Development Engineer

Location:

The position is based in Canal Winchester, OH or in any HFI Mexico plant (Romita, Obregon, SLP, Monclova).

Reporting Relationships:

The Development Engineer will report to the Prototype Design Manager. The Development Engineer will not have any direct report responsibilities. The Development Engineer will work closely with the Program Managers, Corporate Engineering, Plant Engineering Managers, Process Engineers, Sales Leads, Quality Managers and Trials Manager.

Position Charter:

The primary responsibility of the Development Engineer is to focus on New Model Development activities for all types of products in HFI. This person will be responsible for developing patterns and establishing preliminary process steps and parameters.

Major Duties and Responsibilities include:

• Development of value-add relationships within the customer Engineering and New Model Development organizations.

• Development of value-add relationships with HFI Manufacturing facilities and Engineering teams.

• Create patterns for products based on 3D data, models, prototypes or drawings and develop the initial wrapping process for interior components.

• Create initial FIP patterns for products based on 3D data, models, prototypes or drawings and develop the initial foaming process for a finished product.

• Work closely with HFI Product Engineering, Quality, Process and manufacturing teams to establish a product that meets customer quality and HFI manufacturing needs.

• Travel to manufacturing plants as required to hand off new model programs, support trouble shooting and refining process once product is in production plant, along with user training and ramp up of the new program.

• Support the RFC quote process as requested through knowing who to go to within the customer Engineering for Engineering, Specification, Drawing and Data in support of an accurate quotation to HFI sales team.

• Provide feedback to corporate engineering for material and wrapping feasibility along with any customer contacts for all development trials to ensure that all risks are identified and understood.

• Lead the Trials resources on the proper process identification for initial trial builds to ensure that the proper target process is utilized, and relevant issues are captured.

• Store and maintain revision levels of released patterns in Accumark & DXF files in HFI’s database.

• Support the Program Launch process (PMP) and Engineering Change Process (ECR/ECN) as needed.

• Support the program team in problem solving activities during launch or in mass production.

• Generation and support implementation of Continuous Improvement Ideas on existing product lines on a consistent basis throughout the year.

• Other assignments as required

The Candidate:
Education: Beneficial to have associate or bachelor’s degree but not required or (4) years equivalent working experience in a high-paced automotive engineering environment.
Professional Qualifications:
The ideal candidate has experience of at least (5) five years a product development capacity, preferably in the automotive industry. The individual must have excellent communication skills (both verbal and written) and strong computer skills (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Databases). AutoCAD and other CAD software, sewing knowledge and how seams interact with materials would be a plus.
Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Attributes:
• Ability to work with minimum supervision.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment and consistently meet deadlines.
• Possesses strong analytical skills and the ability to expand capabilities in accordance with business changes.
• Demonstrated “Team Player” who motivates and educates other team members.
• Strong project management and organizational skills.
• Demonstrated problem solving and continuous improvement skills.