Design Release Engineer - FEAD

The Engine Front-End Accessory Drive Systems (FEAD) Design & Release Engineer is responsible for leading the design and development of engine front-end accessory drive systems, which include belts, pulleys, tensioners, and idlers, ensuring these components align with engine and vehicle requirements. This role involves developing and refining FEAD system concepts to meet packaging and performance needs, supporting CAD modeling and CAE validation, and utilizing tools such as Variable Simulation Assembly (VSA) and SIMDRIVE to ensure compliance with all application requirements. The DRE collaborates closely with other engineering teams-including engine, vehicle, systems, and packaging-to integrate FEAD systems into the overall vehicle architecture. Working alongside the FEAD technical expert lead, the DRE ensures that engineering design best practices are maintained throughout the development process. Responsibilities also include developing and maintaining specific documents, such as SOR's, part inspection standards, DVP&R's, DFMEA's and technical specification lists.

The DRE manages design release activities from early concept through production, ensuring timely completion of key milestones (B-Sample, C-Sample, X0, X1, X2, and X3), owns the Bill of Materials (BOM) and Engineering Change Notices (CNs) for FEAD components, ensuring all parts meet quality, cost, and timing requirements, drives the Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) to ensure compliance with regulatory and customer specifications and handles the cross-functional coordination with manufacturing, suppliers, and quality teams is essential to ensure successful design, validation, release, handling, assembly, and implementation of designs.

The DRE provides technical leadership and support during development and production, resolving design issues, material selection challenges, and process-related problems, which includes leading DFMEA (Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) and other risk assessment activities to ensure robust designs and mitigate potential issues, as well as participating in the development of testing strategies for both bench and vehicle-level system testing.

The DRE works closely with suppliers to ensure design feasibility, cost competitiveness, and manufacturability, will work with the technical expert lead, engine, and vehicle teams to ensure all validation testing is completed. The DRE also works with these teams to ensure proper fitment, safety, and integration of FEAD components into vehicle platforms, manages documentation and reporting including developing and maintaining engineering documentation (such as design specifications, drawings, test plans, and validation reports), ensuring all technical documentation is current and aligned with program timelines and PPAP requirements and reports out on project status, timelines, and risk assessments to senior management and stakeholders.

• Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering or related degree field
• Five years of relevant experience in automotive design release and manufacturing
• Strong understanding of component-level design, manufacturing processes, product development documentation (DVP&R, DFMEA), materials, CAE analysis, GD&T, VSA, and SIMDRIVE
• Strong interpersonal, communication, and project management skills
• Understanding of the requirements for a design release engineer

• Master of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering
• 8 or more years of experience with FEAD system development
• 10 years as a mechanical engineer, and experience in creating and executing validation plans
• action-oriented, able to deal with ambiguity, customer-focused, and skilled in problem-solving
• Experience with 3D CAD programs, preferably Siemens NX