Engineer - Vehicle Architecture

Magna International•Troy, MI

About The Position

The Engineer - Vehicle Architect leads vehicle-level architecture, packaging, integration, and technical convergence activities across complete vehicle development programs. The role translates customer, styling, regulatory, manufacturing, serviceability, geometrical and functional requirements into an integrated vehicle solution from concept through prototype, validation, production release, and launch. This position provides cross-functional technical leadership across vehicle systems and interfaces, coordinating styling, product engineering, CAD, PLM, manufacturing, suppliers, and program management. The Engineer - Vehicle Architect maintains vehicle-level design integrity, drives resolution of interface conflicts, and ensures released solutions meet program objectives and production readiness requirements.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, Automotive Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering, or a related engineering discipline; master's degree preferred.
5+ years of vehicle architecture, vehicle integration, packaging, styling convergence, complete vehicle development, or closely related automotive product-development experience.
Experience leading cross-functional development of mechanical, structural, trim, thermal, or vehicle integration systems from concept through production release.
Experience with complete vehicle programs, prototype and production builds, validation, suppliers, manufacturing organizations, and engineering release processes.
Proficiency with CATIA V5, CATIA 3DEXPERIENCE, NX, or equivalent 3D CAD; experience with ENOVIA or an equivalent PLM system.
Working knowledge of GD&T, tolerance stack-up, DFM/DFA, BOM and change management, DFMEA, DVP&R, root-cause analysis, and automotive launch processes.
Strong understanding of vehicle packaging, system interfaces, manufacturing processes, material applications, and production-feasibility considerations.

Nice To Haves

Experience in styling convergence or studio engineering support, including surface maturity and physical or digital vehicle evaluation.
Experience with RAMSIS, CAVA, ICEM Surf, CAE tools, or similar vehicle architecture and visualization applications is a plus.
Experience supporting the development and launch of emerging mobility technologies, including ADAS, EVs, and related systems.
Experience guiding technical personnel and coordinating global engineering teams.

Responsibilities

Lead development and maintenance of vehicle architecture, package layouts, system interfaces, hard points, zones, clearances, and integration requirements.
Translate product, customer, styling, sensor, structural, thermal, manufacturing, ergonomic, service, and regulatory requirements into balanced vehicle-level solutions.
Own cross-system compatibility and identify architecture risks, interface gaps, and requirement conflicts early in the development process.
Guide packaging and integration of mechanical systems, structures, mounting hardware, enclosures, trim, sensors, cleaning systems, and thermal hardware.
Use vehicle-level judgment and trade-off analysis to balance functional, manufacturability and serviceability requirements.
Coordinate styling and engineering convergence for exterior and interior content, including A-, B-, and C-class surface development and data maturity.
Define visualization, digital review, and physical evaluation scopes, including data status, releases, control models, and cubing activities.
Lead step, gap, flushness, clearance, and interface target setting with styling, engineering, and tolerance-management teams.
Resolve conflicts between design intent and technical feasibility, and support acceptance of styling data for production-tool release.
Lead or coordinate vehicle integration concepts, CAD assemblies, interface documentation, and engineering data packages.
Ensure released CAD and PLM data accurately represents approved design intent, package requirements, subsystem interfaces, and program configuration.
Support Design engineering changes thru design maturity reviews, and configuration control through the product-development lifecycle.
Collaborate with design and release engineers to ensure assigned systems are production-ready and fully integrated at vehicle level.
Support vehicle, system, subsystem, and component compliance, ensuring that geometric and functional requirements, along with regulatory, manufacturing, and timing targets, are clearly defined, achievable, and incorporated into engineering plans.
Support program resource planning, budget development, technical status reporting, milestone reviews, and coordination of external engineering work packages.
Ensure vehicle-level risks, interfaces, and use cases are addressed through DFMEA, DVP&R, tolerance analysis, validation planning, and technical reviews.
Support as required test & validation activities (i.e., correlation of vehicle/system physical build with virtual development, root cause analysis, verified clash conditions, etc.).
Maintain architecture decisions, assumptions, open issues, lessons learned, and technical documentation throughout the program.
Collaborate with suppliers and manufacturing teams on quotations, design reviews, DFMEA/DFM, material and process selection, tooling concepts, production feasibility, and readiness.
Provide vehicle-level technical support during Alpha, Beta, Pilot, and Production builds, serving as an escalation point for integration and interface issues.
Lead root-cause analysis, containment, deviation management, corrective action, and engineering-change implementation for build and validation concerns.
Capture production and field learnings and incorporate proven improvements into current and future vehicle architectures.
Lead architecture, convergence, packaging, and technical decision forums with customers, program management, styling, engineering disciplines, manufacturing, quality, and suppliers.
Communicate vehicle design status, risks, trade-offs, decisions, timing impacts, and required actions clearly to technical and business stakeholders.
Escalate unresolved architecture risks and target deviations early, with fact-based recommendations and recovery actions.
Promote common methods, engineering best practices, technical knowledge transfer, and continuous improvement across global teams.