Jim Baumbick is vice president, Enterprise Product Line Management, Ford Motor Company, effective Sept. 1, 2018. At the same time, he is elected a company officer. He reports to Hau Thai Tang, Chief Product Development & Purchasing Officer, Ford Motor Company.

In this role, Baumbick is responsible for global product strategy and planning as well as leading the global product line teams that are using deep customer insights to deliver products customers really want and value and to drive end-to-end business results.

Previously, Baumbick served as executive director of Global Product Planning and Strategy. In this role, he led the development of the company’s flexible modular architecture approach, a key enabler for product development fitness. Baumbick also developed new capital allocation and cycle planning processes to prioritize winning businesses to support the company’s overall fitness efforts.

Baumbick joined Ford in 1993 as a Ford College Graduate. Since then, he has served in a variety of roles core to the product development process, including financial and profit analysis, engineering, product planning and program management, as well as operations. Specific roles included chief engineer of Unibody Products, engineering director for Asia Pacific & Africa, director of global product development quality and GPDS, the company’s product development system.  In addition, Baumbick serves as the vehicle line and platform director for development of Ford’s front-wheel-drive/all-wheel-drive flexible architecture.

Baumbick’s leadership was recognized early in his career when he was named a recipient of the Automotive Hall of Fame’s Young Leadership and Excellence Award in 2003. The award, given since the 1980s, recognizes up-and-coming automotive professionals who demonstrate exceptional leadership qualities in their work. In 2021, he was again honored by the Automotive Hall of Fame with an Industry Influencer Award, recognizing individuals who are influencing and leading through their actions, innovations, and visible positions on issues pertinent to the automotive industry and its future.

Baumbick holds a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University as well as a masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Michigan State University.