Senior Engineer - Body Engineering

Overview

Lightship is the first American all-electric recreational vehicle manufacturer currently developing an aerodynamic, battery-powered trailer for the electric age. As the macro transition to an all-electric transportation ecosystem accelerates, Lightship is bringing the increased convenience and superior performance that electrification offers to a pastime enjoyed by over 11 million American families.

Honoring Diverse Perspectives

Lightship is committed to hiring and developing top talent from diverse backgrounds. We believe representing and supporting diverse groups is key to the success of our team members, customers, shareholders and the achievement of our mission and vision. We operate in a collaborative environment with a flat organizational structure and expect a high degree of integrity, autonomy and creativity from all members of the team.

About the Role

Lightship is seeking a highly experienced Body Engineer who will design and engineer innovative body solutions for Lightship products. You will use your extensive technical knowledge and experience of body metallic and non-metallic structure engineering to meet the commercial, structural, functional and cosmetic needs for Lightship’s groundbreaking Aero-Electric RVs.

Responsibilities

• Design a body support structure and exterior body panels for a unique electric RV to meet aggressive cost and mass targets
• Collaborate with aerodynamics engineering through multiple iterations of the design
• Collaborate with closures engineering to ensure proper mechanical integration of windows, entrance doors, and exterior access panels
• Review process and material options and recommend solutions for exterior cosmetic panels appropriate for Lightship’s volume and cost targets
• Work with internal and external engineering service suppliers to complete FEA simulations reflecting structural performance under various load cases
• Perform tolerance stack-up / GD&T analyses where necessary
• Select and work closely with suppliers to manage part quality and delivery timing
• Develop and perform component and system-level testing
• Aid technicians in the assembly of your subsystems for prototype and pre-production builds

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent practical experience
• 8+ years of experience with production-level vehicle body design
• 2+ years in a technical leadership position
• 5+ years of experience with aluminum extrusion design and die development
• 5+ years utilizing CATIA
• 3+ years of experience collaborating closely with Industrial Design teams to deliver cosmetically correct vehicle body designs
• Collaborative mindset, dedication to excellence and completeness, clear communication style

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience within a startup or other small company environment
• Strong CATIA 3DX user 
• Significant automotive body design experience, including dimensional control, sealing, fit & finish
• Experience applying light-weighting techniques, materials, and processes to vehicle structures
• Experience with achieving aggressive aerodynamic targets on vehicle structures

Equity

• Lightship compensation consists of the yearly salary above plus equity, which gives you a stake in the company.

Onsite/Hybrid Work

Hybrid roles at Lightship require onsite work from our offices Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Tuesdays and Fridays are optional work from home days, when your work will be executed more successfully from home. Speak to the hiring manager to learn more.

Employee Benefits & Philosophy - Applies to Full Time Employees only

- Healthcare, Dental, Vision

- 401k

- Flexible Paid Time Off - that we actually want you to use!

- 12 weeks paid parental leave

- $2,000 per year towards an RV trip of your own &/or professional development opportunities - we call this a LightTrip

Lightship offers all of its full time employees and their dependents full benefits including health, dental and vision insurance and covers 100% of the insurance premium. We are on a mission to create a more healthful all-electric experience for a pastime that millions of families enjoy and believe strongly that our team should not have to worry about quality healthcare for themselves or their loved ones along the way.