Senior SSL Industrialization Engineer

Position Summary

The Senior SSL Industrialization Engineer leads the industrialization of automotive Solid State Lighting (SSL) products and SMT-based manufacturing processes, ensuring robust launch readiness, process capability, and scalable production performance. This role partners closely with product & design engineering, operations, quality, supply chain, and marketing to transfer new products into stable, cost-effective manufacturing while meeting automotive customer, reliability, and quality requirements.

Key Responsibilities

• PIT (Product Introduction Team) Leader for end-to-end industrialization of automotive SSL products, product revisions, and process changes from design transfer through launch and production ramp-up. Other project opportunities could include plant footprint, obsolescence, or traditional lighting technologies.
• Lead cross-functional teams across manufacturing, product engineering, quality, supply chain, marketing, packaging, accounting, and program management to align product launch plans, cost targets, timing, and operational readiness.
• Develop and maintain detailed project timelines and schedules to support customer RFQs, product launches, validation activities, equipment readiness, and cross-functional deliverables.
• Lead projects through Q-gate methodology, ensuring deliverables, risks, and readiness criteria are completed and reviewed at each phase of development and launch.
• Lead and coordinate make-or-buy analyses and quotation activities to support sourcing decisions, manufacturing strategy, and competitive customer proposals.
• Develop customer RFQ quotations by coordinating inputs across manufacturing, engineering, sourcing, packaging, finance, and commercial teams to ensure accurate costing, feasibility, timing, and launch assumptions.
• Identify new production technologies and collaborate with global industrialization teams to standardize equipment, processes, and best practices across regions and product lines.
• Coordinate SMT-related manufacturing readiness activities, including development and validation of processes for stencil printing, component placement, reflow, inspection, and test.
• Partner with product & design engineering to drive Design for Manufacturing (DFM), design for assembly, design for test, reliability, and cost optimization for LED, electronics, and lamp-level assemblies.
• Develop and maintain key launch deliverables such as process flow diagrams, PFMEA, control plans, work instructions, setup documentation, and capacity plans.
• Coordinate prototype, pilot, and pre-production builds to validate process capability, material flow, tooling, fixtures, and operator readiness.
• Collaborate with quality teams to support APQP, PPAP, process validation, and launch documentation aligned to automotive customer requirements.
• Support equipment specification, line balancing, automation opportunities, and capital planning for new or modified manufacturing lines.
• Work closely with suppliers and internal stakeholders to ensure component, material, and equipment readiness for successful product launch.
• Standardize best practices across SSL and SMT operations and mentor junior engineers, technicians, and cross-functional teams.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 10+ years of experience in manufacturing engineering, industrialization, new product introduction, or process engineering in an automotive, electronics, or high-volume production environment.
• Demonstrated experience launching products into production with a strong focus on SMT, electronics assembly, or automotive lighting systems.
• Strong knowledge of SMT/PCBA processes, process development, validation, line balancing, capacity analysis, PFMEA, control plans, and production documentation.
• Experience with automotive launch and quality requirements such as APQP, PPAP, MSA, SPC, and structured problem-solving.
• Strong project management, communication, and cross-functional stakeholder management skills, including experience working within Q-gate or stage-gate development methodologies.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in an engineering discipline or related field.
• Hands-on familiarity with SMT equipment such as stencil printers, pick-and-place systems, reflow ovens, AOI, AXI, and in-circuit or functional test solutions.
• Working knowledge of IPC standards, ESD controls, solder materials, stencil design, and reflow profile development.
• Experience with Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, DOE, and continuous improvement in a high-volume environment.
• Familiarity with IATF 16949, customer-specific automotive requirements, and supplier industrialization practices.
• Formal certification in Lean, Six Sigma, or project management is a plus.

What Success Looks Like

• Automotive SSL products are launched on time with stable SMT and assembly processes, clear documentation, and acceptable yield, reliability, and quality performance.
• Manufacturing risks are identified early and mitigated before they impact customer launch timing, cost, or field performance.
• Production processes meet safety, quality, throughput, cost, and traceability requirements for automotive applications.
• Cross-functional teams have clear visibility into launch readiness, process risks, and key decisions required at each milestone.
• Lessons learned from product launches and line performance are captured and applied to improve future SSL and SMT industrialization efforts.

Travel Requirement: Approximately 20% travel is required.