Lead Validation Engineer

Cognizant North America; Auburn Hills (MI); On-site; USD 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Lead Validation Engineer to spearhead electrical feature validation for innovative vehicle programs. This role involves collaborating with suppliers and engineering teams to ensure successful vehicle launches through effective test planning and issue resolution. The ideal candidate will possess a strong background in electrical systems and validation engineering, along with excellent communication and project management skills. Join a forward-thinking company at the forefront of automotive technology and make a significant impact on the future of smart connected vehicles.

Qualifications

• 6+ years experience in automotive roles focusing on validation and verification.
• Proven ability to manage budgets and coordinate testing for multiple programs.

Responsibilities

• Lead electrical feature validation and verification for vehicle programs.
• Develop and maintain test plans and manage issues found during testing.

Skills

Electrical Systems Design

Validation Engineering

Project Management

Communication Skills

Problem-Solving Skills

Interpersonal Skills

Education

BS in Electrical Engineering

BS in Automotive Engineering

BS in Computer Engineering

Tools

HIL Testing Equipment

ECU Tracking Charts

Job description

Job Title: Lead Validation Engineer - Automotive

About Cognizant's Mobility Practice:

Cognizant Mobility is the premier automotive engineering services division of Cognizant that is focused on smart connected vehicle engineering and software delivery. Our clients include well known Automotive OEMs and Electric/Autonomous Start Up Companies that leverage our automotive engineering expertise.

We are looking for talented engineers with backgrounds in Electrical and Computer Engineering for such roles as Vehicle Systems Engineering, Electrical Design and Release, High Voltage Wire Harness Design and Packaging, Embedded Software Development and Algorithm Research, AUTOSAR Model Based System Design, Validation, Hardware in the Loop Integration, Functional Safety, Vehicle Triage, SWAT and Launch Support, etc.

What you'll be doing:

The Senior Lead Validation Engineer is responsible to lead electrical feature validation and verification for specific vehicle programs and should be capable of working with suppliers, various Engineering Support teams including systems, wiring, design release engineers, Program Management, and Manufacturing teams as required to validate and resolve electrical issues to support successful vehicle launch. Responsibilities include:

• Manage and create test plans for electrical features across the vehicle: cluster, radio, body control module, telematics, and powertrain

• Develop, maintain, and execute test plans (DVP&R) at the vehicle level

• Report defects based upon test plan failures

• Manage issues and root cause analysis of issues found

• Provide feedback on System Requirements to ensure specs are testable

• Manage team budgets and tasks

Candidate shall have:

• BS in Electrical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, Computer Engineering or equivalent

• 6+ Years Experience in various automotive roles

• Experience in electrical systems design, development, or test engineering

• Experience in validation of complex systems and resource and financial budgets/allocation

• Experience in developing/scheduling DVP&R (Design Verification Plan and Report), aligning necessary resources, and detailed electrical test procedures

• Effective communication and presentation skills

• Ability to multitask many assignments and coordinate testing for numerous validation test engineers and programs

• Highly developed interpersonal/collaborative skills

• Demonstrates ability to work independently, achieve deadlines, while exhibiting a high degree of proficiency in a fast-paced work environment with minimum assistance

• Demonstrated problem-solving skills and experience in leading projects, team leadership experience, and the ability to engage and motivate team members

• Exceptional communication and facilitation skills with proven ability to communicate clearly and succinctly with executive management

• Record of successful and measurable process/performance improvement initiatives

Responsibilities:

• Develop the program budget and timeline

• Generation and ordering of the Bill Of Material (BOM)

• Commissioning of the Test Properties - Plywood Buck, HIL, Vehicles

• Define and manage the ECU tracking and Design Verification Plan (DVP)

• Specification and requirements reviews, change requests, and lessons learned

• Manage Issues and Status Reporting

• Program/Design/Platform Reviews

• Maintain strategic relationship with functional areas and manage deliverables for the vehicle program, ownership of program plan execution

• Manage all series cards and bulletin impact to the budget (manpower, equipment, vehicles, etc.) and program timing

• Responsible to ensure vehicle timing and requirements are provided to the team

• Develop the plan for test property types and quantities and their configurations

• Lead build coordination of PWB/VHIL/HIL properties (including securing a technician and simulators), ensure on-time delivery and test property readiness to start testing per the plan.

• Collect manpower assessments before program approval and track actual manpower effort.

• Determine vehicle count/needs for validation, obtain approval, and submit vehicle requests

• Develop and maintain ECU (Electronic Control Units) tracking charts and Design Verification Plan (DVP) for the program

• Collect software and verification reports, share with validation team and after validation is completed, publish validated software for other functional vehicle custodians to use for development fleet updates

• Update plywood buck and vehicle test properties before the start of every planned validation loop

• Collect vehicle information such as original configuration/PROXI, vehicle scan reports, PINs for key programming, etc.

• Manage test properties and reservation calendar

• Support vehicle level EMC testing

• Support End of Line (EOL) tester development

• Review bulletins and change requests, develop validation timing for changes and provide detailed information to the validation team for validation planning

• Participate / present in program reviews and vehicle team meetings ensuring all deliverables meet milestones

• Escalate roadblocks and deliverables that are not on track to be met (or are late)

• Lead and coordinate technical issue resolution

• Manage documentation reviews and support Lessons Learned process

• Support the Design Responsible(s), Design Lead(s), and Managers; escalate tasks not completed and support the coaching of engineers

• Support assembly plant warranty, quality, and reliability meetings

• Ensure compliance reports are completed on time to support program milestones

• Primary interface/lead for Product Related Issues and Investigations

Keywords: Automotive, Validation, Verification, CAN