Manufacturing Engineer - General Assembly

Plant Vehicle Engineer, SUV General Assembly

Are you looking to work for a company that provides an innovative work environment, and your voice is heard? We have a position for a Plant Vehicle Engineering, Fastening & Joining Engineer to work onsite at our client in Warsaw, IN

Who we are:

LER TechForce is an industry leader in embedded controls, software, functional safety, and engineering talent. For over 20 years LER has been working with customers across North America to meet their engineering resource challenges. Learn more about us (3) LER TechForce: Life | LinkedIn

What you will be doing:

Our Client is looking for a hands-on Plant Vehicle Engineer, SUV General Assembly to support General Assembly launch readiness, production quality, and continuous improvement for vehicle configurations released as Open Air, Fastback, and Squareback.

This role supports plant execution of SUV content across structure, restraints, interior, and exterior components, helping ensure each configuration can be built repeatedly to product intent in a manufacturing plant environment.

This role serves as the engineering link between the manufacturing plant, Design & Release Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, Suppliers, Production, Safety, Vehicle Integration, Service, and other cross-functional teams. The position focuses less on new component design and more on protecting product intent in General Assembly, resolving production and integration issues, and improving build quality in production.

This role does not own production release of SUV content. It is responsible for identifying build and integration issues, supporting root cause analysis, protecting safety-critical and quality requirements, and driving plant-side issue resolution in partnership with Design & Release Engineering and the broader manufacturing organization.

SUV General Assembly Support

• Support the launch and ongoing production of Open Air, Fastback, and Squareback SUV configurations in a General Assembly environment.
• Serve as the Plant Vehicle Engineering point of contact for SUV-related production and vehicle integration issues across structure, restraints, interior, and exterior components.
• Help ensure General Assembly processes maintain product design intent, safety requirements, quality standards, craftsmanship expectations, and configuration requirements.
• Support plant readiness for SUV content, station execution, build sequence, repair methods, inspection standards, and launch issue closure.

Production Issue Resolution

• Investigate, diagnose, and resolve production issues related to SUV installation, fit/function, craftsmanship, sealing, water leaks, wind noise, squeaks/rattles, trim fit, roof/closure interfaces, second-row seating and restraints, fasteners, and component interfaces.
• Lead or support root cause analysis, containment, corrective action development, breakpoint coordination, and validation of permanent fixes.
• Analyze production data, audit findings, repair trends, teardown feedback, supplier concerns, and plant feedback to identify risks, trends, and improvement opportunities.

Launch, Change & Cross-Functional Support

• Partner with Design & Release Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, Production, Suppliers, Safety, Vehicle Integration, and Service teams to resolve plant and vehicle-level concerns.
• Support engineering change implementation, prototype/pilot builds, breakpoint coordination, plant readiness, issue tracking, containment, readiness reporting, and lessons learned.
• Participate in Design for Manufacturing and Assembly reviews, PFMEA input, control plan reviews, station readiness reviews, and related product/process improvement activities.

Documentation & Process Improvement

• Review and support production documentation, including work instructions, inspection standards, quality alerts, repair procedures, and related process documentation.
• Support issue tracking, change management, quality systems, deviation / waiver processes, containment documentation, and production breakpoint control.
• Drive continuous improvement actions that reduce defects, improve first-time quality, minimize rework, and strengthen production robustness for SUV configurations.

SUCCESS FACTORS

• Improve first-time quality for Open Air, Fastback, and Squareback SUV configurations.
• Reduce rework, repair loops, and recurring production issues across structure, restraints, interior, and exterior SUV content.
• Improve launch readiness through effective build support, issue tracking, station readiness, and configuration-specific closure discipline.
• Improve containment effectiveness and accelerate issue resolution through clear triage, documentation, breakpoints, and validation.
• Strengthen feedback loops between the plant, Design & Release Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, Production, Suppliers, and Service.

What you'll need to be successful:

• 5 years of related automotive engineering, manufacturing engineering, launch, quality, plant vehicle engineering, General Assembly, vehicle integration, SUV, or similar experience.
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering, or related technical field preferred; equivalent hands-on automotive launch, manufacturing, or product engineering experience will be considered.
• Experience supporting vehicle development and launch, with an understanding of the product lifecycle from concept through production ramp and mass production.
• Experience with General Assembly build execution, variant complexity, structure, restraints, interiors, exterior components, closures, sealing, roof systems, or SUV configurations preferred.
• Strong understanding of BOMs, engineering change control, manufacturability, assembly methods, process validation, quality metrics, design reviews, and cost-reduction methodologies.
• Strong technical, interpersonal, and communication skills with the ability to foster collaboration and build effective cross-functional relationships.
• Ability to read and interpret drawings, schematics, technical documents, specifications, quality standards, and production process documentation.
• Experience with issue tracking, change management, quality systems, deviation/waiver processes, containment tracking, and production breakpoint control.
• Hands-on experience supporting assembly lines and driving improvements in build quality, process stability, and production robustness.
• Understanding of fit/finish, sealing, water leaks, wind noise, squeaks/rattles, trim alignment, seating/restraints, structural interfaces, exterior interfaces, and fastening-related concerns.
• DFM and DFA experience, with the ability to provide plant feedback into product and process decisions.
• Ability to work on the plant floor more than 50% of the time; ability to travel domestically up to 20%.
• Must be willing to relocate to Warsaw, Indiana.

What you'll get:

• Full benefits: medical, dental, vision, HSA, FSA
• 401 K with a match and immediate vesting
• Short-term & Long-term disability, life insurance and other optional benefits
• Employee Assistance Program
• Employee Discounts
• Ongoing professional development opportunities including Technical Training and Leadership Development
• The opportunity to work on industry leading projects