Exterior Lighting Design & Release Engineer

Dormont Manufacturing Co; Foster City (CA); On-site; USD 115,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

ALTEN Technology USA in Foster City, California, is seeking an experienced Exterior Lighting Design & Release Engineer. This role involves leading the design and development of advanced automotive lighting systems, collaborating closely with design, manufacturing, and other teams to ensure high-quality, production-ready solutions.

The ideal candidate will possess a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, extensive experience in lighting systems, and proficiency in CATIA V5/V6. ALTEN offers a collaborative environment with opportunities for professional growth and comprehensive benefits.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of exterior/interior lamp development at a Tier 1 or OEM.
• Experience in managing the full part lifecycle, from design to production.
• Strong understanding of FMVSS, ECE, NCAP regulations.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop exterior lighting solutions for vehicles.
• Collaborate with design and manufacturing teams to achieve design objectives.
• Conduct root-cause analysis for lighting system faults.

Skills

Lighting systems engineering

Plastics and injection molding

CATIA V5/V6

GD&T principles

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

Enovia

Catia V6

Job description

Exterior Lighting Design & Release Engineer

Location: Foster City, California, United States

We’re ALTEN Technology USA, an engineering company helping clients bring groundbreaking ideas to life—from advancing space exploration and life‑saving medical devices to building autonomous electric vehicles. With over 3,000 experts across North America, we partner with leading companies in aerospace, medical devices, robotics, automotive, commercial vehicles, EVs, rail, and more.

As part of the global ALTEN Group—57,000+ engineers in 30 countries—we deliver across the entire product development cycle, from consulting to full project outsourcing.

When you join ALTEN Technology USA, you’ll collaborate on some of the world’s toughest engineering challenges, supported by mentorship, career growth opportunities, and comprehensive benefits. We take pride in fostering a culture where employees feel valued, supported, and inspired to grow.

We are seeking an experienced Exterior Lighting Design & Release Engineer to lead the design and development of advanced automotive lighting systems from concept through production. The role involves collaborating closely with design, manufacturing, suppliers, and cross‑functional teams to transform creative styling concepts into high‑quality, production‑ready lighting solutions that meet performance, regulatory, cost, and timing objectives.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop exterior lighting solutions for various vehicles, translating aesthetic styling visions into feasible, production‑ready designs from concept through production, ensuring performance, timing, and commercial requirements are achieved.
• Collaborate and communicate technical concepts and requirements effectively with Studio Designers, Suppliers, Manufacturing, and other cross‑functional teams to achieve design themes, attribute targets, and resolve complex engineering issues.
• Leverage expertise in plastics, injection molding, optical design, GD&T principles, tolerance stack‑up analysis, and electronics to solve complex technical problems and evaluate design trade‑offs using first‑principles reasoning and root‑cause analysis, ensuring all parts and assemblies are optimized for high‑volume manufacturing.
• Conduct high‑level root‑cause analysis for any lighting system faults, investigating system‑level failures, reviewing communication logs (CAN traces), module diagnostics, and correlating them with the functional model to find the source of the issue.
• Understand lighting system architecture and lead the development and creation of DFMEAs, ensuring dependencies are effectively cascaded to relevant cross‑functional partners.
• Support product validation plans, validation activities and sign off results.
• Manage Tier 1 supplier relationships, including RFQ documentation, technical design reviews, and the integration of supplier feedback.
• Manage engineering change management, maintain accurate Bill of Materials (BOM) using Enovia, and generate and manage 3D and 2D data with Catia V6.
• Align engineering deliverables with commercial program requirements including appearance, cost, weight, durability, legal requirements, and program timing objectives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (or related discipline, Master’s degree preferred).
• 5+ years of exterior/interior lamp development at a Tier 1 or OEM.
• Experience in lighting systems engineering, including analysing communication logs (CAN traces).
• Capable of managing the full part lifecycle, including design, engineering validation, and release to production systems.
• Proficient in CATIA V5/V6, utilizing key modules such as Part Design and Geometric Surface Design to generate 3D geometry and communicate technically sound design solutions.
• Strong understanding of engineering first principles and the ability to apply them to identify, analyze, and resolve technical challenges.
• Demonstrated ability to manage information, prioritize tasks, and communicate project status with clarity.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to clearly and concisely communicate with both technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Strong working knowledge of FMVSS, ECE, NCAP, and other automotive evaluation and regulatory achievements.
• Ability to self‑direct while managing ambiguity.
• Curiosity and high learning agility.

Salary Range

$115,000–130,000. The actual salary offered is dependent on various factors including location, the candidate’s combination of job‑related knowledge, qualifications, skills, education, training, and experience.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, genetic information, or pregnancy.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status. A federal contractor, we maintain a drug‑free workplace; all selected candidates will be required to complete a pre‑employment drug screening.