Senior Mechanical Engineer - Occupant Safety

oshkoshcorporation; Oshkosh (WI); On-site; USD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Oshkosh Defense in Oshkosh, WI, is seeking a Project Engineer to support occupant safety platform development for NGDV. You'll help design, integrate, and validate airbag and restraint systems, and coordinate with cross-functional teams.

The role emphasizes requirement development, validation planning, crashworthiness activities, supplier coordination, and engineering change management to ensure safety and regulatory compliance.

Qualifications

• Accredited Bachelor's degree in Engineering with 3+ years related experience.
• Experience with occupant safety systems, restraints, crashworthiness.
• Knowledge of FMVSS occupant protection requirements.
• Experience with systems engineering and requirements management.

Responsibilities

• Support design, development, integration, and validation of occupant safety systems.
• Assist in developing system requirements and validation plans.
• Coordinate with suppliers for component development and validation.
• Prepare engineering drawings, specs, BOMs, and validation reports.
• Provide engineering support for manufacturing and vehicle testing.

Skills

Occupant safety

Systems engineering

Requirements management

Analytical skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Tools

Creo

CATIA

NX

Job description

About Oshkosh Defense, an Oshkosh company

Oshkosh Defense stands behind those who dedicate their lives to protecting others. As an industry-leading tactical vehicle manufacturer, every day we strive to meet or exceed our customers' ever-changing needs with next generation defense technologies and advanced systems. We operate with unparalleled commitment to those who depend on our products and services worldwide to perform their missions.

The Project Engineer - Occupant Safety Platform supports the development, integration, validation, and lifecycle management of occupant protection systems for the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) platform.

This role works to ensure vehicle safety systems meet performance objectives, regulatory requirements, and program milestones throughout the product lifecycle.

The successful candidate will support the engineering development of safety-critical vehicle systems including airbags, seat belt systems, restraint control modules (RCMs), crash sensors, occupant detection systems, and related components. This role also supports crashworthiness activities, product validation, supplier coordination, production support, and engineering change management.

YOUR IMPACT

• Support the design, development, integration, and validation of occupant safety systems for current and future vehicle platforms.


• Assist in the development and maintenance of system requirements, engineering specifications, validation plans, and design documentation.


• Support crashworthiness activities including crash test planning, test execution, data analysis, and follow-up engineering actions.


• Perform engineering calculations, investigations, and analysis in accordance with Oshkosh engineering standards and industry best practices.


• Evaluate occupant safety system performance, reliability, durability, and compliance with applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).


• Support the development and maintenance of safety-related systems including: Airbag systems


• Seat belt systems


• Restraint Control Modules (RCMs)


• Crash sensors


• Occupant detection systems


• Associated electrical and software interfaces


• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including Electrical Engineering, Vehicle Integration, Validation, Manufacturing, Quality, Purchasing, and Program Management.


• Coordinate technical activities with suppliers to support component development, validation, issue resolution, and continuous improvement.


• Support engineering changes to ensure continued compliance with performance, safety, and regulatory requirements.


• Evaluate designs for performance, safety, manufacturability, reliability, and cost.


• Perform engineering analysis to support component selection and system optimization.


• Assist with preparation of engineering drawings, specifications, bills of material, validation reports, and technical documentation.


• Provide engineering support for manufacturing, prototype builds, vehicle testing, and production issue resolution.


• Investigate and resolve engineering issues reported from manufacturing, suppliers, testing, and field operations.


• Prepare technical reports, presentations, and project documentation.


• Maintain effective communication with suppliers, internal customers, and cross-functional engineering teams.


• Provide guidance and technical support to designers, technicians, and less experienced engineers as appropriate.


• Support multiple engineering projects while meeting quality, cost, and schedule objectives.

Other duties as assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Accredited Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related field with three (3) or more years of related experience.

STANDOUT QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering.


• Experience with occupant safety systems, restraint systems, crashworthiness, or vehicle safety engineering.


• Knowledge of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), particularly occupant protection requirements.


• Experience supporting vehicle crash testing, validation, or certification activities.


• Familiarity with airbags, seat belts, Restraint Control Modules (RCMs), crash sensors, occupant detection systems, or related safety technologies.


• Experience with systems engineering and requirements management.


• Working knowledge of automotive electrical systems and integration.


• Experience with Creo, CATIA, NX, or other high-level CAD systems.


• Experience working with suppliers through component development and validation.


• Understanding of Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (DFMEA), Design Verification Plans and Reports (DVP&R), and engineering change management processes.


• Experience supporting production issue resolution and continuous product improvement.


• Three or more years of engineering experience in automotive, commercial vehicle, heavy vehicle, or related industries.


• Experience supporting product development from concept through production.


• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.


• Excellent written and verbal communication