Senior Validation Engineer

Required Skills & Experience

Must Haves

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related field
• 5-7 years of automotive product development, validation, or testing experience
• Experience managing validation activities from planning through reporting
• Experience with DVP&R (Design Verification Plans & Reports)
• Knowledge of automotive testing standards (FMVSS, CMVSS, UN/ECE, IIHS, ASTM, SAE, OEM)
• Ability to review CAE reports, test results, and identify failure modes
• Proficiency in Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook, and scheduling tools

Nice to Have Skills & Experience

Plusses

• Experience working for an automotive OEM or Tier 1 supplier
• Automotive seating or interior product experience
• Experience working directly with testing technicians, suppliers, customers, and outside laboratories
• Experience developing specifications, test methods, acceptance criteria, and reporting standards
• Hands-on experience operating test equipment and data-acquisition systems Experience using CAE

Job Description

Day to Day

• Create and maintain DVP&R plans, including testing scope, sample quantities, acceptance criteria, schedules, responsibilities, risks, and final conclusions
• Review customer, regulatory, internal, and supplier requirements to identify missing, conflicting, or unclear information
• Plan, coordinate, perform, and document physical testing for automotive seating and interior products
• Work with airbag testing
• Provide technical direction to testing technicians once testing methods have been established
• Analyze testing data, document failure modes, determine compliance, and prepare technical reports
• Review CAE reports and compare analytical results to physical testing data
• Coordinate with Design Engineers, technicians, suppliers, laboratories, manufacturing, quality teams, and customers
• Support root-cause analysis and develop practical countermeasure concepts for product failures

Job Description

The Senior Product Validation Engineer manages design verification and validation activities for automotive seating and interior products throughout the product development lifecycle. This individual translates customer, regulatory, supplier, and internal requirements into executable DVP&R plans and coordinates testing from initial planning through final reporting. On a daily basis, they support physical testing, review CAE and test results, identify technical risks, and communicate concerns to engineering and cross-functional teams. They also help determine root causes when products do not meet requirements and work with Design Engineers to develop practical countermeasures. This is a technical, hands-on role that requires strong automotive validation experience, project coordination skills, and the ability to manage multiple testing deliverables independently.