Associate Chassis Engineer

Ford Motor • Long Beach, CA

6d • Hybrid

About The Position

As an Associate Chassis Engineer, you will drive the design, development, and execution of novel chassis components and sub-systems, including brakes, steering, wheels, tires, and suspension platforms. You will apply first-principles engineering and advanced manufacturing techniques to optimize driving dynamics, efficiency, structural mass, and cost. The role spans concept development, physical and virtual validation, and full-vehicle testing, contributing to vehicle attributes for Ford’s next-generation vehicle portfolio.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• One year of cumulative automotive engineering or related mobility-sector experience.
• A solid foundation in statics, dynamics, materials, and thermal engineering, with practical application to complex vehicle systems and manufacturing processes.
• Strong proficiency in 3D CAD modeling.
• Excellent written and verbal technical communication skills and a record of effective cross-functional partnership.

Nice To Haves

• Exposure to electric vehicle platforms.
• 3DEXPERIENCE CAD experience.
• Knowledge of chassis architectures, kinematics, elastokinematics, and vehicle dynamics fundamentals.
• Understanding of manufacturing and assembly processes, including castings, forgings, stampings, and extrusions.
• Understanding of technical drawing practices, including GD&T per ASME standards.
• Knowledge of agile project tracking and technical documentation tools such as Atlassian JIRA and Confluence.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop chassis concepts for brakes, steering, suspension, wheels, and tires, balancing driving dynamics, vehicle mass, cost, efficiency, manufacturability, and serviceability.
• Challenge legacy design requirements and define data-driven, first-principles specifications for system sizing, functional performance, and safety attributes.
• Align system performance targets with regulatory standards, customer requirements, and vehicle dynamics.
• Evaluate and validate manufacturing, assembly, and service feasibility in collaboration with manufacturing, service, and launch teams.
• Use advanced engineering analysis tools to simulate, stress-test, and iterate design proposals before physical builds.
• Lead design, build, and validation testing at the component, subsystem, and full-vehicle levels.
• Conduct subjective and objective evaluations of braking, steering, ride, and handling across production vehicles, prototype test mules, and driver-in-the-loop simulators.
• Analyze test data to troubleshoot root causes, iterate designs, and refine vehicle performance attributes.

Benefits

• Immediate medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug coverage.
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, and subsidized backup childcare.
• Family-building benefits, including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement and fertility treatments.
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members, and management leases.
• Tuition assistance.
• Employee resource groups.
• Paid time off for individual and team community service.
• Paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
• Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level