Staff Lead Rear Seat Structures Engineer

General Motors•Warren, MI

10d•Hybrid

About The Position

This Technical Lead role is to support seat structures EGM and a team of about 10 DREs. Focus will be on providing technical leadership, advancement, and optimization of the Structure CCC and CMS structure portfolio. At General Motors, our product teams are redefining mobility. Through a human-centered design process, we create vehicles and experiences that are designed not just to be seen, but to be felt. We’re turning today’s impossible into tomorrow’s standard —from breakthrough hardware and battery systems to intuitive design, intelligent software, and next-generation safety and entertainment features. Every day, our products move millions of people as we aim to make driving safer, smarter, and more connected, shaping the future of transportation on a global scale.

Requirements

Bachelor of Science – Engineering
Extensive experience in seat structures and system development with demonstrated levels of outstanding performance in communication, organizational and planning capabilities.
Experience in building strong relationships through strategic project work with regional and global engineering partners.
Demonstrated sub system expertise in structures, foam, trim covers, plastic components, head restraints, lumbar systems, heat and heat/vent/cool systems, occupant detection systems, airbag deployment technologies, CLAs, haptic systems, etc.
Detailed knowledge of seat performance requirements including regulations and best practices
Demonstrated early product development to launch expertise and capability
Demonstrated ability to coach and lead internal and external resources
Thorough understanding of seat system requirements and trade offs
Excellent cross-functional communication skills – able to build effective coalitions.
Ability to break down complex technical issues into simple terms for multiple audiences
Demonstrated ability to “deal with ambiguity” while driving timely decision making toward issue resolution
Ability to navigate in the global environment, understanding diversity, equity and inclusion

Nice To Haves

Ability to motivate and empower team members to enable optimized levels of performance and execution.
Complexity management ability: High level of analytical ability where problems are unusual and difficult to manage, with a multitude of assignments, program deliverables and strategic launches
Strategic Agility
Innovative mindset
Managerial Courage to speak up and lead bold moves
Excellent customer focus, having customer in the center of what is done

Responsibilities

Lead the design development and integration of highly complex and large scope programs with multiple seat structure configurations.
Coordinate integration and tradeoffs between seat structures and seat systems to optimize the overall enterprise cost while ensuring program requirements are achieved
Provide technical leadership for overall seat structures and seat assembly performance and associated tradeoffs for comfort, crash worthiness, cost, mass, etc.
Identify and lead introduction of innovative core products, coordinate Advanced Technical Work and exploratory projects
Driving Lessons Learned behavior of the team to be responsible for their own knowledge management
Coordinate SI engineers, internal technical resources, vehicle program teams, purchasing, design staff on design solutions while ensuring alignment to program and SMT objectives.
Lead the development and maintenance of the program seat CCC and CMS seat structures, integration in seat system and integration DFMEAs
Ensure virtual validation successfully completed before tooling kick off
Coordinate, track, manage and optimize enterprise piece and tooling costs for a complex large scope seat development activity
Lead focused problem-solving efforts on significant cost/quality/warranty issues on seat programs
Leverage program specific learnings to expand the overall GM seat system knowledge base by demonstrating outstanding problem-solving skills and knowledge management
Demonstrate exemplary commitment to customer focused product development
Utilize DFSS methodologies to insure robust design development and trade off management.
Responsible for working with the team in closing issues in Problem Resolution and Tracking System to support programs milestones
Support DRE’s and Technical Specialists in: Creating interface control documents, Supplier prequalification, tooling kick off and launch support, Problem Solving and Warranty reduction, Prevent Repeat Defects, Components Strategy Planning and Competitiveness, Commodity Quality Chain process, Updating and maintaining best practice
Grow technical capability of component DRE’s by coaching and mentoring DFSS and OPEX projects.