Advanced Cost Engineering & Value Optimization Lead

Stellantis•Auburn Hills, MI

20h

About The Position

The Advanced Cost Engineering & Value Optimization Lead supports vehicle programs by driving cost-optimized design decisions from early concept through hardware and software readiness. The role partners closely with Advanced Design Engineering, Product Development, and Cost Engineering to embed Design to Cost and Value Engineering principles directly into vehicle architecture, system design, and component development. Operating within the Cost Engineering & Total Production Cost organization, this specialist ensures that cost targets, functional value, and design intent are aligned early, enabling competitive vehicles without sacrificing performance, quality, or customer value.

Requirements

Bachelor of Science in Engineering or related education field; degrees in Accounting, Finance, or Business are considered with strong engineering exposure.
At least 8 years of experience in the automotive industry, advanced manufacturing, or related industries.
Strong understanding of automotive systems, vehicle architectures, and production processes.
Proven ability to lead cross-functional technical discussions and influence design outcomes.
Data-driven mindset with strong analytical skills and attention to detail.
Advanced proficiency in Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Outlook, and Word.

Nice To Haves

Direct experience in Design to Cost, Value Engineering, and Value Analysis.
Experience linking functional requirements to cost drivers.
Background in vehicle cost, product engineering, or manufacturing engineering.
Ability to synthesize complex technical and cost data into clear recommendations for leadership.

Responsibilities

Lead Design to Cost and Value Engineering activities from early advanced phases through Tooling Kickoff (TKOM), treating cost as a design parameter rather than a post-design constraint.
Identify high-impact commodities, systems, and architectures for Value Engineering loops (Loop 1 and Loop 2), focusing on functional optimization, design simplification, and material and process efficiency.
Facilitate cross-functional Design to Cost workshops that generate actionable design changes tied to function, performance, manufacturability, and supplier capability.
Drive Value Analysis activities, challenging over-design, redundancy, and cost drivers while preserving customer-relevant features.
Partner with Advanced Project Engineering, Product Development Engineering, Manufacturing, Purchasing, and suppliers to translate Value Engineering proposals into feasible design solutions.
Challenge designs to improve cost-to-function ratios, including architecture choices, part integration, material selection, tooling strategy, and manufacturing processes.
Support design convergence by ensuring cost-driven trade studies and alternatives are evaluated early and documented for leadership decision-making.
Support development of Total Production Cost (TPC) targets based on competitive benchmarking, reference vehicles, and Best in Class architectures.
Translate competitive benchmarks into component-level and system-level cost guidance for engineering teams.
Promote value-based benchmarking, focusing on how competitors achieve similar or better functionality at lower cost.
Collaborate with the Project Economics Manager to monitor Design to Cost savings and track Value Engineering implementation.
Provide cost-based insights for Chief Vehicle Engineer arbitration and major design decisions.
Support project convergence on vehicle TPC and vendor tooling investments.
Bring structured cost and value insights to stakeholders to encourage early action and informed design trade-offs.