Cost Engineer

Container Cost Engineer

The Container Cost Engineer serves as a Packaging and Containers Cost Specialist responsible for developing, analyzing, and validating cost estimates and cost targets for logistics packaging systems. This role supports a global logistics and packaging organization across returnable and expendable packaging, containers, engineered racks, dunnage, pallets, totes, and related material-handling solutions. You will create ground-up, fact-based cost estimates that consider materials, manufacturing processes, labor, overhead, logistics, tooling, capital investment, maintenance, repair, and other commercial assumptions.

Working closely with engineering, logistics, manufacturing, purchasing, supply chain, finance, and vehicle program teams, you will translate technical packaging concepts and manufacturing processes into clear financial evaluations and actionable recommendations. This position offers a high level of autonomy and ownership over multiple estimates and cost-reduction initiatives, with the opportunity to influence next-generation vehicle programs and enterprise packaging strategies.

Responsibilities

• Develop detailed, bottom-up should-cost estimates and target costs for returnable and expendable packaging, containers, engineered racks, dunnage, pallets, totes, and related logistics equipment.
• Analyze supplier quotations and commercial proposals, validate assumptions, identify cost gaps, and support fact-based negotiations with purchasing teams.
• Evaluate packaging concepts for material selection, design complexity, manufacturing processes, labor content, overhead, tooling, capital, maintenance, repair, packaging density, transportation, and total landed cost.
• Build cost models for common packaging processes, including steel fabrication, tube and wire forming, stamping, machining, welding, fastening, coatings, plastics conversion, corrugated and expendable packaging production, dunnage assembly, and final packaging-system integration.
• Assess the financial impact of design changes, production volume, capacity, regional manufacturing differences, commodity pricing, freight, return loops, packaging utilization, and supplier footprint.
• Partner with packaging and logistics engineers to identify cost-reduction opportunities while protecting part quality, ergonomics, safety, cube utilization, material flow, sustainability, and program timing.
• Serve as an active partner to internal purchasing teams by providing fair, competitive, and transparent cost targets for packaging and container-related sourcing decisions.
• Support sourcing activities, supplier selection, design reviews, launch readiness assessments, supplier performance discussions, and post-launch cost-improvement initiatives.
• Analyze, organize, and interpret large volumes of technical, operational, and financial data, and condense findings into concise recommendations for cross-functional teams and leadership.
• Develop, refine, and maintain cost-estimating tools, databases, benchmarks, and process assumptions to improve consistency, accuracy, and speed across cost estimates.
• Communicate cost drivers, risks, opportunities, and recommendations to both technical and nontechnical stakeholders across regional and global teams.
• Collaborate with global GPSC and logistics organizations to align cost targets and assumptions with broader business strategies and market conditions.
• Travel occasionally to supplier facilities, manufacturing locations, and other relevant sites to support cost reviews, process validation, launch activities, and sourcing collaboration.
• Exercise independent judgment, initiative, and creativity in managing multiple cost estimates and cost-reduction activities simultaneously.
• Contribute to the development of next-generation packaging strategies that support evolving automotive industry trends, including sustainability and reusable packaging systems.

Job Type & Location

This is a contract position based out of Warren, MI.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $40.00 - $48.00/hr individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills,…