Lead Paint Shop Engineer — Onsite Project Leader

General Motors Africa & Middle East; Wentzville (MO); Hybrid; USD 105,000 - 155,000; Full time

Job summary

General Motors’ Wentzville facility is seeking a Paint Shop Resident Engineer to lead machinery and equipment projects for the Vehicle Systems Paint Group. You will manage projects from concept through startup, coordinating with plant teams, suppliers, and contractors to deliver state-of-the-art paint systems while upgrading existing equipment.

You will oversee design, procurement, installation, startup, and safety buyoffs, ensuring schedule, cost, and technical targets are met.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or a related technical field, or equivalent engineering experience, required.
• Five+ years of engineering experience in manufacturing, industrial facilities, machinery and equipment, project execution, or a related field.
• Experience developing project scopes, specifications, schedules, purchase requisitions, and technical documentation.
• Experience coordinating suppliers, contractors, plant stakeholders, and cross‑functional teams through project execution.
• Demonstrated ability to manage projects independently, prioritize competing demands, and solve complex problems in a timely manner.
• Strong organization, planning, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively with people across all levels of education and experience.
• Demonstrated project or team leadership experience and the ability to work effectively in a manufacturing plant environment.
• Ability to support plant shutdowns and occasional weekend work when required by project timing or business needs.
• Demonstrated alignment with GM Behaviors, including Inclusion, Think Customer, Innovate Now, Look Ahead, One Team, Be Bold, It’s on Me, and Winning with Integrity.

Responsibilities

• Develop project concepts, define scopes of work, create bid specifications and schedules, and engage professional engineering services when needed.
• Identify and procure long‑lead items, facilities, machinery and equipment for Paint Shop projects, including preparing purchase requisitions.
• Lead technical bid reviews and coordinate with suppliers and manufacturers throughout equipment engineering, fabrication, and delivery.
• Manage design changes through the field order process and maintain clear documentation of scope, cost, schedule and technical impacts.
• Oversee on-site installation, construction coordination, schedule performance, and progress; integrate machinery and equipment into the Paint Shop.
• Lead system startup, debug, commissioning and plant integration activities, including coordination of functional and safety buyoffs.
• Serve as the primary liaison between the plant and Vehicle Systems by providing timely updates on equipment failures, breakdowns, lost production, surveys and technical studies.
• Support recurring Paint Shop activities, including monthly Paint 4‑Walls reporting, annual color trials for new color introductions, and semiannual Paint Shop Durability Audits.

Skills

Project management

Engineering

Vendor coordination

Leadership

Communication

Plant shutdowns

GM Behaviors

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Job description

General Motors’ Wentzville facility is seeking a Paint Shop Resident Engineer to lead machinery and equipment projects for the Vehicle Systems Paint Group. You will manage projects from concept through startup, coordinating with plant teams, suppliers, and contractors to deliver state-of-the-art paint systems while upgrading existing equipment.

You will oversee design, procurement, installation, startup, and safety buyoffs, ensuring schedule, cost, and technical targets are met.