MANIKANDAN ERACHAN
Galway,Ireland
Summary
Product Line Head of Software department | Global R&D Leader | Valeo Expert
Accomplished professional with 20+ years of extensive expertise in global multi-site leadership, managing teams exceeding 400 personnel, and driving strategic budgetary oversight. Demonstrates engineering excellence through proficiency in technical architecture, embedded systems, RTOS, and software life-cycle governance. Adept at ensuring operational quality by adhering to ISO 26262/SPICE standards, managing risk and quality, and negotiating vendor agreements. Skilled in fostering business growth through RFQ processes, feasibility studies, and cross-functional stakeholder collaboration. Committed to talent development and performance management while strategically allocating resources to achieve organizational objectives.
Overview
21
21
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work history
Product Line Software Head
VALEO
Tuam, Ireland
2025.05 - 2026.03
- Global Ecosystem Leadership: Directed global software engineering activities for complex products (Multi million units), managing high-scale teams of nearly 400 engineers across international sites.
- Operational Excellence: Championed the RAISE initiative (Robustness, Accountability, Innovation, Standards, and Expertise) to optimize and standardize software development processes globally.
- Strategic Oversight: Managed full-lifecycle software project delivery and budget planning for multi-center R&D operations, aligning technical milestones with financial parameters.
- Talent & Scalability: Led global recruitment, contract supplier selection, and negotiation across multiple development sites to build departmental capability.
- Quality Governance: Navigated ISO 26262 and SPICE standards to ensure the quality and robustness of software design through formal design reviews.
- Business Development: Collaborated with Business Development to conduct feasibility studies and accurate technical estimations for high-value RFQs.
- Branding: Prepare and participate in branding events in Universities to attract talent
- Global Resource Balancing: Strategically balance High-Cost (HCC), Mid-Cost (MCC), and Low-Cost Center (LCC) allocations to optimize global R&D efficiency while meeting customer delivery needs
Software Department Manager
VALEO
2017.01 - 2025.04
- Safety & Process governance: Expertly navigated ISO 26262 and SPICE standards to ensure the quality and robustness of software design through extensive use of formal design reviews and industry best practices.
- Line management: line management of 10 direct reportees and ~50 indirect reportees worldwide, hiring, training.
- Technology/Tooling evaluation: evaluation of tools /technologies to optimize development time.
- Technical Architecture: Provided high-level oversight for system and subsystem design, utilizing OOAP and design patterns to ensure scalability.
- Safety & Risk Leadership: Led Software Safety Analysis and identified safety mechanisms for products to ensure compliance with stringent safety standards.
- Multi-Site Coordination: Ensured technical coordination with multi-site development teams across four countries.
- Mentorship: Mentored team members and facilitated advanced training programs in functional safety and software best practices.
SW Architect / Developer
VALEO
2013.04 - 2017.01
- Architectural & Design Authority: Serve as the primary technical lead providing high-level design (HLD) to function owners and developers, while conducting rigorous reviews of system architecture, software requirements, and low-level designs (LLD) to ensure platform scalability.
- Hardware-Software Integration: Drive technical excellence by reviewing schematics, source code, and silicon erratas to optimize hardware-software interactions and mitigate architectural risks early in the development lifecycle.
- Crisis Leadership & Problem Solving: Act as the lead for debugging critical and challenging system issues, providing deep technical guidance to resolve complex roadblocks that impact product delivery or quality
- Safety & Compliance Governance: Spearhead product safety analysis under ISO 26262 standards, identifying critical safety mechanisms and ensuring full SPICE process adherence through active participation in formal safety and SPICE audits.
- Cross-Functional & Supplier Oversight: Direct technical alignment across the ecosystem by leading design reviews with suppliers, participating in the Configuration Control Board, and managing technical communications to ensure consistency across all deliverables
Team Lead / Technical Lead / Sr. Software Engineer
HARMAN INTERNATIONAL
2010.06 - 2013.03
- Led software engineering teams in the development and delivery of embedded software solutions.
Advanced Software Engineer / Software Engineer
DELPHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS / NeST
2005.06 - 2010.06
- Focused on software development for automotive systems and embedded platforms.
Education
Master of Science (M.S.) - Embedded System Design
Manipal University
10.2010
B.Tech - Electronics & Communication
Mahatma Gandhi University
06.2005
Skills
- Leadership: Global Multi-Site Management (400 headcount), Strategic Budgetary Oversight, Talent Development, Performance Management
- Engineering Excellence: Technical Architecture (OOAD, UML), Embedded Systems, RTOS, Digital Video, and Software Life-cycle Governance
- Operations & Quality: ISO 26262/SPICE Standards, Risk & Quality Management, Vendor Negotiation, and Strategic Resource Allocation
- Business Growth: RFQ & Technical Estimation, Feasibility Studies, and Cross-Functional Stakeholder Management
Certification
- Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)
- Valeo Expert Certification
Timeline
Product Line Software Head
VALEO
2025.05 - 2026.03
Software Department Manager
VALEO
2017.01 - 2025.04
SW Architect / Developer
VALEO
2013.04 - 2017.01
Team Lead / Technical Lead / Sr. Software Engineer
HARMAN INTERNATIONAL
2010.06 - 2013.03
Advanced Software Engineer / Software Engineer
DELPHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS / NeST
2005.06 - 2010.06
Master of Science (M.S.) - Embedded System Design
Manipal University
B.Tech - Electronics & Communication
Mahatma Gandhi University