Exterior Lighting Design & Release Mechanical Engineer

Comrise; Foster City (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Comrise is partnering with an on-demand, autonomous ride-hailing company to hire an Exterior Lighting Design & Release Mechanical Engineer. You will own the design from concept through production, balancing appearance, weight, cost, and regulatory requirements.

You will translate styling concepts into production-ready lighting solutions, lead DFMEA, manage Tier 1 supplier relationships, and release components in Enovia/CATIA V6.

Qualifications

• BS in Mechanical Engineering (or related); MS preferred.
• 5+ years exterior/interior lamp development at Tier 1 or OEM.
• Experience in lighting systems engineering and CAN traces.
• Capable of managing full part lifecycle from design to production release.
• Proficient in CATIA V5/V6 for 3D geometry and data management.
• Strong understanding of engineering first principles and GD&T.

Responsibilities

• Design exterior lighting systems from concept through production, translating styling into production-ready solutions.
• Apply plastics, injection molding, optical design, and GD&T to optimize components for high-volume manufacturing.
• Collaborate with Studio Design, Manufacturing, suppliers, and cross-functional teams to define requirements and resolve issues.
• Lead DFMEA development and support validation planning and sign-off.
• Manage Tier 1 supplier relationships, RFQ docs, design reviews, and supplier feedback; ensure BOM accuracy.
• Own engineering changes and BOM in Enovia, generate 3D/2D data in CATIA V6; meet program timing.

Skills

Lighting development

Root-cause analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Regulatory awareness

Education

BS in Mechanical Engineering

MS in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

CATIA V5/V6

Enovia BOM management

Job description

Company is helping an on-demand, autonomous ride-hailing company find an Exterior Lighting Design & Release Mechanical Engineer to own the design, development, validation, and release of exterior lighting systems from initial concept through production.

In this role, you’ll translate vehicle styling concepts into technically feasible, production-ready lighting solutions while balancing performance, appearance, cost, weight, durability, regulatory, manufacturing, and program requirements. You’ll work closely with Studio Design, suppliers, Manufacturing, and cross-functional engineering teams throughout the complete component lifecycle.

The ideal candidate is a mechanical engineer with automotive lighting development experience and a strong understanding of plastics, injection molding, optical systems, GD&T, tolerance analysis, and lighting system architecture. You’re comfortable owning components from design through production release, solving complex mechanical and system-level issues, and working directly with Tier 1 suppliers and cross-functional teams.

As an Exterior Lighting Design & Release Mechanical Engineer, you'll:

• Design and develop exterior lighting systems from concept through production, translating styling intent into technically feasible, production-ready solutions.
• Apply expertise in plastics, injection molding, optical design, GD&T, tolerance stack-up analysis, electronics, and engineering first principles to evaluate design trade-offs and optimize components for high-volume manufacturing.
• Collaborate with Studio Design, Manufacturing, suppliers, and cross-functional engineering teams to define requirements, achieve design and attribute targets, and resolve complex engineering issues.
• Investigate lighting system and component failures through root-cause analysis, including reviewing CAN traces, module diagnostics, system architecture, and functional behavior.
• Lead DFMEA development and support product validation planning, test execution, issue resolution, and final validation sign-off.
• Manage Tier 1 supplier relationships, including RFQ documentation, technical design reviews, supplier feedback, and component development activities.
• Own engineering changes, BOM accuracy in Enovia, and 3D and 2D engineering data in CATIA V6 while ensuring deliverables meet appearance, cost, weight, durability, regulatory, and program timing requirements.

Daily tasks

• 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. Investigate system-level failures, often involving 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 .
• Lead the development and creations of DFMEAs ensuring that 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.

Required skills

• Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering (Or related discipline, Masters degree preferred)
• 5+ years (preferred) of Exterior/interior Lamp development at a Tier 1 or OEM
• Experience in Lighting systems Engineering: 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 like Part Design and Geometric Surface Design to generate 3D geometry, sectional data, 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 achievement
• Ability to self-direct while managing ambiguity. Curiosity and high learning agility.