Sr. Manager, Body Interior Systems

Overview

Southern California-based Karma is more than just a car company. Although we are best known as a creator of soul-stirring luxury electric vehicles, Karma has emerged as a high-tech incubator offering innovators a perfect platform to prove their emerging technologies. Every Revero is designed at our Headquarters in Irvine and created with great individual care and world-class craftsmanship at the Karma Innovation and Customization Center in Moreno Valley, CA.

The Sr. Manager, Body Interior Systems has responsibility for the engineering team doing the design, validation, release, and production support of all the major interior systems of the vehicle, including, but not limited to, Instrument Panel, Seating, Center/Overhead Consoles, Door/Pillar/Floor and Trunk trim, and those regulatory requirements associated with these systems. This position reports to the Senior Driector, Body and Chassis Engineering.

Responsibilities

• Manage the design, validation, and release activities for the above systems.

• Serve as technical leader in the group, perform as an effective communicator to the program team and senior management. Work independently or as part of workgroups across subsystems to find the solutions that deliver the best balance of subsystem attributes.

• Establish KPIs and objectives for Interior Team personnel. Monitor appropriately and provide mid-year and end-of-year performance feedback. Identify shortfalls early and work with employees to develop improvement plans.

• Develop department budgets and headcount forecasts; monitor achievement throughout the year.

• Develop budgets by program (Tooling/EDD/headcount) as required by the Body Senior Director and Finance team to support forecasting and business case development.

• Monitor a team of DREs in execution of the various interior systems to meet customer requirements, quality targets, design goals, and cost/weight/timing/investment/complexity targets for the program. Provide experience-based guidance on warranty and campaign avoidance.

• Drive the Interior team cost reduction process by identifying areas of opportunity and optimizing with existing suppliers or market testing for possible resource action.

• Meet program quality targets. Incorporate lessons learned in future product actions.

• Collaborate with the Studio to lead the Part I and Part II design review process and provide engineering feedback, including timing and feasibility.

• Drive the creation and release of critical sections and Class A surface release.

• Interface with Color and Trim and Craftsmanship groups to anticipate and deliver the Karma interior design vision. Champion new interior materials, appearance, and lighting treatments to achieve the distinct California-inspired design ethic of Karma Automotive. Awareness of competitive product and leading edge trends that are both aesthetically pleasing and cost effective is a plus.

• Present program status updates to management, flag issues and present resolution plans that support program targets. Utilize JIRA to document problem root cause identification and issue resolution.

• Work with DREs to develop and and review technical specs, DFMEAs, DVPRs, PFMEAs, and build sheets.

• Drive the sourcing process by supervising creation of RFIs, RFQs, SOWs, and Technical Specifications and identifying potential suppliers. Create and assist with presenting sourcing recommendations to the Sourcing Committee.

• Stay ahead of regulatory requirements regarding interior design and occupant protection, identify new standards in a timely manner to support engineering actions in the final product. Must be experienced in meeting regulatory requirements for occupant safety.

• Support prototype builds and production launch at the assembly plant; initiate reworks and part substitutions by generating appropriate direction throught DVTs and JIRAs. Support production service reviews.

• Other duties, as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering or other Engineering field required. Advanced degrees a plus.

• Minimum 10-15 years of automotive Interior design, release, and supervisory experience required.

• Must have a record of demonstrated experience in multiple disciplines within Interior Systems, including seating systems, instrument panels, and interior trim, in the automotive industry, either as part of an OE or Tier 1 manufacturer supporting OE programs. Must have experience managing teams of engineers and both full service suppliers as well as design-to-print commodities, and significant launch experience.

• Basic PC skills (Outlook, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Project, etc.) as well as basic level of CAD proficiency in CATIA V5/V6 and program design environments such as SmartTeam are required.

• Should be experienced in managing multiple programs simultaneously. Familiarity with all interior assemblies, components, varieties of trim and substrate materials, tooling design and manufacturing processes, and critical packaging and fit-finish requirements.

• Instinctive understanding of design for manufacturing best practices, Interior Development processes, Global Safety requirements for FMVSS, ECE/EEC, and China (including critical shapes/radii and zones for occupant safety).

• Ability to travel 15-20% of the time with limited international travel on occasion. Support Karma assembly plant in Moreno Valley, CA (Approx 1 hr drive) as required.

• Basic knowledge of Quality Management Systems (ISO 9001:2015) and Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001:2015), as applicable.

No 3rd Parties. Principals Only, Please

Come and join the great Karma Team, where you can make a career! Karma Automotive offers a complete benefits package including medical, dental, vision, life, STD, LTD; paid vacation, holidays and personal days; and a 401K with matching contributions.

Karma Automotive LLC is an equal employment opportunity (EEO) employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of age, race, gender identity and expression, color, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy or related conditions (including breastfeeding), national origin/ancestry, religion, military/veteran status, genetic information, citizenship status or any other characteristic and group protected by applicable law. Karma Automotive LLC complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act to ensure equal access to all qualified individuals with a physical or mental disability. Valid driver's license may be required based on essential duties.