Shaping Porsche: the development workshop leader
Discover how the Engineering Workshops department at Porsche helps shape new models with its Vice President, Patricia Bernstein
Composite CGI image of Porsche employee working in development workshop environment_hero desktop
Patricia Bernstein leads the Engineering Workshops department at Porsche. She explains her role, discusses her participation in triathlons and reveals why she’s using her experiences to champion women in the car industry
Patricia Bernstein leads the development workshops at Porsche, where she and her team are turning tomorrow's sportscars into reality. From parts to initial prototypes to testing globally, the development workshops are where visions take shape at Porsche."Together with our engineering colleagues, we implement exactly what we need for development and testing, whether it’s a component, module, or complete vehicle, hardware or software, metal or plastic, casting or printing,” says Patricia.With her drive, Patricia ensures that the fascination surrounding Porsche sportscars continues into the future.Explain what do you do at Porsche, Patricia? “My team and I turn ideas into reality – from early prototypes to complete test vehicles. The department has the skills to support the development process, from the initial idea for a new model to the finished product. We have construction expertise, as well as hardware expertise, ensuring that concepts rapidly become tangible engineering results.“For me, it’s more than just leading a workshop, it’s about good corporate citizenship – helping to provide people with great work for them to do. I really love the complexity and variety of topics I’m involved with. When I look at my agenda, it’s about 12 to 14 meetings a day across a huge number of topics, and they rarely have something in common. I love this complexity.”How does the workshop operate?“Ours is very much a supportive function at Weissach. For example, all logistics for the parts and vehicles that you see at Weissach are on us. We’re the operational backbone. Another huge area is the material science. For all the materials you find in a car, we have the expertise to define what materials are suitable for what kind of usage in the car.
Porsche Patricia Bernstein standing against black wall Shaping Porsche series
As Vice President, Engineering Workshops at Porsche, Patricia Bernstein plays a pivotal role in shaping the development of every new Porsche model Photo: Porsche
Can you tell us how the development workshops are integrated into the overall development process at Porsche?“Development is all about solving problems. What my department does is provide parts and complete vehicles to our colleagues so that they can do their validation and testing. Colleagues from the design department come to us with their first sketches. When they need a physical model, we’ll build one – the rough, basic model – in order to get an idea about, let’s say, the aerodynamics, from which the designers will do the fine shaping.“The complexity is huge. My team is quite big, with very few doing the same role. Go through the whole car and we have experts for whatever’s needed – logistic experts, planning experts, manufacturing experts, electricians, and more.”Tell us a little bit about your Porsche journey to date. “It’s still a very young journey. I joined Porsche in 2022, in the position I’m in today, but I have now more than 20 years working in the industry – about 16 years in Wolfsburg [the HQ of Volkswagen AG] in different functions and three years in Mexico with Audi.“One of my main attributes is process understanding. This job is about process work – it’s a people business and that’s what I love. What I like so much about Porsche is there is so much enthusiasm and expertise here. If you can enable all the systems to help bring the different motivations and expertise together, to help encourage people, then the sky’s the limit.”
Porsche Patricia Bernstein in testing facility with Cayenne and colleague Shaping Porsche series
“This job is about process work,” says Patricia about her role leading the development teams at Porsche. “It’s a people business and that’s what I love” Photo: Porsche
How has your management style changed during your time at Porsche – did you have to adapt or has it grown organically? “Porsche-wise, I wouldn’t say that it’s changed too dramatically. There are situations where you need to adapt a little bit, but the learning journey goes on. In Mexico [for Audi], I was construction-responsible for the whole infrastructure of the plant and for this I leaned on my analytical, problem-solving and leadership skills. That means trust the expert, empower the people, listen to them, bringing everyone together and coming to a balanced decision. And that’s basically still my style.“If you had to sum up my leadership style it’s trust-based, discussion-friendly and focused on enabling expert teams to find the best possible solution. And I think with our current transformation it’s crucial. It needs dialogue instead of silos, team culture instead of lone wolves and courage instead of waiting. These are the keys.”Why is working at Porsche your dream job? “Being in the automotive industry and working on cars is, for me, a very high motivating factor because a car, as a product, has such a huge meaning for a customer. And at Porsche that’s even more relevant. You don’t need a Porsche, you want a Porsche. To help deliver this emotion, to surprise the customer with this uniqueness and engineering excellence, is what really makes it a dream job. It’s the cherry on the cake.“From an early age, I was fascinated by the dynamic nature of the automotive industry, especially the combination of technology, innovation and global markets. I love the complexity of it. It’s never boring. You never stop learning or developing, because there’s so much to know and to understand about how this complex system of value creation works. “There are all these little cogs, like in a Swiss watch, that you have to make fit, from an idea, to mass production, to sales, to HR, through to legal and environmental topics. You have to take everything into account.”You’re using your experiences to champion women in the car industry by getting involved in organisations like the Women Automotive Network. Tell us how you are doing that.“To be honest, gender or parenthood were not topics that consciously shaped my thinking for a long time. That changed when I became a mother. At that point, I experienced first-hand how challenging it can be to combine a career with family responsibilities. It became clear to me that this is not a personal issue, but a structural one. Every organisation faces challenges – so why shouldn’t it be possible to create environments that support women who want to pursue a career while starting a family? Why should expectations suddenly be adjusted downward?“I learned things that allowed me to share my experiences – not give advice, because every family, every person, every child, every manager, is different. I cannot give you a recommendation. I can just give you a nugget of what my situation was – this was my scope of options, this is what I decided, and this is how it worked for me. I’m passionate about breaking down stereotypes and encouraging women to take on leadership roles.”
Porsche Patricia Bernstein riding on bike in triathlon Shaping Porsche series
Competing in triathlon competitions is more than just a way to keep fit, says Patricia. It teaches her skills – like endurance, discipline and structure – that are hugely beneficial when it comes to her working life Photo: Porsche
One of your main hobbies is triathlon. Does it help you in your approach to your working life too?“Sport was always a big part of my life. Triathlon requires certain skills. You need to have this endurance mindset, to go a long distance. And you need to balance three disciplines in training. There’s a complexity, so you have to be very disciplined and structured. “When I’m preparing for a race, it’s three months of very regular training – a significant amount more than what I normally do. All these things have helped me, I think, to develop as a manager and as a leader. The physical and mental work is part of it, because if I’m unbalanced – if I’m not satisfied with my well-being, my health, my body or whatever – I cannot be the best on a different stage. It’s very important that I don’t skip this part of my personality, even as a businessperson. It isn’t about times or places or numbers when I participate in a competition, it’s about showing myself that I can do it, enjoy it and, the day after a race, that I’m still a healthy person.“An analogy [between work and competing in triathlon] is that you need to love the process in order to achieve the result. If you don’t love the process, you won’t achieve the result. That’s probably what I love so much about my work – the process. To define objectives, meet milestones, solve the issues that come our way and resolve them. If you have conflicts, criticism, whatever, you have to recover and push forward. Sport is a good teacher, because in the product development process, our core process is like a huge training plan with the car as the finish line.”Discover how Patricia shapes the future of Porsche
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