Research & Development Engineer

Position Summary

Design and develop product for Dee Zee and its’ customers. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Must be willing and able to work in an environment exposed to elements that can include but are not limited to coolant, dust, mist, elevated noise, and uncontrolled temperatures.

• Follow product development workflows to ensure product development meets all customer and internal requirements and expectations.
• Mix of independent efforts and integration within cross functional teams interlacing internal and external sources ranging customer, supplier, departmental, and production floor representation.
• Support the Planning Stage of development. Activities include, but not limited to, strategy to meet intents in design and performance whilst understanding potential failure modes and their potential Special Characteristics, Design for Manufacturability & Assembly (DFMA) (Process, Tooling), understanding and planning to achieve targets (Quality, Mass, Cost, Timing), Validation & Verification Plans, Purchasing intent (supply chain, material specifications), and MP&L (Material, Planning & Logistics) related elements (Shipping / Transit).
• Support the Development Stage of the Product Lifecycle within the cross functional team, while leading Design specific activities. Support Design Reviews with customers. Lead Design Reviews with suppliers and internal interested parties. Conduct the internal Design Reviews efficiently and with intent to address / solve issues quickly, identify responsible team members with “take away” assignments tied to mutually accepted expectations on meeting the need of the element.
• Utilize Computer Aided Design suites as required by internal standards or the customer to build the 3-dimensional math data for product development (Ground up / Initiated B-side generation based on Studio “A” Class surface intent)
• Manage and comply with internal requirements, considering data, throughout the development and product lifecycle by utilizing the Product Data Management (PDM) system
• Utilize tools and historical documents such as foundational Design Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (DFMEA), Design Guidelines, and Design Checklist worksheets to ensure product design meets best practices and lessons learned to meet customer and internal requirements
• Ensure goals (Quality, Mass, Cost, Timing) continue to be met during the development process. Communicate potential and actual deviation from Planning goals to the cross functional team for escalation efforts through the customer when / where they happen.
• Ensure Special Characteristics as they occur are communicated through the linkage stream and fully documented
• Ensure design validation and verification plans continue to meet expectations during the development cycle. Apply resources where necessary to satisfy the DVP, either in addressing testing requirements, obtaining test samples, conducting testing when possible, receiving and reporting test reports or the generation of test reports
• Ensure design aligns with packaging and transit intent during development cycle, considering clearances, product protection, cost, weight, Customer Specific Requirements (CSRs) in all component process progression (raw material -> finished good)
• Create and maintain 2D Specification Drawings based off the 3D math data, ensuring information required is added, such as, Material Specifications, Customer Requirements, Internal Requirements, Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing, Special Characteristics, etc.
• Utilize Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) & Finite Element Analysis (FEA) tools to pass 3D math data through simulated conditions to evaluate the performance prior to any tooling kick off
• Utilizing Cross Functional Team processes, develop Bills of Materials, owning Parts List identification with quantities, and material / coating specifications. Also aiding in manufacturing steps and processes, new purchased components, and any unique elements that may arise.
• Utilize new part setup via internal processes, and initiate at any time a unique item is…