Structural Design Engineer – Automotive NPD (Creo)
Location: Evans, GA – Onsite
Employment Type: Contract
Job Description
We are seeking an experienced Structural Design Engineer with strong hands-on expertise in Creo and automotive New Product Development (NPD). The ideal candidate will have proven experience designing and developing structural components, sheet metal and welded structures, and plastic injection-molded components for passenger vehicles.
The engineer will be responsible for taking designs from concept development through detailed design, prototyping, validation, and production release, while ensuring manufacturability, structural integrity, packaging, and design quality.
Key Responsibilities
- Design and develop automotive structural components and assemblies using Creo/Creo Parametric.
- Support NPD programs from concept and feasibility through prototype, validation, and production release.
- Create accurate 3D models and 2D manufacturing drawings with GD&T, tolerances, and engineering specifications.
- Design structural components including:
- Structural brackets and reinforcements
- Cross members and support structures
- Subframes and mounting structures
- Chassis structural components
- Sheet metal structures
- Welded assemblies
- Suspension and powertrain mounting structures
- Other body/chassis structural components
- Develop sheet metal components and welded structures, considering material, thickness, bending, forming, welding, and assembly requirements.
- Design and model plastic injection-molded components, considering draft angles, wall thickness, ribs, bosses, parting lines, and manufacturability.
- Perform vehicle packaging and structural integration studies to ensure proper fit, interfaces, clearances, and assembly.
- Apply DFM/DFA, GD&T, and tolerance stack-up principles to ensure production-ready designs.
- Collaborate with CAE, testing, manufacturing, quality, suppliers, and cross-functional engineering teams.
- Review CAE results and prototype/test feedback and implement necessary design improvements.
- Conduct design reviews and support root-cause analysis and corrective actions for structural/design-related issues.
- Manage engineering changes and support design release/change control using PLM systems such as Windchill.
- Ensure designs meet applicable engineering, safety, quality, and manufacturing requirements.
Required Skills & Experience
- 5–7+ years of experience in automotive structural design or product design.
- Strong hands-on experience with Creo / Creo Parametric.
- Proven experience in automotive NPD / New Product Development.
- Strong experience designing structural components and assemblies.
- Hands-on experience with sheet metal and welded structure design.
- Experience with plastic injection-molded component design/modeling is highly desirable.
- Strong knowledge of GD&T, DFM/DFA, tolerance stack-up, and manufacturing processes.
- Experience creating production-ready 3D models and 2D drawings.
- Strong understanding of design release and engineering change processes.
- Experience working with CAE and testing teams and implementing analysis/test feedback.
- Understanding of structural load requirements, packaging, interfaces, and vehicle integration.
- Windchill or other PLM experience is preferred.
- Automotive standards/regulations knowledge such as AIS, ECE, and FMVSS is a plus
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