Body Shop System Manufacturing Engineer

The Body Shop Systems Manufacturing Engineer provides engineering leadership throughout new vehicle model development and launch, from early product development through final assembly and production ramp-up. This role focuses heavily on vehicle dimensional systems, body construction, tooling and fixture readiness, joining and welding, tolerances, metrology, and overall manufacturing quality to ensure robust designs and high-performing vehicles.

• Support upfront engineering and manufacturing feasibility assessments for new vehicle programs, ensuring designs can be produced efficiently and to quality standards.

• Apply Systems Engineering principles when evaluating vehicle dimensional and manufacturing issues, considering the vehicle as an integrated system.

• Analyze and interpret GD&T, dimensional stack-ups, and tolerances across vehicle systems to maintain proper fit, function, and performance.

• Evaluate differences and special considerations associated with steel and aluminum tolerances and their impact on manufacturing processes.

• Review product designs for robustness and manufacturing feasibility, recommending improvements to enhance quality and manufacturability.

• Support body construction activities, including joining, welding, tooling, and dimensional engineering, to ensure reliable and repeatable production processes.

• Assess dimensional conditions that could affect overall vehicle fit, function, perceived quality, or crash performance requirements.

• Drive lessons learned and manufacturing best practices into new product designs to continuously improve future vehicle programs.

• Support SRI, structures, virtual builds, and product feasibility activities to validate designs prior to physical builds.

• Develop and support checking fixtures, PCF and CMM fixtures, and measurement strategies that ensure accurate dimensional verification.

• Participate in and lead fixture and tooling buyoffs, confirming that equipment meets dimensional accuracy and quality requirements before production use.

• Develop and execute pre-launch and launch control plans to monitor and manage dimensional and quality performance during ramp-up.

• Support DCV and PCF build events and lead the resolution of manufacturing issues identified during these builds.

• Ensure plant metrology equipment, fixtures, measurement programs, and measurement plans are ready and capable to support launch activities.

• Lead dimensional issue resolution during build events and launch, coordinating cross-functional efforts to achieve stable production.

• Support stamped-part quality and progression toward PSW by monitoring dimensional performance and driving corrective actions.

• Diagnose manufacturing issues related to sheet metal, joining processes, spot welds, fixtures, and dimensional variation, and develop effective solutions.

• Utilize dimensional inspection tools, including calipers and other measurement equipment, to evaluate manufacturing conditions and verify conformance.

• Drive dimensional and functional issues to closure in support of OK-to-Buy decisions, ensuring vehicles meet all quality and performance criteria.

• Minimum of 2 years of manufacturing or engineering experience, preferable in automotive or complex mechanical systems.

• Strong understanding of GD&T and engineering tolerances, including practical application in production environments.

• Experience working with vehicle dimensional systems or dimensional quality, with the ability to relate measurements to vehicle performance.

• Solid understanding of body construction, joining, and welding processes, including spot welding and their impact on dimensional control.

• Systems Engineering mindset with the ability to…