Closures Engineering Lead

Meet the team:

The Vehicle Platform Engineering Team is responsible for the design, validation, and delivery of the Glydways Autonomous Transit Vehicle hardware to align with the installation of the Glydways mass transit system.  The team works with internal engineering and vendors and is responsible to deliver a vehicle design that generates a fantastic experience for customers while meeting mass transit regulations and all performance criteria.  The team works cross functionally with product design (Similar to studio engineering or product requirement team), test validation, external suppliers, and prototype and production manufacturers to design, develop, and build a unique vehicle architecture.

Roles & Responsibilities:

• Own the technical roadmap and product delivery for Glydways door and closure systems, including structures, mechanisms, rails, latches, seals, actuators, sensors, interfaces, electrical & electronic systems, and related software.
• Translate vehicle-level requirements into closure-system requirements, architectures, design decisions, verification plans, and acceptance criteria.
• Lead the design and integration of complex mechanisms, including kinematics, actuator selection, latch and hinge integration, packaging, tolerance definition, and interface management.
• Drive cross-functional alignment across mechanical, electrical, software, systems, product, safety, validation, manufacturing, quality, industrial design, and operations teams.
• Coordinate technical work with external engineering, manufacturing partners and suppliers, across Japan, the United States, and Europe.
• Lead prototype builds, vehicle integration, durability testing, root-cause investigations, design iterations, and production-readiness activities within a demanding development and build schedule.
• Anticipate manufacturing, assembly, service, quality, reliability, and cost challenges through design-for-manufacturability and design-for-assembly practices.
• Establish effective processes for requirements, issue tracking, design reviews, change management, documentation, and decision-making.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Significant experience developing automotive closures or complex mechanical and electromechanical systems through multiple product-development stages; sliding-door experience is highly valuable.
• Strong understanding of mechanism design, kinematics, actuators, latches, hinges, seals, tolerance management, design verification, and reliability.
• Experience collaborating with suppliers, manufacturing partners, and cross-functional teams in automotive, mobility, robotics, aerospace, or a similar complex-product environment.
• Strong communication, organization, judgment, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to work independently in an ambiguous and rapidly changing international and multicultural environment.
• Experience taking a closure system or complex mechanism from concept through sourcing, validation, production, and launch.
• Working knowledge of design for manufacturability, design for assembly, GD&T, tolerance analysis, FMEA, and quality-planning methods.
• Experience with CATIA, 3DX, or comparable CAD and PLM tools, at least DMU-level proficiency; experience using CAE tools for product development is a plus.
• Professional fluency in English; Japanese language skills are a plus.
• Willingness and ability to travel internationally, including extended collaboration or assignments in Japan and the United States, as business needs require.