Leadership Profile: Qiong Sun

Qiong Sun joined TE Connectivity three years ago as vice president of the Global Automotive E-mobility business. She has been instrumental in the business’ fast-paced growth, which has tripled in revenue since her tenure began. Qiong oversees various aspects of the business, including product management, business planning, technology roadmaps, and developing and launching new products. With nearly 30 years of transportation experience, she is passionate about working with cutting-edge technologies and innovations and leveraging them to impact the industry.

Describe your role, your responsibilities, and your favorite part about your job.

I am the vice president of the Global Automotive E-mobility business at TE. I joined the company in 2020, at the start of the pandemic. E-mobility is the fastest-growing business and a key value driver for TE. In the short three years since I joined TE, we have seen our business triple in revenue, totaling more than $1 billion USD. My main responsibilities include overseeing product management, business planning, technology roadmaps, and the development and launch of new products within the business. Ultimately, I am responsible for the automotive E-mobility business revenue and profit margin.

The best part about my job is that I get to work with very smart and motivated people from all over the world who truly believe that electric vehicles (EVs) are the future of the transportation industry. I always enjoy visiting our plants and technical centers to meet with those employees who are doing everything they can to make the EV transformation possible. I also like to see how the products are designed and produced there. I’m very fortunate to work with the best team at TE and in the most exciting part of our industry.

What can you tell us about your role at TE and how you implement your strategy at a company this large?

Leading a fast-growing business at TE is very exciting and rewarding. However, because of this growth, there is a lot of competition from both traditional and non-traditional sources; therefore, speed and flexibility are important to be successful. We need to be fast and nimble to execute our strategy, advance products ahead of our competition and adapt to market changes.

Every day, we help customers solve problems—especially during the current transformation from internal combustion engines to EVs. We have two categories of customers. The first group is the traditional original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). They want to roll out EVs as fast as possible but are accustomed to developing their systems with longer design and validation lifecycles. We are able to provide them innovative products and solutions at a speed that is often difficult for them to achieve without our partnership. The second group is the emerging EV companies that are developing their systems and technologies on a white sheet of paper. With less legacy systems and history, they tend to move at a faster pace. They rely on partners like TE to help balance between the “need for speed” while maintaining the high automotive quality and safety standards that are required.

At the end of the day, the most important part of our strategy is our people. Our team consists of people from diverse backgrounds with unique experiences. This diverse talent and thinking is the catalyst behind understanding our global customers and developing industry-leading TE solutions that our customers not only need but want from TE.

How would you describe your leadership style?

My leadership style is focused on building the right culture and empowering my team. We all come from very different backgrounds and experiences which shape how we think and attack challenges. What makes a great team is a culture where no one feels left out and that gets the best of everyone in pursuit of a common goal. When this happens, communication will be more open, the team can solve problems faster, and most importantly, people feel more fulfilled with their job.

Talk about your career journey and how your extensive transportation experience and background in engineering have prepared you to serve in your role today. 

I'm an engineer by trade and I really enjoy working with new technologies and innovations and applying them to the real world. For 28 years of my career, I have been very fortunate to work on a lot of new technologies. Early in my career, I worked on the first generations of anti-lock braking, traction control and vehicle stability control systems. These were groundbreaking technologies at the time, but today we take them for granted. For the second half of my career, I have focused on electrical and hybrid vehicle related technologies, including lithium batteries, charging stations, power electronics and the smart grid, all of which are really exciting. I am truly lucky to have always worked on something that I have a lot of passion for and continue to do so every day at TE.

What is one project or TE initiative that you are currently most excited about?

In fiscal year 2023, one of the most important initiatives for the E-mobility business is platforming our next generation of products with innovation. When our business size was small and our customer base was simpler, we tended to provide customized solutions to satisfy different needs. But as the size and diversity of our programs have grown in recent years, this approach leads to redundancy and inefficiency. Our approach needs to change with the scale of our business, and this is where platforming will help. It will provide us the scalability, efficiency and improved speed to market that is critical to continue winning in this competitive environment.

As an example, in order to service a large customer base, we are collecting the high voltage architecture requirements from the market and customers, we are benchmarking the competitors’ products and we are identifying key platforming attributes. Through this process, 70-80% of the platformed products can be applied across multiple customers. This results in more efficient development and launch cycles and increased economies of scale, which will ultimately lead to more profitability for the company.

What recent industry trend excites you and what is the potential application for TE?

The C.A.S.E trend is very exciting to me. C.A.S.E stands for connected vehicle, autonomous driving, shared mobility and electrified vehicle. C.A.S.E is driving innovation in the automotive industry. This trend is introducing new technologies to the market and making transportation safer, smarter and cleaner. At TE, we are proud to be a leader in many of these areas compared to our competition. Our customers recognize us as a leading supplier and partner in these areas, as well.

What career advancement advice would you offer to employees?

Follow the passion you have for your career and keep building your capabilities. Many times, people have a passion for something but later quit when they encounter difficulties and problems. You need to be persistent and have grit even when you encounter difficult situations and failure. When you encounter failure, use it as knowledge gained and just another step on your path to success.

Early in my career, I spent a significant amount of time testing vehicle stability control systems in some of the toughest, coldest environments imaginable. From cold, snowy terrains of places like northern Sweden, Michigan’s upper peninsula, and International Falls in Minnesota, I had to put vehicles (and sometimes myself) through the toughest conditions to ensure they could handle it. At that time working for my previous company, I was the first and only woman engineer working in this field. I could have quit because of the tough environment, but I didn’t. Instead—because of my passion for what I was doing—I used the hardships, successes and failures as learning experiences. These experiences have helped me at every stage and transition in my career, including my move into the EV space. 

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? Who gave it to you?

You can do anything you want as long as you continue to learn—that advice is from my dad. He was my first and best teacher throughout my life. He taught me everything from science and language to music and culture for as long as I can remember. I am still learning each and every day from people around me. For my entire life, I have believed that I can achieve anything as long as I try. Nothing can stop me.

Describe your proudest or coolest moment thus far at TE.

Fiscal year 2022 when we broke the $1 billion USD sales revenue threshold was the proudest moment for our business. This is really exciting because when I started at TE in 2020, the business was at the lower end of $300 million USD. This year we're expecting to achieve above $1.2 billion USD. This is a statement on the hard work and dedication of the entire Automotive team and how everyone is continuing to drive towards even higher goals. I'm very proud of the entire Automotive team and what we have accomplished so far.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Marie Curie and Albert Einstein – I have always looked up to scientists. This has been partially influenced by my dad and his advice that I can do anything if I put my mind to it. Though I didn’t become a scientist in the end, I have always enjoyed applying the principles of science to my work and enjoy working with the technologies that advance our society and improve our life.

What’s your favorite place you’ve ever visited?

Australia is my favorite place to visit. The country has the openness like America and the food and culture of Europe – it’s a perfect combination! I love the weather there and the land is beautiful.

What’s your happy place or what makes you smile?

I love to take a walk or jog in the parks early in the morning on my weekends. I like to breathe the clean air, smell the flowers and plants, and listen to the birds sing. I also enjoy the rivers and creeks throughout the parks. I will sometimes bring a book there to read. Being at a park with the nature around makes me smile and is peaceful.

What’s something people at TE would be surprised to learn about you?

I once moved a very large patio deck (10x12m) “by myself” using a system that I have a patent for. My husband and I had to move a very large and heavy wooden deck across our back yard for a construction project we were working on. This required the deck to be lifted, put onto a trailer and then very slowly moved about 30 meters and later moved back. One of my first patents was for a speed control system that is targeted for off road enthusiasts to help them get through difficult hill descents. Basically, all you have to do is to push a button and the vehicle will crawl at a very slow, consistent speed. Luckily, one of our vehicles at the time had this system installed on it. Not only did it allow me to easily move the deck from point A to B, but it also gave me, as a young engineer, a great sense of pride.

What is the craziest thing you have ever done?

The craziest thing I have probably done was ride a snowmobile on a trail that I was unfamiliar with and press the throttle a little too hard. My husband and I went snowmobiling in Northern Michigan near where he grew up. I was riding behind him and decided I would try to pass him. As I accelerated and sped past him, I was going too fast as I reached the top of a steep hill and launched high into the air.  I jumped off the snowmobile midair and was able to avoid injuries as the snowmobile backed down to the bottom of the hill.  My husband was happy since the snowmobile was OK, as well.

What is your favorite TV show?

I almost never watch TV nowadays; I listen to the radio and podcasts instead. But, when I first came to the United States in the early 90’s, I watched a lot of Seinfeld. It helped me to improve my language skills, learn more about American culture and how to better understand humor and sarcasm.

What is your favorite food?

Salmon sashimi is my favorite, which I eat at least three times a week for dinner.