Jennifer Slater has worked her entire career in the automotive industry. She began as a mechanical engineer, spending the first 10 years of her career designing seats and instrument panels. Once she obtained her MBA, she transitioned into finance roles, sales positions and ultimately assumed global responsibility. She continued to advance her career in the automotive industry in profit & loss and ultimately in vice president and general manager roles, leading cross-business unit projects delivering $400 million in bottom-line savings over a 5-year time period.
Prior to joining STRATTEC, Slater served as a board of director member for Valvoline and in general management at Sensata, where she led her team to a 2024 Automotive News PACE award for their GigaFuse for battery electric vehicles and recognition as a General Motors supplier of the year. In July 2024, she was named the chief executive officer of STRATTEC, a supplier to the automotive industry delivering ’smart’ vehicle power access, electronic and security solutions.
As STRATTEC’s third chief executive officer in its history, Slater will lead strategy and planning and growth of the leadership team. In addition to leading STRATTEC, Slater will also continue to partner with the VAST Automotive Group, a unique global alliance between STRATTEC and two privately owned companies, WITTE Automotive, based in Germany and ADAC Automotive, based in Michigan.
“She is one of very few female chief executive officers in the automotive industry and she continues to lead in every aspect – breaking ceilings and barriers of all dimensions in a very male dominated industry,” said her colleagues. “Gender aside, Jennifer has proven she is a leader in both technical and management capacities and she possesses a wide range of engineering, analytical, operational and leadership skills.”
Slater’s success has led to recognition as a STEP Ahead winner that recognizes women in manufacturing by the Manufacturing Institute. She is also active in the Milwaukee community, leading a volunteer program that brings science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education to life and helps to spark the interest for elementary students into engineering professions.
As a leader, Slater said she is a problem solver at heart. “I have always had a passion for math and data, which is why I became a mechanical engineer and spent part of my career working in finance, and I enjoy bringing teams together to solve difficult problems, utilizing data that ultimately creates an impact for the business,” she said. “I truly believe success builds on success and it all starts with an engaged and informed workforce.”