Director-New Ventures & Service Business Incubation
On-siteAuburn Hills, Michigan, United States
Job Summary
Build and manage a portfolio of new service business opportunities by creating original concepts, sourcing ideas from employees and partners, and translating market trends into actionable ventures. Develop disciplined evaluation frameworks to assess customer needs, market potential, and strategic fit, then present investment recommendations to senior management. Lead direct customer discovery, validate business models, and define scopes for pilot programs, including success criteria and decision gates. Assume leadership of selected projects, launching minimum viable services and managing cross-functional teams across product, engineering, sales, and operations. Establish measurable KPIs to track unit economics and scalability, making Go, Pivot, or Stop decisions based on market evidence. Create investment-grade commercialization plans, secure funding, and transition validated opportunities into fully operating businesses while managing budgets and recruiting talent.
Required Qualifications
- Ten or more years of experience in new business development, venture building, business incubation, startup operations, service business development, general management, or a related field.
- Five or more years of leadership experience involving cross-functional teams and complex business initiatives.
- Demonstrated experience taking at least one new service, platform, product, or business model from concept through market validation and commercial launch.
- Direct experience designing and operating pilot programs or test businesses.
- Strong experience in customer discovery, value proposition testing, pricing validation, and Go, Pivot, or Stop decision-making.
- Strong working knowledge of revenue models, unit economics, budgeting, financial forecasting, investment cases, and P&L fundamentals.
- Experience managing budgets and allocating resources across multiple projects.
- Experience building teams and recruiting employees or external specialists.
- Ability to operate effectively in ambiguous situations without waiting for complete information or a fully established organization.
- Experience working across technology, marketing, sales, operations, finance, and legal functions.
- Strong partner development, negotiation, and senior stakeholder-management capabilities.
- Ability to communicate complex business opportunities and recommendations clearly to executive management.
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.
Desired Qualifications
- Hands-on experience developing, testing, and launching new business or service concepts within a startup, early-stage business, or corporate innovation environment.
- Experience building service-based, subscription, membership, digital platform, or B2B2C businesses.
- Experience leading customer validation, pilot programs, or test-marketing initiatives.
- Experience supporting the transition of a validated concept toward commercial launch.
- Strong working knowledge of P&L, unit economics, budgeting, and financial business cases.
- Experience developing partnerships and working with external technology or service providers.
- Experience working across both entrepreneurial and established corporate environments.
- Automotive industry experience is beneficial but not required.
- MBA or other advanced degree is preferred but not required.
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