Cost Engineer

General Motors; Warren (MI); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

General Motors seeks a Cost Engineer to create and analyze component material costs, building ground‑up estimates and tooling costs. You’ll partner with engineering, purchasing, and program teams across GM and global partners, driving cost reductions and robust cost models.

The role emphasizes independent judgment, data‑driven decisions, and continuous improvement of work products while engaging with senior cost engineers and cross‑functional peers.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Engineering or related field.
• Experience in cost estimating within manufacturing or purchasing.
• MBA or technical graduate degree is a plus.
• Ability to analyze large data sets and deliver cost estimates.

Responsibilities

• Analyze, organize, and understand large data sets.
• Support tooling and cost estimation for GM components.
• Collaborate with internal teams including engineering and purchasing.
• Develop and maintain GMCO$T cost models and documentation.
• Identify process improvements and participate in cross-team efforts.
• Travel domestically to supplier facilities as needed.

Skills

Cost analysis

MS Excel expert

Data-driven analysis

Cross-functional

MS Office

GMCO$T familiarity

Communication skills

Travel

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Engineering

MBA or Graduate degree (plus)

Tools

GMCO$T

PIM

CERT

eSOR

Job description

The Cost Engineer (or CE) is responsible for creating, analyzing, and validating component material costs and targets. The cost engineer working in the PPCO / Product Program Cost Optimization team will generate ground‑up/detailed material cost estimates that encompass both piece price estimations and production tooling estimations. Collaboration with key internal cross‑functional peers is essential; the selected candidate will have a working relationship with the product engineering team, the purchasing and supply chain team, the vehicle program team, our global partners (including Mexico, South America and South Korea), and to an extent the external component supply base.

This role involves a high level of independent judgment, initiative, creativity, and the management of multiple estimates within a defined commodity/program scope and established PPCO processes that focus specifically on identifying accurate cost estimates as well as proposed cost reductions. The cost engineer will have exposure to the next generation of automotive vehicles and propulsion systems while working with leading edge automotive experts and technologies.

The Cost Engineer focuses on accurate execution, continuous improvement of their own work products, and building strong relationships with cross‑functional partners as they grow toward broader responsibilities.

Key Responsibilities

• The candidate should be able to analyze, organize, and understand large amounts of data.
• Comprehension of manufacturing process knowledge. An understanding of regional differences in manufacturing processes/assumptions is helpful.
• Be an active partner with the internal GPSC purchasing team – aid in providing a fair yet competitive component cost for GM.
• Occasional domestic travel to supplier facilities for enhanced costing collaboration and support of the specific engineering/purchasing team.
• Support the assigned GM SMT/PMT from a tooling and piece price perspective.
• Develop and maintain GMCO$T (and related) cost models and documentation for assigned content, following PPCO standards and best practices.
• Identify and implement process improvements within own work (templates, trackers, data quality) and participate in cross‑team improvement efforts led by senior cost engineers and leaders.

Required Skills

• Experience in the financial evaluation of technical concepts and comprehensive understanding of production processes.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and assignments with a high degree of autonomy and complexity; strong sense of ownership, exercising increasing autonomy within a defined scope, and seeking guidance on novel or cross‑functional issues.
• Ability to lead change, resolve conflicts, and influence without direct authority; contribute to change efforts, help resolve issues, and build influence without direct authority within the immediate team and cross‑functional partners.
• Ability to assimilate a large amount of cost data and clearly condense/communicate information to the larger GM team in an efficient way.
• Analytical ability to solve problems that are unique and sometimes complex; ability to use data‑driven analysis to identify solutions, establish next steps to assigned projects, and manage open items is crucial.
• Effective communication and interpersonal skills required to build relationships with global team members and cross‑functional peers.
• Demonstrated ability to use all Microsoft Office software and show an expertise in MS Excel. Ability to use/learn GMCO$T (internal GM cost estimating software).
• Demonstrated curiosity and continuous learning mindset; actively seeks coaching from senior cost engineers and shares learnings and best practices with peers (e.g., GMCO$T, PIM, CERT, eSOR).

Required Experience / Educational Qualification

• Relevant experience in manufacturing, product design/engineering, or purchasing.
• A Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Engineering, or related/relevant field of study or substantial cost estimating experience.
• A Graduate degree in Business Administration (MBA), Technical Management, or Engineering is a plus.

Preferred Skills – Experience with any of the following

• Experience at automotive OEMs or other product manufacturing.
• A desire to learn details of automotive components, manufacturing, and financial cost drivers.
• Ability to gather insights from data.

Location: Hybrid. This role is categorized as hybrid. The successful candidate is expected to report to the Global HQ Warren MI three times per week, at minimum (or other frequency dictated by the business).

Relocation: This role is NOT eligible for relocation benefits.

GM DOES NOT PROVIDE IMMIGRATION-RELATED SPONSORSHIP FOR THIS ROLE. DO NOT APPLY FOR THIS ROLE IF YOU WILL NEED GM IMMIGRATION SPONSORSHIP NOW OR IN THE FUTURE. THIS INCLUDES DIRECT COMPANY SPONSORSHIP, ENTRY OF GM AS THE IMMIGRATION EMPLOYER OF RECORD ON A GOVERNMENT FORM, AND ANY WORK AUTHORIZATION REQUIRING A WRITTEN SUBMISSION OR OTHER IMMIGRATION SUPPORT FROM THE COMPANY (e.g., H-1B, OPT, STEM OPT, CPT, TN, J-1, etc.).