Operating Division: Technical Services
Location: Port Macquarie, NSW, Australia
Position Purpose
This Automotive Engineer role is primarily an Engineering and Integration design position reporting to the Platform Engineering Manager functionally and assigned within the Birdon Project Delivery Team. This position supports the automotive design activities and engagement with the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) providing guidance and ensuring the integrity, compliance, and effectiveness of the technical and design solutions related to the Automotive and Land Mobility scopes within our defence design and production project. As the Automotive Engineer, you are responsible for support to and overseeing all aspects of the Automotive Systems and Land Mobility scope delivery, leading and coaching of the team and engaging with other team members across the technical and project scopes to ensure your scope delivery into the integrated project outcomes.
The Automotive Engineer position collaborates closely with multidisciplinary teams, stakeholders, and regulatory bodies to deliver solutions that meet operational requirements, adhere to industry standards, and align with project objectives.
Roles at Birdon are defined to a certain extent, and our employees understand their key domains and what they're setting out to achieve when they come on board. However, we don't restrict people by their title or their function.
Team members do what they can with their skills and expertise to contribute to achieving the team's goals. Everyone is supported to sense the environment around them, identify opportunities and problems, contribute insights, and add value wherever they can across Birdon.
Key Accountabilities
The key accountabilities for this role include:
Examine customer requirements and lead the development, design and integration activities for automotive and land mobility ensuring compliance with contractual, regulatory, and technical requirements.
Provide guidance on heavy vehicle automotive design and engineering, interfacing with marine engineering, systems integration, and related disciplines to support design decisions and resolve complex technical challenges.
Identify, assess, and mitigate design risks to safeguard project timelines, budget, and quality objectives.
Support technical contact with subcontractors, heavy vehicle regulators and vendors, to address design-related inquiries, resolve issues, and foster collaborative relationships.
Evaluate proposed design changes, assess their impact on project scope, schedule, and cost, and facilitate their implementation in accordance with change control procedures.
Ensure accurate and comprehensive documentation of design decisions, rationale, and specifications to facilitate traceability, transparency, and knowledge transfer.
Engage with the production team to ensure design outcomes are producible
Provide design and progress reports as required by project governance.
Manage defence client interfaces and client relationships where relevant.
Work with the Technical Services Enterprise Team to:
Establish and maintain design assurance processes, procedures, and standards to uphold the quality and reliability of deliverables throughout the design lifecycle.
Drive innovation and efficiency initiatives to optimize design processes, enhance productivity, and achieve project objectives more effectively.
Actively seek to assist in the development of team members for their career development, fostering individual motivation and promoting a growth mindset.
Mentoring Junior members of the team and developing engineers.
Promote a collaborative environment and visible leadership within the team setting the standard for others to follow.
Manage and coach the Mechanical Systems team. Ensuring team performance, productivity and priorities meet project deadlines and company strategy.
Qualifications / Skills / Experience
Essential
5 Years proven experience in a automotive engineering role and considered expert within the heavy vehicle automotive industry.
Degree qualification in relevant engineering field
In-depth knowledge of relevant regulations, standards, and best practices governing heavy vehicle design and construction.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, with the ability to balance technical, operational, and commercial considerations.
Excellent communication, interpersonal, and leadership abilities, with a track record of effectively engaging stakeholders and leading multidisciplinary teams
Familiarity with design software, simulation tools, and project management methodologies commonly used in project environments.
Proactive manner demonstrating strong commercial aptitude and interpersonal skills
Highly Proficient in Microsoft Office software
Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions, identify work priorities in a constantly changing environment.
Desirable
10 years with heavy vehicle design experience
Amphibious vehicle design
Experience in Defence contracting, understanding of military and government project documentation standards
Professional certifications or memberships in relevant professional bodies (e.g., Chartered Engineer status, membership in the Royal Institution of Naval Architects) preferred.
Formal training in leadership, organisational change management and behaviour
Ability to develop system documents, process standards, and high-level reporting.
Anticipate future commercial need for design and confidently propose it to the business.
Ability to develop technical documents, technical manuals, and drawings.
Understanding of military and government project documentation standards.