Staff Engineer, Lighting Systems

Position Overview

The Staff Engineer, Lighting Systems (Resident Engineering) will serve as the primary on-site technical owner for plant-related lighting topics, supporting launch readiness, production stabilization, issue resolution, and continuous improvement across lighting systems. This role requires a hands-on engineer with a strong combination of mechanical design, hardware integration, supplier coordination, validation, and manufacturing support skills. The ideal candidate will operate with high ownership, urgency, and accountability to ensure lighting components meet engineering requirements, plant build requirements, quality expectations, and program milestones. 

Key Responsibilities

•    Act as the on-site technical owner for lighting systems during prototype builds, launch, ramp-up, and production stabilization. 
•    Own plant-related lighting topics, including fit, function, packaging, sealing, mounting, assembly feasibility, end-of-line issues, and vehicle-level integration concerns. 
•    Act as the primary technical liaison between AMP-2 KSA, global lighting engineering teams (Europe and North America), suppliers, and manufacturing organizations to ensure alignment on technical issues, priorities, launch readiness, and execution. 
•    Lead root cause analysis for lighting concerns identified during builds, launch, production, validation, or field feedback, and coordinate containment and corrective action plans 
•    Support mechanical and hardware troubleshooting for lighting modules, including brackets, housing, lenses, connectors, PCBs, light guides, harness interfaces, electronic control units, and mounting features. 
•    Review and interpret CAD data, 2D drawings, GD&T, specifications, EBOMs, release documentation, DFMEA PFMEA, DVP&Rs, and supplier technical documents to support plant execution. 
•    Coordinate engineering changes, deviations, temporary approvals, build concerns, and design improvements needed to support production readiness and program timing. 
•    Participate in line trials, build events, quality reviews, launch meetings, supplier reviews, and vehicle-level issue resolution activities. 
•    Work with suppliers and internal teams to validate corrected parts, confirm design intent, and ensure readiness for continued production use. 
•    Track open lighting issues, owners, timing, risk level, containment status, and permanent corrective actions to ensure transparent execution. 
•    Provide clear written and verbal updates to leadership on issue status, technical risk, launch readiness, and escalation needs. 
•    Identify and escalate program risks early, providing clear technical recommendations and recovery plans for leadership. 
•    Lead sustaining product improvement activities for lighting systems where appropriate with close collaboration with teams in HQ.

Skills

•    Strong lighting systems development capability, with demonstrated understanding of concept development, design release, validation, tooling, launch readiness, and serial production support.
•    Mechanical engineering skill set required to evaluate plastics, injection molding, sealing strategy, thermal considerations, assembly feasibility, mounting concepts, tolerance management, and vehicle-level packaging.
•    Ability to work across lighting hardware and electrical interfaces, including PCBs, connectors, LED drivers, wiring, control units, diagnostics, functional behavior of lighting devices, basic EE components, and double-sourcing considerations.
•    Problem-solving skills required to support root cause analysis, containment, corrective actions, validation of fixes, and production issue resolution in a launch or manufacturing environment.
•    Technical proficiency with CATIA or 3DX, GD&T, 2D and 3D stack-up analysis, SQL, CANalyzer, and the ability to read and interpret CAD models, engineering drawings, technical specifications, DFMEA, DVP&R, and supplier documentation.
•    Collaboration skills required to work directly with plant teams, quality, manufacturing, suppliers, and global engineering teams in a fast-paced launch and production environment.
•    Strong organizational and execution skills, including the ability to track multiple open issues, drive ownership, communicate status clearly, and maintain visibility to timing, risk, containment, and permanent corrective actions.
•    Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications and engineering issue-tracking tools required to manage launch, quality, validation, and production readiness activities.
•    Hands-on capability to reflash PCBAs and support software or calibration updates required for lighting module troubleshooting and validation.
•    Hands-on capability to operate electrical measurement equipment, including multimeters, oscilloscopes, power supplies, and related tools used to diagnose lighting hardware and EE component concerns.
•    Understanding of end-of-line requirements, specifications, and validation activities required for production readiness, including headlamp aiming and related lighting checks.
•    Working knowledge of lighting homologation and regulatory requirements relevant to the position, including FMVSS 108, ECE R48, ECE R149, and GB 4785.

Minimum Qualifications

•    Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Mechatronics, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or related technical field required.
•    10+ years of automotive OEM or Tier 1 experience in lighting systems, resident engineering, launch, manufacturing support, or production issue resolution.
•    Experience with automotive lighting development, validation, launch, plant support, quality concerns, and sustaining improvements.
•    Ability to read and evaluate CAD models, 2D drawings, GD&T, specifications, and release documentation using CATIA, 3DX, or equivalent tools.
•    Ability to support plant builds, supplier visits, line trials, issue investigations, validation activities, and launch-critical events.
•    Strong communication and ownership to align cross-functional teams, drive issue closure, and manage timing, risk, containment, and corrective actions.

Success Profile

A successful Staff Engineer, Lighting Systems as part of Resident Engineering team is hands-on, structured, and highly accountable. This person can move quickly between plant floor concerns and engineering-level problem solving, translating technical issues into clear actions with owners, timing, and risk visibility. The role is best suited for an engineer who can combine mechanical judgment, hardware understanding, supplier coordination, and launch discipline to protect program’s milestones and ensure lighting systems are successfully integrated into production.