documentation across multiple work streams.
-
Review proposed work scopes, deliverables, feasibility, and risk factors.
-
Create timing plans, budget proposals, and work allocation charts.
-
Conduct project initiation meetings and ensure smooth kick-off across all teams.
-
Review and approve project scope change requests in coordination with platform leadership.
-
Track overall progress and ensure alignment with business goals.
📧 How to Apply
For more details or to express interest, please send a message to:
👉 j.shivamani2@mahindra.com
20 Detailed Interview Questions & Answers for PMO – Automotive OEM (Senior Level)
1️⃣ What is your approach to managing program timelines in an automotive OEM environment?
Answer:
I follow a structured approach aligned with automotive product development systems like MPDS / GPDS / APQP.
- Define baseline timing from concept → design → proto → validation → tooling → PPAP → SOP.
- Identify critical paths and interdependencies.
- Use timing software (MSP/Primavera) for detailed tracking.
- Conduct weekly cross-functional reviews with PD, CAE, Testing, SQA, manufacturing, and finance.
- Escalate deviations early with recovery plans.
This ensures predictable delivery and minimal timing slippages.
2️⃣ What is the role of a PMO in managing investments during automotive program development?
Answer:
The PMO ensures investment accuracy, phasing, and approvals by:
- Tracking design, proto, tooling, testing, and capex investments.
- Validating estimates with platform teams and PD finance.
- Ensuring changes stay within business case limits.
- Providing leadership dashboards for decision-making.
A PMO acts as a single source of truth for the program budget.
3️⃣ How do you manage scope changes from Product Planning?
Answer:
I follow a structured change management approach:
- Register change and link to business rationle.
- Assess impact on design, timing, investments, tooling, BOM, and validation.
- Conduct cross-functional evaluation with platform teams.
- Roll up cost and timing impacts.
- Present impact sheet to leadership for approval.
- Update master schedule, gateway documents, and investment sheets.
4️⃣ How do you evaluate material cost impacts arising from scope changes?
Answer:
- Compare existing BOM with new BOM.
- Discuss cost deltas with sourcing and cost-engineering teams.
- Evaluate commercial, technical, and logistics impact.
- Assess effect on vehicle business case.
- Update contribution margin analysis.
5️⃣ How do you ensure gateways and milestones are met?
Answer:
- Create a milestone plan with deliverable owners.
- Use “red-amber-green” dashboards.
- Conduct weekly structured reviews.
- Activate risk management when milestones slip.
- Align with MPDS gateway requirements.
Gate discipline is key for validation and SOP readiness.
6️⃣ What tools and techniques do you use for resource management?
Answer:
- Skill matrix maping
- Workload vs. capacity charts
- Resource heat maps
- Lead time analysis
- Utilization dashbords
- Predictive analytics for future load
These help identify bottlenecks and negotiate resources with HR/CoEs.
7️⃣ How do you handle conflicts between Platform teams and Product Planning?
Answer:
- Bring both teams to a data-driven discussion.
- Clarify needs, constraints, and impacts.
- Escalate only when justified.
- Maintain transparent decision logs.
A PMO must remain unbiased and focused on program objectives.
8️⃣ What experience do you have consolidating investments across multiple major projects?
Answer:
I consolidate investments by:
- Integrating platform-wise capex, tooling, proto, and testing budgets.
- Eliminating duplication.
- Identifying savings through shared tooling or commonization.
- Coordinating with finance to align book phasing.
- Presenting consolidated dashboards to leadership for approval.
9️⃣ How do you track assumption changes and their impact?
Answer:
- Maintain a “Project Assumption Register”—timing, cost, volume, scope, regulatory etc.
- Tag each assumption to its risk and impact.
- Update after every major change meeting.
- Use this history during audit or leadership decisions.
🔟 How do you ensure cross-functional teams stay aligned on deliverables?
Answer:
- Daily/weekly cadence meetings
- Shared dashboards
- Clear RASIC for responsibilities
- Early risk identification
- Escalation matrix defined at project start
1️⃣1️⃣ How do you prepare a timing plan when scope is unclear at the start?
Answer:
- Break timeline into fixed and variable blocks.
- Use benchmarking, historical data, and engineering judgement.
- Build flexibility for iterations.
- Align with PD & validation team’s worst-case durations.
1️⃣2️⃣ What is your method for managing risk in PMO?
Answer:
- Maintain a Risk Register (Impact × Probability).
- Define mitigation and contingency plans.
- Review risks weekly.
- Assign risk owners.
- Update leadership through early-warning indicators.
1️⃣3️⃣ How do you evaluate readiness before major gateways?
Answer:
I conduct a Gateway Readiness Review with:
- Deliverable checklist (design freeze, CAE, DFMEA, DV/PV plan, proto status).
- Open issue count.
- Resource allocation health.
- Financial spend vs. plan.
Only after completing all items do I recommend gateway clearance.
1️⃣4️⃣ How do you work with PD Finance?
Answer:
- Align on capex and opex forecasting.
- Prepare business case impact sheets.
- Track actuals vs. forecasts monthly.
- Identify overruns and savings.
This ensures financial discipline.
1️⃣5️⃣ Provide an example of resolving a major timing delay.
Answer:
I would explain a real scenario:
- Identified tooling lead time risk.
- Escalated early to sourcing.
- Negotiated parallel manufacturing.
- Revised validation plan.
- Reduced impact from 8 weeks to 3 weeks.
This demonstrates practical recovery planning.
1️⃣6️⃣ How do you evaluate program health?
Answer:
Using:
- Schedule adherence
- Investment status
- Validation progress
- Open issue index
- Risk level
- Resource loading
- Change request frequency
1️⃣7️⃣ What is your approach to stakeholder management?
Answer:
🚀 Checkout These Career-Boost Kits
- 📘 APQP Document 100+ – Click Here
- 📊 Production PPC 90+ Documents PPT – Click Here
- 📑 Six Sigma Format – Click Here
- 🎯 Dream Job Kit – Click Here
- 📂 60+ PPT Pack – Click Here
- 🗂️ HR Formats 100000+ – Click Here
- ✅ ISO 9001:2015 Toolkit – Click Here
- ⚙️ IATF (A–Z All Formats) – Click Here
- 📄 Resume Templates 700+– Click Here
- Understand each stakeholder’s KPI.
- Customize communication accordingly.
- Maintain transparency.
- Conduct regular governance meetings.
1️⃣8️⃣ How do you manage deliverables across multiple major programs simultaneously?
Answer:
- Prioritize based on business criticality.
- Use color-coded dashboards.
- Delegate effectively through platform PMs.
- Maintain strict tracking and reporting cadence.
1️⃣9️⃣ What makes PMO critical in OEM organizations?
Answer:
PMO ensures:
- Standardization
- Cost and timing discipline
- Governance and transparency
- Cross-functional alignment
- Business case security
Without PMO, programs often slip in timing and cost.
2️⃣0️⃣ Why should Mahindra hire you for this senior PMO role?
Answer:
A strong response:
“I bring 15+ years of OEM program management experience, deep understanding of MPDS/APQP processes, strong financial acumen, proven cross-functional leadership, and a track record of delivering complex automotive programs on time and within budget. I believe I can strengthen governance, accelerate execution, and create measurable value for Mahindra.”
