Exterior Lighting DRE

Optimal Inc.

$75K — $95K *
Manufacturing & Automotive
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • BS in Mechanical, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field required.
  • Minimum of two years of experience in exterior lighting or injection-molded plastic part design.
  • Proficient in NX and Teamcenter/Unigraphics for design processes.
  • Skilled in vehicle integration and design trade-offs related to performance and cost.
  • Familiar with SOR, ICD, DFMEA, DVP&R, GD&T, and BOM creation.

Responsibilities

  • Manage design and development of exterior lighting components across multiple functions.
  • Own and oversee parts list, ensuring development milestones are met on time and with quality.
  • Lead root cause analysis to resolve warranty and assembly plant issues.
  • Drive a Product Development Team to enhance issue resolution and optimize design.
  • Facilitate cross-functional collaboration with teams such as quality, manufacturing, and purchasing.

Benefits

  • Opportunity to work on innovative automotive lighting projects.
  • Exposure to a cross-functional team environment.
  • Potential for professional growth and leadership opportunities.
  • Engagement in global supplier collaboration and program execution.
Full Job Description
Job Summary:
Position will be responsible for design and release engineering of exterior lighting components. This may include upfront design and development and/or program launch/current product continuous improvement execution.

Job Responsibilities:
  • This person will be responsible for managing design and development of their components and working cross functionally with multiple other teams (studio/program team/purchasing/supplier quality/supplier/manufacturing/etc.).
  • They will own and manage their parts list and will work to meet all development milestones on time and with quality.
  • They will lead root cause analysis and problem resolution of issues that range from warranty to assembly plant issues.
  • This person will be responsible for leading a PDT (Product Development Team) to drive issue resolution, quality improvement, cost reduction and design optimization.

Requirements:
  • Degree (required): BS in Engineering - Mechanical, Electrical, or closely related technical discipline.
  • Experience: Over two years in exterior lighting or injection-molded plastic part design (or clearly equivalent).

Core technologies / skills (required):
  • Strong NX and Teamcenter/Unigraphics skills (math creation, packaging, release).
  • Experience with vehicle integration and design trade-offs (appearance, performance, cost, mass, complexity, manufacturability, timing).
  • Working knowledge of SOR, ICD, DFMEA, DVP&R, GD&T, drawing/BOM creation.

Preferred Skills:
  • Knowledge of global exterior lighting regulations and installation criteria.
  • Experience with global suppliers and full program execution from concept through launch.
  • Experience with lit mechanizations, feature communication graphics, day/night architecture reviews.
  • MS in a relevant engineering discipline.

Hiring Manager's Top Skills:
  • Product Development Team leadership
    Lead cross-functional meetings with various GM groups (quality, Manufacturing, Purchasing, program teams and external suppliers.
  • Exterior lighting or injection-molded plastic part design experience
    Prefer at least 2 years directly in exterior lighting or comparable complex plastics; understands performance, manufacturing, and integration constraints.
  • Structured engineering & requirements/process skills
    Practical use of SOR, ICD, DFMEA, DVP&R, GD&T, drawings/BOM to drive robust, launch-ready designs.

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