Design Engineer and Program Manager

Job Title: Design Engineer and Program Manager

Division: Automotive

Location: Guanajuato, Mexico

Reports To: Director of Automotive Sales and Engineering

Summary:

Become the product owner through design, development, and validation of stainless-steel bellows for the automotive market segments. Work locally and globally in an innovative environment using empirical and analytic methods to design, validate, and verify product durability using customer and internal requirements. Formulate reports and communicate results to technical and non-technical persons.

This role will be responsible for the planning, execution, monitoring, controlling, and close-out of assigned proposals, development, and production programs. The position will be responsible for achieving customer and internal business case objectives by working across all business functions to formulate both strategic vision and tactical direction for the assigned programs and projects.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead and collaborate cross-functionally with engineering, program management, quality, and manufacturing to lead NPD/NPI projects from conception through production launch, using ABI's Product Development Process.
• Identify opportunities for new and/or improvements to existing technologies, tools, or processes.
• Lead and collaborate with Tier 1/OEMs to determine necessity and/or feasibility of integrating a Flex Joint to satisfy internal and external DVP&R requirements.
• Lead and participate in cross-functional design reviews for new (initial release) and change requests.
• Responsible for accurate bill of materials (BOM) for all initial releases and design changes (ECR).
• Support APQP teams with prototype and development drawings for quotations and other new business opportunities using best engineering judgment and analysis through fatigue and motion theory.
• Create complete, accurate 2D drawing sets and BOMs with proper GD&T, tolerance stack-up, and compliance to global standards.
• Organize the exchange of 3D models and 2D drawings to/from customers and vendors to ensure utilization of the latest design revision.
• Review, interpret, and react to customer data to drive product development progression.
• Prepare written documents such as standard operating procedures, memos, reports, and technical knowledge transfer documentation.
• Negotiate and mediate best GD&T solutions internally with quality and manufacturing and/or externally with suppliers for functionality and economical manufacturability.
• Gatekeeper and local manager of EPDM database containing all CAD drawings.

Program Management Responsibilities:

• Manage the overall customer and business case performance of the program portfolio with responsibility and accountability for success to time, cost, and quality constraints.
• Lead the team to create program plans, schedules, work breakdown structures, budgets, and risk mitigation plans from which functional execution plans are developed.
• Responsible for ensuring all development programs are adequately planned at a business and functional level to deliver on business case and customer contract objectives.
• Knowledge of core planning elements such as requirements planning, deliverables definition, milestone definition, risk management, resource management, and critical path scheduling are key.
• Lead the program team through the monitoring and control phase of program execution using robust management operating systems and integrated cross-functional teaming approaches.
• Responsible for ensuring scope, schedule, and cost baseline change controls.
• Develop, maintain, and manage internal performance scorecards for development and production programs.
• Lead program teams through the new product introduction phase of programs to ensure successful transition to production and customer services.
• Utilize a gated control and approval process for the product life-cycle.
• Responsible for customer scorecard performance and the associated internal performance measures.
• Work across functions to identify and plan activities required to continuously improve upon performance variances from business case objectives.
• Manage through the program team for all 'get to green' or 'recovery' efforts on scorecard variances.
• Provide leadership in the creation and maintenance of robust customer and subcontractor relationships and management.
• Lead and facilitate customer interfacing on development and production/sustainment programs.

Qualifications:

Required

• Expert English speaker.
• Four-year Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Mechanical Engineering or Engineering Technology from an accredited college or university required.
• High level of critical thinking in new and innovative areas.
• Ability to identify gaps in processes/products with the drive to absorb and drive innovation to completion.
• Must be self-motivated and self-lead, requiring little to no supervision and generate accurate results while working in a team environment.
• Innovation and technical leadership combined with exceptional sense for detail, accuracy, and organization.
• Should be comfortable to confidently speak to large technically trained audiences (fellow engineers) and non-technically trained audiences alike.
• Sound engineering education and experience reflecting enthusiasm to design and develop state-of-the-art products utilizing CAD and CAE systems.
• Excellent communication skills in terms of collaborating with sales, manufacturing, domestic, and third-party suppliers and customers.
• Ability to travel to customer locations within and outside of the USA to deliver technical presentations.

Additional Skills:

• 2-3 years' experience in SolidWorks – automated/parametric 3D and 2D drawing creation for manufacture preferred.
• Understanding of FMEA, DVP&R, PPAP, Design for Manufacturability, GD&T, tolerance stack analysis.
• General knowledge of welding and metal forming processes.
• Working knowledge and understanding of metal fatigue, NVH concepts, and vehicle powertrain a plus.
• Working knowledge of document control in Enterprise PDM and/or SAP is a plus.
• Working knowledge of statistical failure analysis, a plus.
• Experience with time-based and frequency-based vibration phenomena.
• Demonstrated leadership capability and the ability to affect organizational change in challenging environments.
• Must be adept at achieving results through multiple organizational functions without direct authority and through influence and negotiation.
• A demonstrated capability to think strategically and execute tactically.
• The successful candidate must be an integrative thinker with a strong foundation in data-driven problem-solving.
• A demonstrated depth and breadth in business acumen across the major functional disciplines including Program Management, Engineering, Operations, Finance, Contracts, Business Development, Marketing, and Sales.
• Demonstrated ability to create management operating systems.
• Demonstrated communication skills, both written and verbal, at all levels of the organization.
• Must be skilled in building customer and subcontractor relationships while balancing strategic objectives.
• Formal and informal negotiation experience.
• Experience with New Production Introduction (NPI) using an Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) process.