Senior Design Release Engineer, AV Platforms

Motional•Pittsburgh, PA

20h•$125,000 - $167,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Our Design Release Engineering team, within the Vehicle Platform Engineering group, is seeking a highly motivated Senior Engineer to own the complete design release, engineering lifecycle, and technical deployment of our developmental vehicle platforms and integration systems. This role serves as the central engineering authority for our development bench and vehicle platforms. You will manage the entire platform evolution across every developmental phase, spanning sensor mules, early conceptual "test" vehicles, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) benches, and pre-production prototype vehicles. Operating as a hands-on DRE, you will drive the initial architecture definitions, build out engineering requirements, handle complex configuration management, and steer the platform through physical design, component sourcing, manufacturing integration, and readiness for testing and operations.

Requirements

5+ years of experience in automotive hardware design, release engineering, or vehicle integration, with a heavy emphasis on advanced prototyping and developmental vehicle platforms.
Demonstrated experience driving multi-disciplinary engineering activities, cross-functional milestone tracking, and risk mitigation strategies throughout the full automotive product lifecycle.
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Aerospace, or Systems Engineering (or a related field).
Broad foundational understanding of core vehicle architectures, vehicle network architecture and communications (e.g., CAN-FD, automotive ethernet protocols), and electrical/mechanical packaging constraints.
Fundamental knowledge of automotive engineering documentation, validation processes, and quality standards (including DVP&R, DFMEA, and PFMEA).
Familiarity with CAD systems (e.g., NX, CATIA), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems (including requirement management tools such as Polarion), and engineering release workflows.
Strong understanding of vehicle integration, packaging, assembly processes, and functional safety standards (ISO 26262).
Proven ability to lead highly complex initiatives, manage both internal and external organizational stakeholders, and execute to aggressive program timelines with minimal oversight.

Nice To Haves

Direct experience engineering and deploying advanced vehicle prototypes and benchtop systems.
Proven track record of driving goal-level impact across multiple teams or subsystems.
Prior experience in a fast-growing autonomous vehicle or robotics company.

Responsibilities

Own the end-to-end design, release, configuration, and build-readiness of all developmental hardware platforms, including sensor mules, proof-of-concept "test" vehicles, pre-production prototypes, and HIL test benches.
Drive technical execution for the full development platform lifecycle, from hardware architecture and requirements definition to platform bring-up and sustainment.
Author and execute development plans and timelines for each platform phase.
Oversee the generation and release of all engineering documentation, including drawings, Bills of Material (BOM), specifications, and test reports, across the varying platform development phases.
Lead the procurement life cycle for developmental platforms by generating, tracking, and managing Purchase Order (PO) requests, and actively monitoring component availability and lead times to ensure physical parts arrive ahead of critical build deadlines.
Lead the Engineering Change (ECN) process ensuring traceability, cost impact analysis, version control, and full cross-functional buy-in.
Build strong partnerships across the Systems Engineering, Autonomy, Software Infrastructure, and Vehicle Platform Engineering teams to ensure seamless hardware platform design, integration and manufacturability (DFM/DFA).
Lead technical program reviews and design readiness assessments, proactively developing risk mitigation plans to ensure platform maturity aligns with build timelines.
Provide regular, data-driven status updates to technical and program leadership regarding design and integration maturity, test progress, open cross-functional issues, and key project milestone metrics.
Formulate validation guidelines and platform bring-up checklists/instructions to cleanly hand off mature, stable developmental platforms to test operations.