Description & Requirements
Background
No restraints. No limitations. We don’t simply push boundaries. We completely rethink them. McLaren Automotive exists to create breath-taking performance road cars.
With innovation at the core of all we do, every challenge starts with the same question. How can we do it better? This restless spirit runs right through McLaren Automotive. And the search for perfection is evident in everything we do.
Purpose of Role
Despite more than 30 years of history in making carbon fibre race and sports cars, at McLaren we believe in a future aggressive rate of innovation in lightweight materials design and technology. We are looking for an individual that shares our vision and will help us turn this vision into real, innovative, and outstanding sports cars.
The role will be based primarily in the McLaren Composites Technology Centre in Sheffield, with travel to the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking on a regular basis. The Project Engineer, specialising in Body Structures, Carbon Fibre Composites and Aluminium Alloys, will support the industrialisation of the McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture (MCLA) manufacturing operation. Capturing and analysing real life product characteristics, optimising component designs and specifications with assessment of structural and dimensional attributes. The role will be reporting to the Principal Engineer – Tub Structures, based in Woking.
Principal Accountabilities
- “Cradle to Grave” approach – working within a cross functional team from R&D stage, through prototyping, production launch and series production support to collectively deliver the whole vehicle specification targets with optimised design for manufacturing.
- Responsible to optimise designs and component specifications that meet the following targets:
- Cost (Piece, Tooling, D&D)
- Quality and Performance (From full vehicle attributes down to component level requirements)
- Manufacturability
- Responsible to deliver FE analysis at component level, in support of design optimisation or validation through management of in-house and external specialist resources.
- Responsible for Identifying, assessing, and implementing engineering change requests (ECR’s):
- Rapid and accurate cost estimation to support decisions at the early stages of feasibility study
- Updating or authoring component and systems technical specifications to reflect optimised design standards
- Creating supporting documentation to standardise changes to design or manufacturing processes
- Communication of changes with all stake holders, for example external suppliers’ network, supplier quality assurance, logistics, vehicle engineering and development, purchasing and manufacturing engineers
- Responsible to create Engineering Releases within the McLaren PLM (SAP) to ensure MCTC ECR’s are implemented in the vehicle BOM.
- Technical standardisation of best practices in carbon fibre composites design, engineering and technology reflecting continuous improvement and learning
- Responsible for final approval (FOK) of manufactured components
- Approval of concessions based on assessment of existing evidence
- Managing FE analysis, destructive or non-destructive testing, or other engineering activities to create supporting evidence for dispositioning
- Standardising approval method and approved conditions through specification updates and control plan implementation
- Working with internal customers on approval / potential deviations allowed on components
- Assessment and approval of repair / rework strategies
- Responsible to support cost down opportunities within the MCLA
- Responsible to support problem solving activities, supporting Root Cause Analysis, Containment and Countermeasure of issues that could be related to the MCLA design or manufacturing process.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
- Engineering degree 2:1 or above
- 2 years’ experience of automotive programmes preferably in Body and low volume/high performance sports cars.
- Lnowledge on a wide range of systems and components such as crash structures, monocoques, subframes, and other vehicle structures.
- Knowledge of Carbon Fibre composites manufacturing technologies
- Pre-preg and Autoclave
- RTM (High/Low pressure, VARTM)
- Press Moulding
- Hand layup, press forming, braiding, filament winding
- Knowledge of Composite materials destructive and non-destructive testing and FE Analysis
- Knowledge of DFMEA and its application in automotive environment
- Knowledge of GD&T
- Literacy in CATIA V5 or V6, CDM or VPM and DMU tools
- Experience in problem solving. Knowledge of PPS or 8D methodology would be advantageous
- Demonstrable commercial acumen
- Experience in project management. Knowledge of PM systems (e.g. PRINCE 2) would be advantageous
Personal Attributes
- We are looking for an individual with outstanding passion for high performance sports cars and at the same time with an outstanding passion for carbon fibre composites design and engineering.
- Ability to use own initiative when working under pressure
- A team player able to work closely with internal and external network of engineers
- Flexibility and Adaptability are key
- Strong verbal and written communication skills
- Ambitious and self-reliant. Intrinsically self-motivated