The Design Release Engineer (DRE) for Low Voltage (LV) Wiring Harnesses owns the end-to-end development, packaging, validation, and production release of low-voltage electrical distribution systems. This role acts as the primary technical authority for assigned harness families, managing technical data, bridging the gap between electrical schematics and physical routing, and coordinating with suppliers and manufacturing plants to deliver high-quality, cost-effective wire harnesses on time.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design, packaging, and release of low-voltage wiring harness assemblies and related components (connectors, terminals, clips, tape, channels) from concept through production.

• Manage the Engineering Change Management process, authoring engineering notices and driving technical data updates in PLM systems.

• Coordinate with electrical schematics teams to translate circuit requirements into physical 3D harness routing and 2D manufacturing drawings.

• Oversee Tier 1 harness suppliers to track design maturity, evaluate manufacturing tooling, and ensure component delivery timing lines up with vehicle build phases.

• Perform package studies, clearance checks, and virtual builds using 3D CAD software to resolve harness routing conflicts in complex vehicle environments.

• Support Design-to-Cost, complexity reduction, and Value Analysis / Value Engineering (VA/VE) initiatives to minimize bill-of-materials (BOM) cost and weight.

• Define, execute, and approve component-level validation plans, monitoring DVP&R testing (mechanical, thermal, environmental) to guarantee quality.

• Collaborate with vehicle assembly plants to troubleshoot assembly issues, analyze root causes of wiring defects, and execute fast-tracked containment actions.

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Automotive Engineering, or a related technical discipline.

• Experience: Minimum of 3+ years of professional experience as an automotive DRE, Product Engineer, or Quality Engineer specializing in vehicle wiring harness systems.

• Harness Architecture: Deep technical knowledge of automotive low-voltage wiring harness components, including circuit topologies, splicing strategies, terminal plating selection, and routing limitations.

• Process & Release Systems: Strong experience navigating automotive product development milestones, Bill of Materials (BOM) management, and release tracking systems.

• Languages: Advanced English language skills (written and spoken) to communicate effectively with international engineering, supplier, and plant teams.

• Core Competencies: Exceptional analytical skills, strong technical documentation habits, and a proven ability to lead multi-functional engineering issue resolution.

• Direct experience engineering harnesses for major automotive OEMs or global Tier 1 wiring suppliers (e.g., Yazaki, Sumitomo, Aptiv, Lear).
• Familiarity with harness design and routing tools (such as Catia V5/V6 Electrical Harness Installation, NX Routing, or Mentor Graphics/Capital).
• Knowledge of automotive quality frameworks, including DFMEA, 8D problem-solving, and APQP processes.
• Experience resolving high-frequency or sensitive communication circuit routing requirements (CAN, LIN, Ethernet, Coaxial).