Description Our department is responsible for the engineering, development and industrialisation of whole vehicle interiors, excluding seats, restraints and electronic parts. We are a creative team with strong influence over the look and use of our vehicles with strong bonds to the Design team. Vehicle interiors heavily contribute to the customer experience and our engineers take pride in their contributions to our world class commercial vehicles and cars. Dunton is the “Home of the Transit”, but the team finds itself extended beyond just commercial vehicles. Most of our work is in-house engineered which emphasises the need for engineers with an instinct for creative and robust engineering principals. Europe’s Body Interior engineering team are excited to have permanent staff vacancies for energised Design & Release (D&R) engineers. The successful candidate will report to the supervisor and will have component responsibility to design, develop and industrialise within a framework of cost, function and appearance from cradle to grave which needs to be aligned with the program. Responsibilities The successful applicant will: Own the technical design; Cad output sits elsewhere, but the D&R is expected to work closely with the designer to ensure it is purposeful and meets cost, aesthetics and functional requirements. The engineer will have ultimate design responsibility so will need to interrogate Cad data in either Vis Mockup or Catia V5, and navigate around TCE. Develop and share a clear understanding of the wants and needs of the vehicle programme to ensure the optimal blend of hardware components, systems and features are engineered to meet and exceed their expectations. Define conceptual requirements of a product by benchmarking and understanding different manufacturing techniques / materials. Lead interaction and output from the Design Studio, demonstrating that the K-Loop phase and beyond delivers optimum appearance within the cost and feasibility framework. Understand the product’s relationship with neighbouring systems, potential failure modes and containment actions (FMA, FMEA, SCCAF, P-Diagrams, Boundary Diagrams & quality history) Carry out design work with an innovative approach, challenging specs and rules to exceed customer expectations. Lead detailed feasibility and cost study comparisons to find the optimum overall module solution which also provides scalability for future requirements. Lead and co-ordinate with Vehicle Architecture, Manufacturing and Engineering, the packaging strategy for the Interior. Support ACT and System Selection workstreams where appropriate. Support Launch activities whilst leading industrialising of your products through to PSW with the best product achievable. Support TVM and Quality initiatives. Lead may become a priority on some commodities. Track key open items and develops action plans in collaboration with Body Interior engineering functional areas and x-functional teams. Actively support program sourcing strategies in line with Purchasing, Finance and Program timing needs. Run & maintain a PFEP (timing plan) plus full Bill of Materials including feature coding. Become familiar with your suppliers and alternative suppliers. Lead To4/5 meetings. Manage supplier delivery of entire program from generating RFQ packs, through supplier selection to management of their APQP through to PSW of all parts. Support the Finance and weight work streams and understands cost targeting & estimating, able to develop delivery/ recovery plans, considering tough choices, within Program budgets & constraints. Maintain suitable tracking documents Support Body Interior engineering & Program local and global meetings and own any metrics which demonstrate the development status or your parts including open issues and recovery workplans. Lead x-functional issue resolution and represent Body Interior engineering at key meetings including close interaction with our Core team for alignment to rules and requirements. Present Body Interior engineering status both internally and externally when required. Own the status inputs for your parts. Lead detailed attribute reviews around CFD/CAE/Moldflow/VR and physical properties to maximise customer experience. Arbitrate costs and attribute trade-offs to drive direction. It is not expected that the engineer should use analytical tools, just understand when to use them, how to interpret results and how to refine the product. Develop and share a clear understanding of the wants and needs of the programme to ensure the optimal blend of components, systems and functions are engineered to meet and exceed their expectations. Assist functional delivery through correct decision making and escalation. Please note that this is not a role for the application of catalogue designs. Qualifications Education is important to us; ideally, you’ll have a degree in Mechanical Engineering, but if that’s not the case and you have extensive experience/skills you feel are relevant and beneficial to the role, we are open to discussing your suitability. You will also need: A minimum of 3 years relevant experience in (at least one of) the following disciplines: Instrument Panels, Cockpits, Consoles, Door Trims, Soft Trim and Hard Trim Evidence of being a self-starter and motivated to manage your own workload, investigating and managing complex situations through to conclusion. To be an innovative conceptual thinker and problem solver. An understanding of resins and design parameters therein. To represent Body Interior in the vehicle programme team. To be a great communicator to peers and management alike, considering language barriers where necessary. Experience of working with a Design Studio, craftsmanship team and understanding customer use / perception. Experience of managing engineering deliverables. Knowledge of manufacturing processes for interior products to the level enabling the engineer to consider alternative methods.