Interior Systems Engineer, Instrument Panels

We’re ALTEN Technology USA, an engineering company helping clients bring groundbreaking ideas to life—from advancing space exploration and life-saving medical devices to building autonomous electric vehicles. With 3,000+ experts across North America, we partner with leading companies in aerospace, medical devices, robotics, automotive, commercial vehicles, EVs, rail, and more. As part of the global ALTEN Group—57,000+ engineers in 30 countries—we deliver across the entire product development cycle, from consulting to full project outsourcing. When you join ALTEN Technology USA, you’ll collaborate on some of the world’s toughest engineering challenges, supported by mentorship, career growth opportunities, and comprehensive benefits. We take pride in fostering a culture where employees feel valued, supported, and inspired to grow. Role Overview You will be a key contributor within a world-class automotive interior trim engineering team, responsible for the development and delivery of hard interior trim components. This role focuses on mechanical engineering, detail design, packaging, and launch execution, working closely with design, vehicle engineering, and supplier partners to deliver premium interior solutions from concept through production.   Key Responsibilities   * Contribute to the development of high-quality hard interior trim components delivering on luxury, craftsmanship, performance, safety, ergonomics, and functionality * Lead or support the engineering, packaging, release, and launch of hard trim components including instrument panels, door trims, consoles, pillars, headliners, and load floors across the vehicle portfolio * Translate interior design intent into production-feasible, manufacturable hard trim solutions with attention to surface quality, class A feasibility, and fit and finish * Manage component-level DFMEA, DVPR, boundary diagrams, and robustness checklists through design and release milestones * Work cross-functionally with design, vehicle engineering, manufacturing, purchasing, and program teams, prioritizing overall vehicle performance and timing * Collaborate closely with interior trim suppliers to ensure technical excellence, tooling readiness, cost targets, and on-time program delivery * Define and own GD&T datum and locating strategy for hard trim assemblies; perform tolerance stack-up analysis to ensure dimensional compliance * Perform and support DFM assessments, tool feasibility reviews, and first article inspection (FAI) evaluation * Support prototype builds, buck reviews, and closed-loop resolution of dimensional and quality findings * Apply and continuously improve engineering tools, methods, and best practices to support accelerated product development   Required Qualifications   * 4+ years' experience in automotive hard interior trim engineering (IP, door trims, consoles, pillars, headliners, load floors, etc.) * Strong understanding of plastic part design, injection molding processes, and DFM principles * Proficiency in CATIA V5/V6 or equivalent CAD tools; working knowledge of GD&T and tolerance analysis methods * Experience supporting vehicle or product launches, including supplier tooling sign-off and manufacturing readiness * Familiarity with DFMEA, DVPR, and quality documentation processes   Nice to Have / Advantageous   * Ownership of at least one full program lifecycle from concept through SOP * Experience in a fast-paced OEM or startup EV environment * Deep knowledge of injection molded plastic structures, including two-shot molding, foaming processes, and Class A surface development * Understanding of craftsmanship standards, fit and finish targets, and homologation/safety requirements for hard trim assemblies * Competency in materials selection for structural and aesthetic hard trim substrates * Experience with supplier tooling reviews, including steel safe conditions, draft analysis, and mold flow interpretation * Hands-on, practical engineering mindset with strong problem-solving skills * Excellent communication skills with the ability to align across design, manufacturing, and supply chain stakeholders * Passion for developing exceptional automotive interiors   Salary: * $120,00-$140,000/K * The actual salary offered is dependent on various factors including, but not limited to, location, the candidate’s combination of job-related knowledge, qualifications, skills, education, training, and experience  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, genetic information, or pregnancy. Please beware of job seeker scams and see this important notice on our careers page for more information about our recruiting process. Compliance Notice: Alten USA is a federal contractor subject to the requirements of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) and Executive Order 11246. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status. Drug Screening Requirement: As a federal contractor, Alten USA maintains a drug-free workplace. All candidates selected for employment will be required to successfully complete a pre-employment drug screening as a condition of hire.

JOB DESCRIPTION     JOB TITLE:  Engineer, Manufacturing (Cast Skin/Slush Molding)    FLSA STATUS:  Exempt   REPORTS TO:  Chief Technical Manager, Manufacturing Coordination     SUMMARY The Cast Skin Engineer develops, optimizes, and supports slush molding of plastic parts for automotive interior trim, instrument panels, full center consoles, and kinetic parts.  The engineer works closely with product design, manufacturing, quality, and suppliers to ensure cast skin molding processes and materials meet customer specifications, cost targets, and automotive quality standards.   RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES * Lead the development and implementation of cast skin/slush molding tool and processes for new products: * Participate in part design input and design output reviews. * Focus on design optimization to produce highest quality parts via robust cast skin/slush molding tooling conditions and slush mold processability considerations. * Participate in cast skin/slush molding tool design reviews. * Participate in cast skin/slush molding trials at sample facilities. * Support corrective action plans for new cast skin/slush molds. * Troubleshoot molding defects including thin spots, bubbles, wrinkles, burns, color variation, and incomplete fill. * Develop Operator Instruction Sheets and support development of Quality Inspection Standards to ensure production personnel can work safely while meeting quality and productivity requirements. * Coordinate entry of all molds into preventative maintenance system and develop preventative maintenance instructions. * Collaborate with Lean Manufacturing Engineer to develop internal mold store packaging that supports efficient labor and automation while ensuring safe & defect-free storage, transport and handling at subsequent operations based on SPI packaging standards and best practices. * Perform mold-specific setup and operational training for mold technicians, supervisors, utilities/operators, and managers, and oversee mold change, startups, and production until safety and proficiency are achieved. * Collaborate with project engineering to coordinate engineering changes to molds. * Support and continually improve all production cast skin/slush molding operations: * Support the production team performance – improving safety, quality and efficiency. * Utilize practical problem solving (PPS) and kaizen. * Troubleshoot tooling, process, and equipment related problems through collaboration with tooling and maintenance teams. * Collaborate with maintenance to assess cast skin/slush molding machine capability. * Develop justifications for various process improvement projects. * Conduct layered process audits to ensure compliance with process setup/verification, standardized work, and quality systems requirements. * Achieve assigned corporate-wide performance objectives for the molding manufacturing operations, including safety, quality, productivity (cycle times), operational availability (machine up time), and delivery metrics. * Lead development of annual performance targets for slush molding metrics. These include labor cost per hour, mold change times, internal scrap percentage, and others.   * Collaborate with plant management to standardize and improve cast skin/slush molding operations. * Cast skin/slush molding focus includes safety, cast skin/slush molding machines, cast skin/slush molding machine work-cell layouts, cast skin/slush molding utilities and infrastructure, material handling equipment, operator and utility work, cast skin/slush mold technician training system, etc. * Lead the development, documentation, control, and sharing of cast skin/slush molding standards with participation from plant champions and manufacturing coordination team members. * Assist plants with developing and executing plans to implement standards. * Audit plants to standards compliance * Provide extra assistance to plants who are not meeting targets.   EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE * Bachelor’s degree in engineering or a similar technical discipline OR 5 years of experience in a technical position in a cast skin/slush molding environment may be considered. * Experience with automotive interior manufacturing preferred. * Knowledge of PVC, TPO, or other thermoplastic materials. * Understanding of mold design, heat transfer, and polymer processing. * Familiarity with automotive quality standards such as IATF 16949.     SKILLS AND ABILITIES: * Proficiency in Microsoft Office software suite – Excel, Word, PowerPoint * Effective verbal and written communication skills * Independent thinking with strong analytical and problem-solving skills * Flexible and able to manage multiple priorities and projects simultaneously * Agreement to complete all post-hire required training * A minimum score of 50 on the Wonderlic Select Assessment (Traditional Score of 26 on the cognitive portion).   TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS This position typically does require up to 15% travel.   DISCLAIMER The information contained in this job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of the duties and responsibilities of the job, nor are they intended to be an all-inclusive list of the skills and abilities required to do the job.  Management may, at its discretion, assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time. Agreement to complete all post-hire required training.     Rev. 7/15/2026