Exterior Trim Design Release Engineer

The role

The Exterior Trim DRE will own the engineering development and release of exterior trim components for new vehicle programs. This role coordinates design, manufacturing, supplier, quality, validation, and vehicle-integration activities from concept through production launch.

What you will do

• Develop and release exterior trim components from concept selection through design maturation and production launch.
• Define component requirements, interfaces, packaging, attachment strategy, and design direction.
• Lead design reviews and supplier discussions.
• Prepare and review engineering deliverables including drawings, models, specifications, and design-release data.
• Lead tooling kick-off and follow tooling progress through design reviews, trials, and inspections.
• Plan and coordinate component testing, verification, and validation.
• Develop and maintain DFMEAs and identify design risks.
• Support build events, manufacturing readiness, issue resolution, and launch activities.
• Manage interfaces with adjacent systems like body structure, lighting, sealing, and closures.

Required qualifications

• Experience engineering and releasing automotive exterior trim parts, including A-surface components.
• Experience taking parts from concept and design maturation through tooling, testing, verification, and launch.
• Working knowledge of 3DEXPERIENCE (3DX) for product definition, release, and lifecycle-data management.
• Experience developing or maintaining DFMEAs and managing design risk.
• Ability to interpret engineering drawings, specifications, and product requirements.
• Strong problem-solving, communication, and cross-functional coordination skills.

Nice to have

• Knowledge of exterior materials and processes, such as injection molding, extrusion, compression molding, painting, plating, and substrate/finish interactions.
• Understanding of appearance requirements, Class-A surface interfaces, grain and gloss, color matching, and cosmetic quality.
• Experience with tolerance stack-up, fit-and-finish, gap-and-flush, water management, corrosion, and environmental durability.
• Familiarity with supplier tooling, design-for-manufacturing, part inspection, and corrective-action processes.
• Experience with change management, build issue tracking, and production readiness.

Benefits

• mentorship
• career growth opportunities
• comprehensive benefits

Before you apply

• All candidates selected for employment will be required to successfully complete a pre-employment drug screening as a condition of hire.

About the company

ALTEN Technology USA is an engineering company with 3,000+ experts across North America. As part of the global ALTEN Group, they deliver across the entire product development cycle.