Seats CAE Engineer

Ford is seeking a Seats CAE Engineer to join our CAE team, responsible for performing all structural CAE load case analyses on automotive seats across North America vehicle programs. In this role, you will use advanced finite element analysis (FEA) tools to evaluate seat structures — including frames, tracks, recliners, and risers — under static, dynamic, durability, and regulatory load conditions to ensure they meet strength, stiffness, and modal requirements for every seat variant and trim level.

You will build, run, and correlate detailed FE models, identify potential structural weaknesses or failure modes early in the design cycle, and work closely with Seat Design and Release, Integration, Program, and Test Engineering teams to recommend design improvements, optimize material usage, and support weight and cost targets without compromising structural performance. This role requires strong analytical skills, proficiency with industry-standard CAE tools (e.g., LS-DYNA, Abaqus, Nastran, Hypermesh/ANSA), and a solid understanding of structural mechanics and automotive seat design principles.

As a key contributor to seat structural validation, you will help ensure that every seat across Ford's North America lineup delivers the durability, safety, and quality our customers expect.

• Structural Integrity Analysis: Perform comprehensive CAE analyses of automotive seats to minimize the risk of body or seat structural failure resulting from forces exerted on the seat during a vehicle impact event.
• Regulatory & Corporate Compliance: Ensure all seat structures meet North American, European, and internal Ford corporate requirements  — including FMVSS 207/210, FMVSS 225, ECE R14, ECE R17, and Dynamic Structural Integrity requirements for full-vehicle crash pulse loading — by identifying and resolving design deficiencies, proposing optimal design solutions, and minimizing cost and weight impact across seat platforms.
• Cross-Functional CAE Coordination: Interface directly with GES CAE engineers to request, assign, and review meshing and analysis work in alignment with program milestones, ensuring timely and accurate simulation deliverables.
• Cost & Weight Optimization: Evaluate all Technical Variance Management (TVM) actions and proposals to identify opportunities for reducing cost and weight in body structure components while maintaining required structural performance.
• Design Evaluation: Continuously assess evolving design proposals submitted by Design & Release (D&R) and other cross-functional teams, providing timely CAE feedback to support design maturation and decision-making.
• Optimization Review: Evaluate structural optimization proposals generated by Multi-Disciplinary Optimization (MDO) and other attribute teams, validating feasibility and impact on structural integrity, cost, and weight targets.
• Reporting & Documentation: Document and communicate CAE analysis results clearly and accurately to D&R and CAE Integration teams to support design reviews, sign-off milestones, and program-level decision-making.
• Program Timing & Milestones: Consistently meet all delivery deadlines associated with the Global Product Development System (GPDS) as well as any intermediate program milestones, ensuring CAE deliverables support the overall program schedule.
• Build Issue Resolution: Respond promptly to structural build issues on short notice, conducting rapid root-cause analysis and providing clear technical direction to the build team to resolve issues efficiently and minimize program impact.
• Co-Creation & Collaboration: Actively participate in co-creation sessions and cross-functional collaboration efforts with Design, Safety, Test, and other engineering teams to drive alignment and support successful, on-time vehicle development.

Required:

• Bachelor of Science in Engineering, with a preference for Mechanical Engineering.
• A minimum of 5 years of hands-on experience as a CAE Engineer, ideally applied to automotive structures.
• Prior experience in Seats, Seat Structures/Mechanisms, or Body Structures is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated expertise performing advanced nonlinear structural analyses using the Finite Element Method (FEM).
• Proficiency with core CAE solver software, including LS-DYNA, ABAQUS, and NASTRAN.
• Hands-on experience with preprocessing tools such as ANSA and Hypermesh.
• Working knowledge of postprocessing tools, particularly Hyperview.
• Familiarity with structural optimization tools, including modeFRONTIER, HEEDS, LS-OPT, and OptiStruct.

Additional Skills & Attributes:

• Working knowledge of stamping processes and their impact on structural design and manufacturability.
• Experience with automation techniques and tools to streamline CAE workflows and improve analysis efficiency.
• Solid project management skills, with the ability to manage timelines, priorities, and deliverables across multiple concurrent programs.
• A strong innovative mindset, with the ability to identify creative, forward-thinking solutions to complex structural engineering challenges.
• Knowledge of systems engineering principles is a plus, supporting a holistic understanding of how seat and body structures integrate within the broader vehicle system.