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Senior Director of Vehicle Engineering

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$265 - $330/hr

  • Medical

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

Senior Director of Vehicle Engineering We are seeking a seasoned people leader and versatile technical mind to run our vehicle engineering teams, including mechanical, thermal, and propulsion, as we ...

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Vehicle Engineering information

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How much do vehicle engineering jobs pay per hour?

As of Aug 13, 2026, the average hourly pay for vehicle engineering in the United States is $40.64, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $38.22 and $40.38 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a vehicle engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Vehicle Engineer, you need a solid understanding of mechanical and automotive engineering principles, typically backed by a relevant engineering degree. Familiarity with CAD software, vehicle simulation tools, and knowledge of industry standards or certifications like SAE or ISO are commonly required. Strong problem-solving abilities, teamwork, and effective communication skills help drive innovation and project success. These competencies are vital for designing safe, efficient vehicles and collaborating across multidisciplinary teams in a highly competitive industry.

What are some common challenges faced by professionals in vehicle engineering, and how can applicants prepare for them?

Vehicle engineering professionals often encounter challenges such as balancing regulatory compliance with innovation, managing tight project deadlines, and integrating new technologies into existing vehicle platforms. Applicants can prepare by staying up to date with industry standards, developing strong project management skills, and gaining familiarity with emerging trends like electric and autonomous vehicles. Collaborating effectively with multidisciplinary teams—including design, manufacturing, and software engineers—is also crucial for success in this dynamic field.

What is the difference between Vehicle Engineering vs Mechanical Engineering?

AspectVehicle EngineeringMechanical Engineering
Required CredentialsBachelor's in Mechanical, Automotive, or Vehicle Engineering; certifications in automotive designBachelor's in Mechanical Engineering; professional engineer (PE) license often preferred
Work EnvironmentAutomotive companies, R&D labs, manufacturing plantsFactories, design firms, research labs across various industries
Industry UsagePrimarily automotive, transportation, motorsportsBroad industry applications including aerospace, manufacturing, energy
Common Search/ComparisonYesYes

Vehicle Engineering focuses specifically on designing, developing, and testing vehicles and automotive systems, often requiring specialized knowledge of automotive components. Mechanical Engineering offers a broader scope, covering various mechanical systems across multiple industries. While both fields share foundational engineering principles and credentials, Vehicle Engineering is more specialized for automotive applications.

What is vehicle engineering?

Vehicle engineering is a branch of engineering that focuses on the design, development, manufacturing, and testing of vehicles such as cars, trucks, motorcycles, and buses. It combines elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software, and safety engineering to create vehicles that are efficient, safe, and reliable. Vehicle engineers work on everything from the engine and transmission to aerodynamics and onboard systems, ensuring that all components work together seamlessly.
More about Vehicle Engineering jobs
What cities are hiring for Vehicle Engineering jobs? Cities with the most Vehicle Engineering job openings:
What states have the most Vehicle Engineering jobs? States with the most job openings for Vehicle Engineering jobs include:
Vehicle Engineering jobs near you
Infographic showing various Vehicle Engineering job openings in the United States as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 62% Full Time, 37% Part Time, and 1% Contract. Highlights an 99% Physical, and 1% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $84,523 per year, or $40.6 per hour.

Plant Vehicle Engineering, Fastening & Joining Engineer

FastTek

Warsaw, IN

$70K - $90K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement, PTO

Posted 22 days ago

Job description

Plant Vehicle Engineering, Fastening & Joining Engineer #1061025
Job Description:
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR:
We are looking for a hands-on Plant Vehicle Engineering, Fastening & Joining Engineer to support launch readiness, production quality, and continuous improvement for fastening and joining applications in the vehicle assembly plant.
This role serves as a Plant Vehicle Engineering subject matter expert and cross-functional technical partner for fastening and joining-related production concerns. The position focuses on protecting product intent, supporting issue resolution, driving root cause analysis, validating corrective actions, and improving build quality during launch and ongoing production.
This role does not own design release or manufacturing process ownership. It is responsible for identifying fastening and joining concerns in production, partnering with the appropriate engineering and manufacturing teams, and escalating product, process, tooling, material, or workmanship issues when requirements are not being met.
WHAT YOU GET TO DO:
  • Fastening & Torque Support
    • Serve as the Plant Vehicle Engineering subject matter expert for fastening-related production concerns, including torque strategy, clamp load, joint integrity, tooling interaction, and fastening data where applicable.
    • Support issue resolution involving torque-to-spec, torque-angle behavior, fastener seating, joint stack variation, thread engagement, tool access, and product/process interaction.
    • Interpret torque traces and fastening data, or partner with subject matter experts as needed, to identify abnormal joint behavior, tooling concerns, process variation, or product design opportunities.
    • Partner with Design & Release Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, Production, and Suppliers to resolve fastening issues and validate permanent corrective actions.
  • Welding & Joining Support
    • Support issue resolution for spot weld, laser weld, and joining-related quality concerns through visual reviews, teardown inspections, weld audits, destructive checks, and vehicle-level investigations.
    • Help identify joining concerns related to location, size, appearance, penetration, expulsion, fit-up, material stack, coating, access, or process variation.
    • Provide plant feedback into joining strategy, inspection standards, repair guidance, Design for Manufacturing and Assembly reviews, PFMEA input, control plan reviews, and lessons learned.
  • Bonding & Adhesive Application Support
    • Support issue resolution for bonded and urethane applications in the Bonding Shop and General Assembly as well as closure-related applications.
    • Evaluate adhesive application quality, surface preparation, bead location, application consistency, squeeze-out, cure behavior, contamination concerns, and process robustness in partnership with process and materials teams.
    • Investigate bond-related defects, water leaks, squeaks/rattles, fit concerns, and durability issues where bonding may be a contributor.
  • Launch, Problem Solving & Continuous Improvement
    • Lead or support root cause analysis, containment, corrective action development, breakpoint coordination, and validation of permanent fixes.
    • Analyze production data, audit findings, teardown results, torque data, repair trends, supplier concerns, and plant feedback to identify risks and improvement opportunities.
    • Support prototype, pilot, and production ramp builds, including issue tracking, triage, readiness reporting, containment, breakpoint management, and lessons learned.
    • Drive continuous improvement actions that reduce defects, improve first-time quality, minimize rework, and strengthen production consistency for fastening and joining applications.
  • SUCCESS MEASURES
    • Improve first-time quality for fastening and joining-related build issues.
    • Reduce rework related to fasteners, torque concerns, weld quality, bonding, sealing, and joined interfaces.
    • Reduce recurring build issues through effective root cause analysis and permanent corrective actions.
    • Improve launch readiness by supporting build events, teardown reviews, joining audits, and breakpoint readiness.
    • Improve containment effectiveness through clear inspection criteria, repair guidance, documentation, and validation of corrective actions.
    • Accelerate issue resolution by partnering effectively with Design & Release Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, Production, Suppliers, and plant leadership.
WHAT YOU BRING TO THE TEAM:
Education and Experience
  • 6+ years of related automotive engineering, manufacturing engineering, quality, launch, plant vehicle engineering, fastening, joining, body, general assembly, or similar experience
  • Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Materials, Welding, Industrial Engineering, or related technical field preferred; equivalent hands-on automotive launch, manufacturing, or product engineering experience will be considered.
  • Hands-on experience with fastening, joining, assembly, body, general assembly, or related production processes.
  • Experience with one or more areas such as fastening systems, torque/clamp load, spot welding, laser welding, adhesive bonding, urethane applications, or vehicle teardown/inspection activity preferred.
  • Experience supporting production issue resolution, launch builds, containment, engineering change implementation, and corrective action validation preferred.
Skills:
  • Working knowledge of fastening fundamentals, such as torque, clamp load, friction, joint stack-up, tooling interaction, thread engagement, and fastener failure modes.
  • Ability to interpret drawings, specifications, quality standards, fastening requirements, weld callouts, and process documentation.
  • Ability to interpret production data, torque/fastening data, quality data, teardown findings, repair trends, and plant feedback.
  • Familiarity with weld quality, adhesive bonding, urethane applications, or joined-structure inspection preferred.
  • Understanding of materials, coatings, stack-up variation, joining interfaces, and how product/process variation can affect fastening, welding, and bonding quality.
  • Experience with structured problem-solving methods such as Red X, Six Sigma, 8D, 5-Why, fishbone analysis, DOE, or similar.
  • Strong technical leadership, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills with the ability to influence corrective actions across Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, Production, Suppliers, and plant leadership.
  • Hands-on experience supporting assembly lines and driving improvements in build quality, process stability, and production robustness.
  • Ability to work on the plant floor more than 50% of the time.
  • Ability to travel domestically up to 20%.
  • Must be willing to relocate to Warsaw, Indiana.

Additional Info:
At FastTek Global, Our Purpose is Our People and Our Planet. We come to work each day and are reminded we are helping people find their success stories. Also, Doing the right thing is our mantra. We act responsibly, give back to the communities we serve and have a little fun along the way.
We have been doing this with pride, dedication and plain, old-fashioned hard work for 24 years!
FastTek Global is financially strong, privately held company that is 100% consultant and client focused.
We've differentiated ourselves by being fast, flexible, creative and honest. Throw out everything you've heard, seen, or felt about every other IT Consulting company. We do unique things and we do them for Fortune 10, Fortune 500, and technology start-up companies.
Our benefits are second to none and thanks to our flexible benefit options you can choose the benefits you need or want, options include:
  • Medical and Dental (FastTek pays majority of the medical program)
  • Vision
  • Personal Time Off (PTO) Program
  • Long Term Disability (100% paid)
  • Life Insurance (100% paid)
  • 401(k) with immediate vesting and 3% (of salary) dollar-for-dollar match

Plus, we have a lucrative employee referral program and an employee recognition culture.
FastTek Global was named one of the Top Work Places in Michigan by the Detroit Free Press in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023!
To view all of our open positions go to: https://www.fasttek.com/fastswitch/findwork
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/fasttekglobal
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fasttekglobal
Find us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fasttek
You can become a fan of FastTek on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fasttekglobal/
AI & Hiring Disclosure
We use AI tools to support parts of our hiring process, such as reviewing applications and identifying potential matches. These tools are designed to promote efficiency, consistency, and fairness, and they are always used under human oversight.
All personal data collected is used solely for recruitment purposes, and you have the right to know, access, or request deletion of your data at any time, subject to legal limits.
If AI will be used in a video interview, you'll be informed in advance and asked for your consent, with the option to opt out.
Our tools are regularly reviewed to detect potential bias and to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and our commitment to inclusive hiring.
To learn more or exercise your rights, please contact us at info@fasttek.com.