Lead Development Engineer - GM Defense

General Motors Company; Milford Charter Township (MI); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

GM Defense is seeking a Lead Development Engineer to serve as the single voice for vehicle performance, owning integration solutions to meet requirements across AVD and hardware phases. The role involves guiding program direction, independent decision-making, and strong emphasis on project planning to ensure on-time milestones.

The LDE will work across Systems, Controls, Propulsion, Software teams and suppliers, interfacing with government customers and defense partners to deliver balanced,

Qualifications

• BS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or related.
• Minimum 8 years total engineering experience
• Minimum 3 years in Vehicle Development experience in Ride & Handling, Noise and Vibration, Energy/Drive Quality, Chassis Controls, Vehicle controls and/or calibration
• In-depth knowledge of hardware, software, and calibration interfaces
• Ability to be The Leader responsible for vehicle performance and work cooperatively with the Systems Teams, Controls Teams, Propulsion Teams, Software Teams, other Integration Areas, and suppliers to deliver all requirements on time with quality and achieving balanced vehicles with winning performance.
• Strong interpersonal skills to motivate and inspire employees to exceptional levels of performance.
• Strong innovation and execution balance to create solutions while executing on the critical path.
• Broad knowledge of vehicle development process and understanding of key deliverables.
• DFSS Black belt
• Ability to legally operate a motor vehicle on a regular basis
• Travel as required
• Candidate must be a U.S. Person (U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident, asylee or refugee).

Responsibilities

• Lead Vehicle Performance Integration Team.
• Lead VPIT (Vehicle Perf Integration Team) and Dev-Val Review with data driven decisions and relevant topics
• Guide vehicle performance balance across integration groups to assure winning vehicles and act as single point of performance integration for the program.
• Participate in GVBR planning for Mule, IVER and PPV vehicle builds
• Provide tuning direction and prioritization in areas of Energy, Vehicle Dynamics, NVH, Drivability and overall vehicle performance and ensure that integration is on time for production milestones.
• Manage and prioritize IVER vehicle shared property usage file to assure tuning releases and validation complete on time with excellence.
• Vehicle Technical Specs and the Development and Validation to requirements.
• Participate in change control process for all vehicle systems
• Manage Vehicle Development fleet usage and counts within annual budget allocation.
• Lead vehicle buy off rides with vehicle performance status and issue list
• Support Global Vehicle Chief Engineer through VAPIR & PET meetings and reviews.
• Adhere to all safety precautions and requirements, and treat safety as the top priority during all work activities
• Provide vehicle performance execution communication to leadership as required
• Support Vehicle Performance Manager in development of processes / tools, and expanding future capabilities for defense ground vehicle development.
• Work directly with government customers and defense industry technical partners on vehicle programs
• Coordinate and lead customer visits and evaluations onsite at MPG or Warren
• Support testing at customer facilities as needed (Army bases, Aberdeen, NATC, Yuma, etc.)

Skills

Vehicle development

Systems integration

Project planning

Leadership

Calibration interfaces

Interpersonal skills

Ambiguity tolerance

Education

BS in Electrical Engineering

MS in engineering or business

Tools

Calibration interfaces

Job description

GM Defense is looking for a Lead Development Engineer that is interested in creating the future of GM Defense-related vehicles. The GM Defense Performance Team is a dynamic, fast paced environment where every day provides a new problem to solve that is having an impact on our current & future defense ground vehicle portfolio. This includes participating in the AVD process, establishing vehicle level and subsystem requirements, then following that project through protype builds, integrating the vehicle and then launching a new vehicle program.

The Role

As the Lead Development Engineer (LDE), you are the “Single Voice” for vehicle performance to the Vehicle Chief Engineer. You will be responsible for owning the development of integration solutions to meet vehicle requirements. As an LDE in GM Defense, you will be responsible for developing a vehicle starting in the AVD space, establishing vehicle level requirements with our Business Development teams & then executing the program on a defense specific VDP. The ideal candidate will be comfortable operating in both the AVD space & Hardware execution phases of a program in rapid succession.

A successful LDE will help set program direction and independently make decisions based on general practices and procedures and be strongly skilled in Project Planning. The selected candidate will exercise highly independent judgement and creative solution development with minimal consultation from Leadership.

What You'll Do

• Lead Vehicle Performance Integration Team.
• Lead VPIT (Vehicle Perf Integration Team) and Dev-Val Review with data driven decisions and relevant topics
• Guide vehicle performance balance across integration groups to assure winning vehicles and act as single point of performance integration for the program.
• Participate in GVBR (vehicle build request) planning for Mule, IVER and PPV vehicle builds
• Provide tuning direction and prioritization in areas of Energy, Vehicle Dynamics, NVH, Drivability and overall vehicle performance and ensure that integration is on time for production milestones.
• Manage and prioritize IVER vehicle shared property usage file to assure tuning releases and validation complete on time with excellence.
• Vehicle Technical Specs and the Development and Validation to requirements.
• Participate in change control process for all vehicle systems
• Manage Vehicle Development fleet usage and counts within annual budget allocation.
• Lead vehicle buy off rides with vehicle performance status and issue list
• Support Global Vehicle Chief Engineer through VAPIR & PET meetings and reviews.
• Adhere to all safety precautions and requirements, and treat safety as the top priority during all work activities
• Provide vehicle performance execution communication to leadership as required
• Support Vehicle Performance Manager in development of processes / tools, and expanding future capabilities for defense ground vehicle development.
• Work directly with government customers and defense industry technical partners on vehicle programs
• Coordinate and lead customer visits and evaluations onsite at MPG or Warren
• Support testing at customer facilities as needed (Army bases, Aberdeen, NATC, Yuma, etc.)

Your Skills & Abilities (Required Qualifications)

• BS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or related.
• Minimum 8 years total engineering experience
• Minimum of 3 years in Vehicle Development experience in the areas of Ride & Handling, Noise and Vibration, Energy/Drive Quality, Chassis Controls, Vehicle controls and/or calibration, (including integration centers).
• In-depth knowledge of hardware, software, and calibration interfaces
• Ability to be The Leader responsible for vehicle performance and work cooperatively with the Systems Teams, Controls Teams, Propulsion Teams, Software Teams, other Integration Areas, and suppliers to deliver all requirements on time with quality and achieving balanced vehicles with winning performance.
• Strong interpersonal skills to motivate and inspire employees to exceptional levels of performance.
• Strong innovation and execution balance to create solutions while executing on the critical path.
• Strength in dealing with ambiguity.
• Broad knowledge of vehicle development process and understanding of key deliverables.
• DFSS Black belt
• Ability to legally operate a motor vehicle on a regular basis
• Travel as required
• Candidate must be a U.S. Person (U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident, asylee or refugee).

What Can Give You a Competitive Advantage (Preferred Qualifications)

• MS in engineering or business
• Experience on military or government projects
• Experience in both advanced and execution vehicle performance roles
• 5-10 years in Vehicle Development experience in multiple disciplines of Ride & Handling, Noise and Vibration, Energy/Drive Quality, Chassis Controls, Vehicle controls and/or calibration, (including integration centers).
• 2-3 years SMT Design Release Engineer experience
• 2-3 years management or other equivalent people leader experience
• In-depth knowledge of Truck vehicle integration, Military Ground wheel vehicle knowledge

Company Vehicle:

Upon successful completion of a motor vehicle report review, you will be eligible to participate in a company vehicle evaluation program, through which you will be assigned a General Motors vehicle to drive and evaluate. Note: program participants are required to purchase/lease a qualifying GM vehicle every four years unless one of a limited number of exceptions applies.

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