Racing Engineer

Nashville, Tenn.-based Bridgestone Americas, Inc. is the U.S. subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation, the world’s largest tire and rubber company. Bridgestone Americas and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market a wide range of Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand tires to address the needs of a broad range of customers, including consumers, automotive and commercial vehicle original equipment manufacturers, and those in the agricultural, forestry and mining industries.

The companies are also engaged in retreading operations throughout the Western Hemisphere and produce air springs, roofing materials, and industrial fibers and textiles. The Bridgestone Americas family of companies also operates the world’s largest chain of automotive tire and service centers.

Guided by its global corporate social responsibility (CSR), commitment Our Way to Serve, Bridgestone embraces its responsibility as a global leader by striving to improve the way people move, live, work and play.

Position Summary
The Race Program Engineering team is comprised of a team of engineers and technicians that develop and provide track-side support for the tires used in the NTT IndyCar series and any other motorsports series in which Bridgestone Americas choses to compete.

Responsibilities
Teammates work in and lead cross-functional teams, and are responsible for utilizing and applying cutting edge development tools to make mechanistic-based decisions for the design and development of racing tires. Teammates will need to work with a strong attention to detail. Duties will include team leadership, working with production to plan tire builds, and monitoring product quality at the plant and in the field, applying any necessary corrective action, and representing the company to our customers.

In addition to development activities, this position travels extensively, 10-17 Race Weekends per year along with various tire tests or other IndyCar tests. The ideal candidate will have at least a basic understanding of vehicle dynamics, to understand the interaction of the vehicle and the tires. Strong communications skills as are required in order to relate input from racing teams, drivers, and IndyCar back to the Race Tire Development team as well as management.
The cross-functional nature of tire development allows for exposure to other areas of the company, which can lead to many career development or advancement opportunities within the company. This position will interface with Bridgestone's Motorsports group, Performance Tire Service Company, IndyCar, IndyCar teams, and production. A successful candidate will be thorough, creative, have a strong sense of urgency to accomplish challenging tasks, communicate well, and be comfortable working in a collaborative team environment.

Domestic and limited international travel expected 15-25%, including 10-17 weekends per year.

Qualifications
BS in Engineering required: mechanical strongly preferred. Vehicle dynamics basic understanding required, with 10 years' experience in Vehicle Dynamics or related field. Some tire development or tire manufacturing experience a plus.