Exterior Lighting Project Engineer – McLaren Automotive Ltd

We now have a fantastic opportunity for a talented Project Engineer, specialising in Exterior Lighting, to join our Body Exteriors team based in Woking, Surrey.

Principal Accountabilities:

Provide Technical Project Management to the Body Exterior Lighting Team in collaboration with Lead Designers and the Technical Management Team.

Reporting to the Function Group Manager, manage all aspects of Exterior Lighting delivery on our future vehicle programmes.

Lead a cross functional team to collectively deliver the whole vehicle specification targets:

• Management of exterior lighting system level delivery at each project milestone, including concept study and definition, packaging and styling feasibility;
• Collaboration with the Lead Designers to identify and specify design activity required, interpret requirements of the Lead Designers, estimate time to complete and construct a work plan that supports the release schedule;
• Component and system design and detailing responsibility, from prototype to production;
• Check the content of designs for release against the specification, the data integrity of CAD geometry and resolution of digital build concerns prior to sign-off;
• Project Management in accordance with the McLaren Development Process;
• Management of key suppliers and the supplier relationship for accountable components;
• Co-ordination of cross functional teams to ensure component and system level delivery;
• Identification of opportunities to reduce complexity, cost and weight;
• Communication of progress and critical issues to the Management Team and the Chief Designer;
• Support the Function Group Manager as required;
  • Technical Specifications – Define and document the technical scope for the exterior lighting system, ensuring it meets all legal requirements and project specification targets.  Include details of DVP testing and an accompanying RASIC;
  • DFMEA – Interpret DFMEA requirements for significant and critical characteristics and ensure the design satisfies these to meet all targets;
  • ESOW – Support the Supply Chain with a review of supplier capabilities to generate a robust engineering statement of work, which complements the supplier resource and skill base to effectively communicate design activity throughout the duration of the project and support all requirements of both McLaren and the supplier;
  • Engineering Release – Define and meet all engineering release dates to support program timing. Manage the design team and supplier(s) to meet previously defined release dates.  At engineering release all specifications will have been checked and met, weight and cost targets achieved, supplier DFM fully concurred, materials and finish defined, all fixings identified and positioned, critical characteristics will be in place on relevant drawings; all DFMEA actions will be resolved and all outstanding BCR’s (Build Concern Reports) embodied and documented at the point of release;
  • ECR & ECN – As BCR’s are issued and distributed to design, the Project Engineer is responsible for and measured against the raising of the ECR (Engineering Change Request) and management of the ECN (Engineering Change Note) through the release phase. Liaison is required with SQA (Supplier Quality Assurance), Dimensional Management and any interested parties prior to engineering release to ensure RFT (Right First Time) releasing;
  • BOM – Provide leadership to the Lead Designer for the definition, modification (via ECR) and management of the BOM (Bill of Material);
  • BCR – Manage the Build Concern Reports utilising proven skills in root cause analysis and interacting with cross functional teams to establish effective ownership. Work alongside the Lead Designer to ensure the BCR’s are updated and reflect the design actions taken to resolve;
  • Cost – Lead the Project Team in the setting of target costs across the BOM, defining the target costs for investment, piece and D&D utilising experience and the suppliers knowledge.  Deliver to the agreed targets with an appetite to exceed them at every opportunity.  Manage the cost risk and opportunity glidepath;
  • Weight – Interpret program weight targets, set component weight targets, design and deliver to these targets with a constant awareness of opportunities to exceed defined targets. Manage the weight ‘risk & opportunity’ glidepath;
  • Materials – Specify and control the materials of each lighting component to meet vehicle spec book targets, technical specifications and all legal and component DVP requirements;
  • DFM – Design for Manufacture is a fundamental requirement of this role. The owner must have a demonstrable track record of leading a lighting design team in harmony with suppliers. This must include both build to print and managing supplier D&D.
  • DVP – Define and manage DVP to completion to verify the design meets the criterion outlined in the Technical Specifications, DFMEA outputs, vehicle development testing (STM – Spec book Targets Matrix) and sign-off;
  • Supplier Delivery – Manage each supplier with a cross functional team of Design, SQA, Quality Engineering, Logistics, Purchasing, Dimensional Management, Manufacturing and Service personnel to ensure complete PPAP is delivered for every component to support program timing.