Sami Dakhli-Management/Strategy Consulting: Reorganization and Optimization of the R&D Department with a Focus on Software Development

Led a task force developing a central ECU for autonomous driving levels 2, 3, and 4

• Advised on setting up a new business unit for mechatronic systems in battery management systems
• Conducted inventory across different product divisions based on interviews with management and project members
• Documented and presented findings, deriving consolidation measures
• Developed a comprehensive software/electronics strategy, including recruiting, defining a PEP development process, building the development toolchain, and a product release process
• Defined requirements for R&D, procurement, sales, quality, and production
• Ensured compliance with ASPICE, functional safety, and cybersecurity requirements
• Aligned the strategy with involved divisions and corporate management
• Supported the HR team in candidate selection and interviewing
• Coordinated external partners: research institutes, universities, partner companies, and suppliers
• Prepared an overall cost estimate, including detailed planning for approvals and budgeting
• Assisted sales in acquisition and part cost calculation
• Advised the industrialization team on software, electronics, and supply chain issues
• Provided regular reporting to managing directors and corporate management

• Deployed as a task force and provided consulting for project reorganization
• Designed the project organization, identified stakeholders, established interfaces, and transitioned the project out of task force mode
• Led an interdisciplinary team of 25–35 staff across three sites (hardware development, software development, setup of a computing center for HIL/SIL farm, system testing, system analysis, network specialists)
• Defined and documented the system architecture, as well as requirements and change management
• Introduced methods for resource planning and project controlling
• Provided strategic advice to management and derived measures to achieve goals
• Created transparency over product maturity, resources, and collaboration, and initiated optimization measures
• Collaborated closely with software development and involved FOs (object detection, object tracking, basic functions, algorithm development, LIDAR optical module)
• Managed six suppliers for proprietary software and hardware scopes
• Advised on setting up reporting to the customer and organizing the task force
• Advised on creating the validation strategy to secure the Lidar sensor
• Responsible for developing the HIL/SIL infrastructure and setting up a data center at three global sites
• Designed data center Level 1 and 2 support, including SLA creation
• Tracked daily and reported to the executive management and customer’s top management
• Planned resources and budgets using standard project methods
• Prepared validation and approval concepts for HIL/SIL, including data center
• Reestablished requirements management and resolved conflicts with internal and external stakeholders
• Continued risk management and documentation of work processes according to ISO 26262 and ASPICE

• Leading a team of 30 software integrators in Germany, Poland, Romania and Ukraine
• Planning, scheduling and monitoring all software integration activities in the development cycle
• Creating a protocol for integration build and release management
• Setting up and overseeing continuous integration processes
• Establishing and enforcing a configuration management process protocol for software artifacts
• Coordinating software package contents and schedules with internal and external suppliers
• Change management for internal/external CRs and coordination with bug tracking
• Aligning architecture and deciding on the integration order of software packages
• Responsible for testing and validating software, managing test setups
• Coordinating activities at branch offices
• Preparing and releasing software release documentation

• Embedded software development in a multiprocessor architecture
• Leading a globally distributed development team of about 100 experts in Singapore, Hungary, Czech Republic, Mexico and Germany
• Coordinating requirements engineering, test management, software QA, bug tracking, functional specialty groups, platform development, configuration management, HMI development and software architecture
• Budget planning and alignment with management, supporting proposal costing
• Reporting to BU leadership and top management
• Main point of contact for the customer in meetings and workshops
• Software delivery and production release
• Ongoing risk management and central scheduling
• Leading the core team and CCB meetings, monitoring change management

• Setup of a battery system for EVs and stationary applications
• Benchmarking current Li-ion storage technologies
• Analysis of possible system topologies and definition of the system architecture
• Detailed planning of the system architecture and required control units
• Creation of a networking concept and circuit design
• Design of the mechanical packaging concept
• Conducting FMEA and functional safety assessment

• Technical project management for the infotainment variant tree in a multi-project environment
• Responsible for head unit variants for different vehicle models and markets
• Central point of contact for module scopes within the VW Group
• Support of various product generations (3G, 3G+, MIB I, MIB II)
• Leading and coordinating design, wiring harness, EMC, robust design, system testing, HILs, and networking boards
• Creating schedules and coordinating with suppliers
• Managing system suppliers from Japan/Belgium and Germany/USA
• Creating and coordinating control unit requirements specifications
• Planning and managing control unit qualification with external service providers
• Production release and bill of materials maintenance
• Conducting D-FMEA and design reviews at suppliers

• Definition of test scopes for artificial aging of samples
• Investigation of aging effects on capacity, internal resistance, and performance
• Analysis of maximum load capacity in terms of temperature, charge/discharge cycles, and output power
• Setting up the test arrangement, conducting the tests, and evaluating the results

• Conducting audits at electronics manufacturers according to APQP methodology
• Initiation and tracking of improvement measures
• Conducting P-FMEA and approval of production lines
• Regular inspection of ongoing mass productions and collection of quality data
• Preparation of quality statistics and approval of goods for shipment